The Sad Ancient Loss (SPOILER ALERT!)

             In the book Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling, Harry and many other people in the wizarding world are in grief after the burst of green light, knocks the Hogwarts headmaster Dumbledore dead. Throughout out the series of books I have grown very attached to Dumbledore's  sweet, calm, and intelligent quietness with dealing with issues making this also very sad for me. Dumbledore was a kind, powerful wizard, though when he knew he was ready to die he let the wizards who would never actually be able to defeat him, take him down.

             For example on page 592, " 'They thought I'd die in the attempt, but I'm here... and you're in my power.... I'm the one with the wand.... You're at my mercy...."

             'No Draco,' said Dumbledore quietly. 'It is my mercy, and not yours, that matters now.' " This scene shows that he has the power to take down his opponent yet he stands there giving his life. I see Dumbledore as a honorable, great man for this and all the things he has done in the past. On the other hand someone else would think that what he is doing he is a weak and that he made a bad decision. I thought it was extra dramatic to have all the people to have loved him over the years cry together when they found out the news and when they were at the funeral.

             I think that this part of the story relates to religion and powerful people in the real world. I think it relates to how a few years ago there was a guy who had become one of "the head people" in the Jewish community and people believed that he was the Messiah. After he died people said when he comes back all the  people will resurrect and things will be good again. Dumbledore dying is related to this because he had basically   become a head and a hope of light to the good people of the wizarding world just as "the Messiah" guy had been important and gives hope to the Jews.

                                                                                                                               

Pushing on Through

              In the book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling, Harry is a very strong and courageous boy as I have said before. In the book there are a lot of parts where he really is so fearless and more brave then anyone I know of. Throughout the series he has developed a lot into who he is now. He started out as a little, sort of nervous boy and has become helpful to others and brave at battle.
              He helped many of the other students with a private club called Dumbledore's Army (D.A.) where they learned new spells to prepare for battle because Umbridge wouldn't teach them anything. I feel that by Harry doing this action showed how kind and advanced he is. It also shows true friendship because Umbridge, Filch, and Slytherins were trying to get them into big trouble by catching them yet he agreed to keep up his training to them. This ended up not working so well because they got in big trouble once they finally found them training in action.
              The major event in the book that shows that he is brave and strong is when he is at the ministry and all the death eaters and Voldemort  and they all broke into battle. In this scene he was very brave by staying and fighting instead leaving the problem behind and going. This scene showed that Harry is a very strong person because even after Sirius his godfather is killed by Bellatrix Lestrange (they are cousins) he continues to fight while holding in all the grief of the event that just happened. Harry goes through a lot of hard times and still always manages to make it through alright. 

Hogwarts is Changing

              In the book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling, Harry and his school are changing a lot. The years before at Hogwarts in terms of rules, teachers, and other factors were relatively the same neutral. Though in this book Hogwarts gets a lot more uptight and Harry also matures and develops a lot when the book begins and throughout the story.
              The main reason Hogwarts is changing so much is because Professor Umbridge, from the ministry of magic becomes a teacher there. For example on pg. 241-2 " 'Well I don't,' said Hermione bluntly. 'There's nothing written up there about using defensive spells.' ... 'Using defensive spells?'Professor Umbridge repeated with a little laugh. 'Why, I can't imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to use a defensive spell, Miss Granger. ...' " This is a small example of how Umbridge is making very strict completely different rules like, no spell casting in Defense Against the Dark Arts. My feelings about her is that she is just rude to students and it shouldn't be in her power at all to make any decisions for Hogwarts. It makes me feel even worse that this is only one small thing that she does compared to all the things she tries to do to teachers and other things of much more authority than her.
              The other thing I mentioned earlier was that Harry also changes and develops a lot in this book. Part of the way he changed is ever since last year when Cedric Diggory died he has been on edge and ranting off at people with stress or some negative feeling. An example from the text is on pg. 245 " 'So according to you, Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord, did he?' Harry asked, his voice shaking... 'Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident," she said coldly. I am sort of disappointing that Harry is acting so brutal yet at the same time I understand why he would feel the need to get aggravated at points. I also still really hate Umbridge because she is a horrible woman with no sense of others feelings.

