July 2016 – The World of Harry Potter

Harry, Ron, Hermione And The Path To Growing Up And Saving The World

Posted on July 25, 2016by francia

Most teens would know that growing up is hard enough as it is, making your parents proud of you, getting good marks in school. Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger had to do all of this and fight off the Dark Lord Voldemort, also responsible for the killing of Harry Potters family and countless others and trying to take over the Wizarding World. The biggest problem that Muggle teenagers face is trying to find a boyfriend or a girlfriend and try and pass through high school with high enough marks to get into a good university. The Wizarding World however has all these and much more such as wondering if your family has been killed by Death Eaters yet or if there is a spy in the school trying to let Death Eaters into the school and kill the Headmaster. Harry, Ron and Hermione get the brunt of all of this Wizarding drama because of Harry Potter being destined to be the one to vanquish the Dark Lord and Ron and Hermione simply because they chose to be his best friends. From the very start the trio were finding themselves in the Library searching for the meaning of the name Nicholas Flamel and seeing what kind of treasure he had hidden in the school that they believed the Potions Master was trying to steal for the Dark Lord Voldemort. Somehow between all of these setbacks the trio end up being on the passing side of the line each year.

Despite facing death several times throughout their time at Hogwarts their schooling seems to continue on despite an uproar of angry parents at times and they stick with it to the end. Each year the Dark Lord Voldemort sets his ever growing gaze on the school until eventually comes The Battle Of Hogwarts where Voldemort and his disciples finally gather up the courage to attack the school. Nothing like this would ever come close to coming true in the Muggle world where an army of evil people attack a high school and not just that, but they get defeated by the students. You can imagine how painful exam time must have been for them, what with facing the Dark Lord himself, barely escaping death and countless serious injuries and still having to study for that pesky Defence Against The Dark Arts exam. Wizarding school would be undoubtedly harder than Muggle school because not only do they learn things that they would use on a day to day basis they also learn self defence in the school and in that time period that might have been the most important class they ever took, despite it being taken over by Death Eaters and turned into a Dark Arts class at one point.

Despite every setback that the three friends had faced throughout their early teenage years to their early adulthood they still ended up alright with kids and good careers. If someone was to look at this from year one and know about all the predicaments that they would face throughout the years I believe it would be a safe bet to say that they wouldn’t make it out of that school in one piece but against most odds they made it and they are successful in the Wizarding World today. There is no way any Muggle children would have a harder life than Harry Potter and it is a surprise he ended up on top and with Voldemort dead, I mean not many people and even Wizards at that could say that they beat Voldemort when they were nothing more than a year old, had faced him several times throughout high school, lived and had defeated him for the last time when they had just finished high school.

Characters Curiosities

Life After Hogwarts And The Many Careers Of The Wizarding World

Posted on July 15, 2016by francia

Just like in the Muggle world people need to go to school and get good marks to get good jobs. That’s not saying that people who have good marks are promised to get a good job or that someone with bad marks is destined to have a bad job. There are many different jobs in the wizarding world from being the Minister of Magic, somewhat of the president of the wizarding world, to Teachers at Hogwarts to even just shop helpers on Diagon Alley. There are different jobs for different types of people, someone who is particularly adept at potions could work at an apothecary or someone who has excellent marks and are particularly brave could make a perfect Auror while someone who has been a thief their entire life could make an adequate Bus Driver for the Night Bus. Just like the more reputable careers of the Wizarding World like jobs within the Ministry of Magic or a Teacher and there are other jobs that aren’t so reputable such as working as a Death Eater or an Illegal Smuggler who sells highly valuable and illegal items such as Dragon Eggs or certain poisons or potions.

There would also be summer jobs for students or part time jobs for people who simply need another job. An Assistant at a Wand Shop or a Potion Shop would be perfect for a young Wizard who wants to find out about the world of working in the Wizarding World.
There are some jobs that have very specific prerequisites or assets such as Gringotts only hiring Goblins for the most part and in the Muggle world with the way things are now this wouldn’t be allowed where an employer would be able to hire people based on the workers race instead of the workers ability. The jobs in the Wizarding world wouldn’t be too different from Muggle jobs in the sense that a lot of jobs would be related, they just need to be ramped up because Wizards have the means to do so. Such as the Wizarding world has Aurors the Muggle world has Police Officers and in the Wizarding world they would have jobs exactly like the ones that there are in the Muggle world such as Shop Clerks,Judges, Taxi Services and even Animal Breeders. Wizards would be able to do Muggle jobs with no problem at all but Muggles would have an overwhelming struggle to try and do jobs in the Wizarding world.

