<<Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you’d expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn’t hold with such nonsense.
Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large moustache. Mrs. Dursleywas thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbours. The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere>>[1]
I could write a treatise on this story because nothing before or after has moved me so deeply! 7 books (translated into 77 languages + 4 other contours), 8 films, a fandom that goes beyond the land borders and millions, or I would say, billions of curiosities and spin offs, and the flame of interest is not extinguished yet.
Ravenclaw values intelligence, knowledge, and wit. Its emblematic animal is the eagle, and its colours are blue and bronze. The Ravenclaw Head of House in the 1990s was Filius Flitwick. The ghost of Ravenclaw is the Grey Lady, who was the daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw, the house’s founder. Ravenclaw corresponds to the element of air. The Ravenclaw common room and dormitories are located in a tower on the west side of the castle. Ravenclaw students must answer a riddle as opposed to giving a password to enter their dormitories. This riddle, however, can be answered by non-Ravenclaws. Famous Ravenclaws include Gilderoy Lockheart, Ignatia Wildsmith (inventor of Floo powder), and Garrick Ollivander.
Gryffindor values bravery, daring, nerve, and chivalry. Its emblematic animal is the lion and its colours are scarlet and gold. Minerva McGonagall was the most recent Head of Gryffindor. Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, also known as “Nearly Headless Nick”, was the house ghost. The founder of the house was Godric Gryffindor. Gryffindor corresponds to the element of Fire. The common room was located in one of the highest towers at Hogwarts, the entrance was situated on the seventh floor in the east wing of the castle and is guarded by a portrait of The Fat Lady. She permits entrance if given the correct password, which is changed numerous times throughout the school year. Famous Gryffindors include Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter, and Celestina Warbeck.
Slytherin house values ambition, cunning and resourcefulness and was founded by Salazar Slytherin. Its emblematic animal is the serpent, and its colours are emerald green and silver. Professor Horace Slughorn was the Head of Slytherin during the 1997–1998 school year, replacing Severus Snape, who as well, replaced Slughorn as Potions Professor when he retired for the first time several years prior. The Bloody Baron is the house ghost. The founder of the house was Salazar Slytherin. Slytherin corresponds roughly to the element of water. The Slytherin dormitories and common room are reached through a bare stone wall in the Dungeons. The Slytherin common room lies beneath the Black Lake. It is a long, low underground room with rough stone walls and silver lamps hanging from the ceiling. Famous Slytherins include Merlin, Tom Riddle, and Dolores Umbridge.
Hufflepuff values hard work, dedication, patience, loyalty, and fair play. Its emblematic animal is the badger, and Yellow and Black are its colours. Pomona Sprout was the Head of Hufflepuff during 1991-1998, Sprout left the post of Head of Hufflepuff and Herbology Professor sometime before 2017 and her successor for the position of Head of Hufflepuff is currently unknown. The Fat Friar is its ghost. The founder of the house was Helga Hufflepuff.
Hufflepuff corresponds to the element of earth. The Hufflepuff dormitories and common room are located somewhere in the basement, near the castle’s kitchens. It can be accessed by tapping the barrel two from the bottom, middle of the second row in the rhythm of “Helga Hufflepuff” and is described as being a cosy and welcoming place with yellow hangings, fat armchairs, and underground tunnels that lead to the dormitories, which have perfectly round doors, similar to barrel tops. Famous Hufflepuffs include Hengist of Woodcroft (founder of Hogsmeade), Newt Scamander, and Artemisia Lufkin (first female minister for magic).
There is something magical in a tale that goes beyond itself, that glowing from the pages expands into the reality of places, smells, everyday life. The first time I had the first book in the Harry Potter saga, I had no idea of the treasure that was hidden in that little volume, yet I immediately felt a pure, sincere, indescribable love for every single character that I met, for each line, comma and discovery.
“Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times if only one remembers to turn on the light” [2]
A fairy tale for adults. Even though at that time I was not an adult at all.
It was 2000, 16 years ago, and perhaps they are not that many to consider it a “great classic”, but it is for me.
Without Harry and his countless adventures, I would not have been the person I am!
Magic is reality: maybe not as in books with chopsticks, spells and potions, but with the words J.K. Rowling[3] was able to create a narrative universe that transported me to a better world, which escorted me in adolescence and consoled me in moments of discouragement, made me laugh when I needed it most, moved and hurt and angered.
And that today, 16 years later, still excites me like the first time. It still makes me laugh and cry and discover the value of friendship, bravery, sacrifice.
So I’m not ashamed to say that I collect objects from the saga, I dress in Hogwarts clothes, I went to London for the tour and I felt incredibly alive in retracing the same steps of the protagonists and antagonists.
I was so in love with these people that at the end of the sixth (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) book, the most fascinating, the most beautiful and the most ruined by the cinema, I argued with my family in defence of Professor Snape[4].
“You sort of start thinking anything’s possible if you’ve got enough nerve.”[5]
I do not know how many stories are able to do this: turn magic into reality! It is a saga that should be read to children, which adolescents must read and which should be taken with adult eyes. Courage, loyalty, solidarity, sense of duty, love, are concepts that take concreteness as the story unfolds and moves towards the conclusion. How many characters do not come to the seventh, heart-breaking, chapter, how much loss to restore peace. How much truth in a fairy-tale world, magical, unreal. It is a story that teaches a lot and that speaks to us even indirectly of many important issues: racism, violence, corrupt politics, hypocrisy. And it does so through a child who grows up with the reader, who fights against something far greater than himself, and who does not give up: never!
<<Of course, it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on Earth should that mean it’s not real?>>[6]
I owe so much to this saga that I can’t say it with simple words, I can only hope that everyone reads it, that they carry the message that the real magic is being themselves and not being afraid to admit it, and I am very sorry to say that the movies did not do justice in the slightest! There is not even half of these values of this MAGIC. So take the books, settle down comfortably, surround yourself with sweets all tastes +1, chocolate frogs, butter beer and let you comfort, amuse, captured from this immense classic.
“After all this time?”
“Always” [7]
[1] From “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”.
[2] From “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”.
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._K._Rowling
Harry Potter series
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (26 June 1997)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2 July 1998)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (8 July 1999)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (8 July 2000)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (21 June 2003)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (16 July 2005)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (21 July 2007)
Related works
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (supplement to the Harry Potter series) (1 March 2001)
Quidditch Through the Ages (supplement to the Harry Potter series) (1 March 2001)
The Tales of Beedle the Bard (supplement to the Harry Potter series) (4 December 2008)
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (story concept) (play written by Jack Thorne) (31 July 2016)
Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists (6 September 2016)
Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies (6 September 2016)
Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide (6 September 2016)
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (film script) (19 November 2016)
Short stories
Harry Potter prequel (July 2008)
Adult
The Casual Vacancy (27 September 2012)
Cormoran Strike series
The Cuckoo’s Calling (as Robert Galbraith) (18 April 2013)
The Silkworm (as Robert Galbraith) (19 June 2014)
Career of Evil (as Robert Galbraith) (20 October 2015)
[4] https://screenrant.com/snape-severus-harry-potter-alan-rickman-trivia-facts/
[5] From “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”
[6] From “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”.
[7] From “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”.
L’ha ripubblicato su Thr0ugh The Mirr0re ha commentato:
Always.
I think I’ll ever get tired of this saga. To re-read it and rediscover it. To get passionate, cry, laugh, get angry with these magnificent characters.
"Mi piace""Mi piace"