Lonely Competitor

           In the book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, by J.K. Rowling, a lot of people are against Harry and putting him down, but he stays strong and tries his best not to let any of the insults and jeering get to him. Even some of the people he knows well and for a long time were being rude just because his name somehow got put into the Goblet of Fire. Some of the students that were going against Harry took it to extreme levels for no reason except for a few laughs.
           An example of how students took making fun of him extreme was when some Slytherin students actually made magical buttons to wear on your shirt that say, "Potter Stinks," and a few other rude messages. Pg. 298 "The Slytherins howled with laughter. Each of them pressed their badges too, until the message POTTER STINKS was shining brightly all around Harry." They look at him all day, pressing the button to change the writing on it, and laughing at him as heat from anger rises in his body. After days of being tortured about being part of the competition, I was surprised to see that the worst he did was a little spell at Malfoy which wasn't even a very serious spell.
           Something else that is a big deal for him is how people are starting to shun him. Even worse, a lot of the people in Gryffindor are not talking to him or being rude. Worst of all, Ron, one of his two best friends is ignoring him because he is pissed that Harry joined it and blames Harry for putting his name in. I can only imagine how bad Harry must feel for almost everyone except Hermione, to not want to hang out with anymore or for them to be rude to him and make him feel bad even though he truthfully didn't enter his name in. If I were in his situation right now I would feel very lonely and sad and just really wish people would just believe me when I would say "I didn't enter my name!"

Endless Journies

            In the book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling, Harry and his friends go on lots of fun and exciting adventures/journeys. Some of the adventures can be a bit scary though others are very fun and great to read.
            One of the fun and exciting journeys they go on is when they are headed to the Quidditch World Cup. The story makes it very full of energy and exciting. For example pg. 112 " 'Levski - Dimitrov - Moran - Troy - Mullet - Ivanova - Moran again - Moran - MORAN SCORES!' " This sentence/dialogue shows excitement in the text and it makes it feel very real like sport games are with the people talking.
            Times when the journeys/adventures can be scary is like when Death Eaters are attacking and killing people. This leads me to my next example on pg. 119 "By the lights of the few fires that were still burning, he could see people running away into the woods, fleeing something that was moving across the field towards them, something that was emitting odd flashes of light and noises like gunfire." When I was reading this section about how the Death Eaters attacked the campsite surrounding the Quidditch World Cup stadium I was a little frightened by the attacking and dark, angry mood of when they are around (like the dark mark).

The Boy Who Excelled

           Harry in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling, is a very strong and intelligent boy. Throughout the book there are many moments with teachers and in Hogwarts where he shows much strength mentally and physically. He also is not a quitter and if there is something he wants to accomplish hewill try very hard. Ever since Harry was a little boy he has been a very different, special boy.

           For example, pg. 115-117 is the whole slow process of Harry getting the hippogriff to trust him and to allow Harry to slowly get along with it and pet it. Harry is very brave in this scene because there is a good chance that the animal would strike him and possibly injure him. He is also very smart by clearly listening to what Hagrid's directions are and strategically does them slow and calmly to keep the hippogriff at ease. Once he is finished with his turn with the hippogriff, Malfoy tries without any strategy or kindness and he gets violently struck by the animal.

           Pg. 241-242 " 'EXPECTO PATRONUM!' Harry bellowed. 'EXPECTO PATRONUM! EXPECTO PARTONUM!' ... and then a huge, silver shadow came bursting out of the end of Harry's wand, to hover between him and the dementor..." This is an excerpt from a scene where Harry and Professor Lupin are working on a patronus so Harry can protect himself from a future dementor attack. Lupin said don't be annoyed if you can't get it because there are much more advanced wizards than you that have trouble with it. Despite what Lupin said Harry still got after his third round of trying to get the spell. This shows lots of strength and dedication mentally and physically.

The Horrible Dursleys

               In "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," (and all the other books) Harry is forced to live with his awful aunt, uncle, and there son Dudley. Harry is very strong by getting through the whole summer with out completely bursting out at them. He is able to stay strong and clean by remembering if he wants to get permission to go to Hogsmead he has to stay on their good side (which is equivalent to being their servant). Not only do they treat him horribly and make him do chores for them; they barely allow his friends from Hogwarts to stay in contact with him.

              An example from the text is on pg. 4 " 'THERE IS NO HARRY POTTER HERE!' he roared, now holding the receiver arm's length, as though frightened it might explode." This example is when Ron tries to contact Harry on the phone and Uncle Vernon screams at him and blows him off, furious at Harry for giving anyone their number. The only way Harry can get in touch with anyone is by owl and he is only allowed to send it out at night because they don't like the racket it makes when kept in the cage.

              Pg. 24 " 'Do they use the cane at St. Brutus's boy?' she barked across the table... 'Yes,' said Harry... 'Excellent,' said Aunt Marge." This example shows how the whole family is so rude to him and yet they still expect him to be on best behavior all the time. In a few pages before this there are other examples of the family being very rude to him as though he is an animal/lower than them. I find their behavior and actions disgusting and hard to see why anyone would treat family like they do. Though after all the good behavior he had been giving he finally blew his chance of getting to go to Hogsmeade  when he screams at Aunt Marge and literally bloats her up.