Although Wizards have vastly different jobs than Muggles the same problems still occur such as spies in the government or people trying to take over the highest position in the government. Wizards to however have some relations to very important Muggles such as certain ministers and mayors in order to try and have some grip on the affairs of the Muggle worlds. Some Wizards might end up very high the chain of careers due to hard work and such and as a counterpoint to that some Wizards might end up on the very bottom end of the chain due to slacking and laziness. The difference between the potential hazards of the jobs of the Wizarding world and the jobs of the Muggle world is how easy it is to recover from the potential hazards. If a Muggle were to break their legs or something along those lines they run the risk of never being able to work again and risk ruining their lives. In the Wizarding world if someone was to break both of their legs they would be able to go to the Wizarding Hospital and after some immense pain they would be back to work maybe within a couple weeks.

Curiosities

The Many Secrets of Hogwarts, From Secret Passages to Forgotten History

Posted on July 15, 2016by francia

There seems to be countless secrets that The Castle Of Hogwarts holds dear and there are some secrets that maybe nobody will ever know. Even the staff of the school don’t know many of the secrets such as the Chamber of Secrets. Due to the Marauder’s Map at least seven of the secret passages are made clear to Harry throughout the series despite some of them being closed off since the making of the map. There are also some secrets that are known only by staff of the school considering they need the password to get into Dumbledore’s office and some of the house common rooms. There are also secrets hidden in some of the paintings in the school such as the painting that hides the entrance to the kitchens where someone needs to simply tickle the pear to get it to giggle and show the entrance. There are dozens of other secret passageways varying in secrecy such as the Room of Requirement, to the passageway underneath the Whomping Willow that leads to the Shrieking Shack. There are also secret passages within the school and hidden tricks to getting around such as the vanishing step, or hidden doorways behind bookshelves that lead to other parts of the castle, most of which the castle caretaker Argus Filch knows about and uses to get around the castle faster than the students can.
There are things in Hogwarts that aren’t just secret passages and things that are a secret to everyone, there are also some tips and tricks to help students get around the school without too much trouble. Things that include running from the caretaker’s cat, Ms. Norris to knowing that the paintings in the school might help you in your time of need. There are also things that are widely known such as don’t ever go into the Forbidden Forest because who knows what lurks there and if you can help it don’t go swimming in the lake for fear of the Giant Squid and the Mermen that live there and they aren’t too keen on people dropping in for a visit. Hogwarts seems to be like a normal school in that keeping in the loop with your fellow classmates for the latest gossip and news might keep you on the path to success and in Hogwarts case it might keep you alive.
There are also things that hold historical significance in the school such as the knowledge that the school was built by three main founders, Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff. These are just widely known facts and history of the school. There are also things that might be taught in the school such as the history of the Headmasters at Hogwarts. All of these are outlined in the book “Hogwarts A History” which would be publicly available to all students interested except for the books in the restricted section which of course would be off limits. The Restricted Section seems to be another point of secrecy within Hogwarts as students that wish to access that section need explicit permission from a teacher and even then the students aren’t sure what lies within the shelves of it. The Hogwarts library would also have books on things outside of Hogwarts such as the potential history of the Ministry of Magic and the rise and fall of various wizarding factions. Hogwarts carries countless secrets within its walls and for someone to try and learn every one of the secrets of the school would take their entire lives maybe just focusing on one extensive secret such as the Room of Requirement. There are some secrets within the walls that maybe most people don’t wish to know and might be quite deadly.

Characters Curiosities

10 Facts About Molly Weasley

Posted on July 4, 2016by francia

Molly Weasley is the mother of the pure blood wizarding family, the Weasleys. She was born into the Prewett Family, another wizarding family.
Molly married Arthur Weasley and together they have 7 seven children: Bill, Charlie, Percy, twins, Fred and George, Ron, and Ginny.
Molly had two brothers who were members of the original Order of the Phoenix. They were killed the first time that Voldemort tried to take over the wizarding world.
Molly attended Hogwarts, where she met Arthur. They eloped shortly after they both graduated and during the period that Voldemort was trying to assume power.
Molly takes Harry under her wing, becoming a surrogate mother to him. In the first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Molly meets Harry on Platform 9 ¾ and helps him get onto it. During his first Christmas at Hogwarts Molly knits Harry a Christmas jumper (the same jumper that she knits for her children) and sends him some homemade fudge. Ron had written to her earlier and told her that Harry wasn’t expecting any presents.
When Molly discovers that Fred, George, and Ron had stolen the flying car she is so angry that she makes her sons de-gnome the back garden.
Molly has a crush on Gilderoy Lockhart although she will never admit to it.
After Percy disowns his family for supporting Dumbledore after Voldemort’s return and moves to London, Molly goes up to talk to him. She appears at the door of his flat. Percy slams the door in her face. At Christmas he returns his jumper unopened and Molly is devastated.
Molly’s confrontation with the Boggart at 12 Grimmauld Place revealed that her worst fear was something happening to a member of her family or Harry.
Molly disapproved of her son, Bill’s, engagement to Fleur Delacour. She invites Nymphadora Tonks to the Burrow often, hoping to get Bill interested. She finally accepts Fleur’s love for Bill after Fleur refuses to leave Bill even after he is scarred during The Battle of the Astronomy Tower.

Fleur Delacour: “You thought I would not weesh to marry him? Or per’aps, you hoped? What do I care how he looks? I am good-looking enough for both of us, I theenk! All these scars show is zat my husband is brave!”

Mollly: “Our Great-Auntie Muriel, has a very beautiful tiara – goblin—made—which I am sure I could persuade her to lend you for the wedding. She is very fond of Bill, you know, and it would look lovely with your hair.”

For his birthday, Molly gifts Harry with a watch that once belonged to her dead brother, Fabian. Harry is so overcome with emotion that he interrupts her speech to give her a hug.
At the Battle of Hogwarts Molly is devastated when Fred is killed. She lays across his chest and weeps.
When the Battle of Hogwarts resumes, Molly battles Bellastrix Lestrange after she almost hits Ginny with a killing curse. She has what many consider to be the best line of the series: “Not my daughter, you bitch!!” Molly winds up killing Bellatrix. Voldemort is so incensed at the killing of his favorite that he tries to kill Molly. She is protected by Harry.
At the end of the series, it is revealed that Molly and Arthur have twelve grandchildren. Percy has reconciled with his family and named one of his daughters, Molly, after his mother.

Characters Curiosities

10 facts about Percy Weasley

Posted on July 1, 2016by francia

Percy Ignatius Weasley is the third son of Molly and Arthur Weasley. He has two older brothers, Bill and Charlie, twin younger brothers, Fred and George, another younger brother, Ron, and a younger sister, Ginny. The Weasleys are a pure blood wizarding family known for their red hair and freckles. When we meet him in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Percy is on his way to Hogwarts as a prefect, complete with a special badge. He is also beginning his fifth year.
When Percy was made prefect, his parents gave him an owl, Hermes, and new robes. Previously Percy had to wear the hand me down robes of his older brothers as the Weasleys do not have a lot of money. Percy is made Head Boy in his final year at Hogwarts.
Percy is constantly teased by his younger brothers, Fred and George. This constant teasing leads to Percy concealing his relationship with another prefect, Penelope Clearwater, for most of the second book. This concealment also contributes to Ginny being abducted and nearly killed.
Percy looked after his sister Ginny during her first year at Hogwarts. He makes her take Pepper up Potion because he thought she looked ill. He also comforts Ginny when she becomes scared that Ron will be expelled.
Percy received perfect scores on his N.E.W.T.S
After he graduates from Hogwarts, Percy goes to work for the Ministry of Magic. He doesn’t work in the same office as his father instead he goes to work in the Department of International Magical Cooperation.
Percy acted as a judge for the event during the Triwizard Tournament. He was filling in for his boss, Barty Crouch Sr. Barty Crouch had been ill since the Quidditch World Series. He primarily communicates with his assistant, Percy, through owls.
After the Triwizard Tournament, Percy is promoted to assistant to the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. Percy tells his family expecting them to be pleased, but winds up getting into a huge fight with his father who believes that Fudge is just using him to spy on the Weasleys and the Order of the Phoenix.

“He went completely beserk. . .Her said Dad was an idiot to run around with Dumbledore, that Dumbledore was heading for big trouble and Dad was going to go down with him, and that he –Percy – knew where his loyalty lay and it was with the Ministry. And if Mum and Dad were going to become traitors to the Ministry he was going to make sure everyone knew he didn’t belong to our family any more. And he packed his bags the same night and left.”

Molly Weasley goes up to London to talk to Percy and he slams the door in her face. He also returns her traditional Christmas jumper, which further devastates her. Percy accompanies Rufus Scrimgeour, the new Minister of Magic, to the Burrow, to covertly recruit Harry Potter. Although Molly is happy to see him and hugs him, he reveals that he will not be reconciling with his family.

Percy doesn’t fully believe that Voldemort has returned until the Death Eaters takeover the ministry. Percy joins his family at the Battle for Hogwarts. Percy and his father reconcile and together they defeat Pius Thicknesse. Percy then fights alongside his younger brother, Fred. He witnesses Fred’s and is visibly upset.
After the end of the series, Percy becomes the head of the Department of Magical Transportation and marries a woman named, Audrey, and has two daughters. He names one of them, Molly, after his mother.