Basilisks and other Delights

 I have plenty to say about chapter 16..but first, I just want to brag a bit.

 My potions are ready:

Both recipes:

Our Love Potion (otherwise know as the Elixir for Reduced Internal Chatter and Lowered Inhibitions) is deliciously complete and ready for shipping to those in need. Unless I drink it all and wind up reliving A Midsummer Night’s Dream in my magical-haze, in which case, you’ll need to brew your own. Gather a handful dried Siberian Ginseng, 4 pieces candied ginger, a stick of cinnamon, a split vanilla bean, and five cardamom pods (peel then and drop the seeds on by one into a quart jar with the rest of the herbs and spices. Four dried apricots and an optional three dried cherries are then added to the jar. Pour a cup of good vodka (or cheap, if you like that extra ‘bite’) and a cup of brandy (never use flavored brandy of any sort - especially coffee-flavored brandy!) and a half cup of raw honey. You can also add up to a half cup of distilled water to make a less potent version if you fear overdoing it on the pure potion (there is no shame in that!). Cap the jar tightly and shake well to mingle the flavors and set to rest in an appropriate environment (under the moon, in a cobwebby corner, in the soft light of the rising sun..) Shake and move the jar daily - this potion gets bored quickly- to keep the ingredient will mixed. Taste in 21 days, and if it passes muster - cork it and prepare to enjoy the bliss of a mind quieted by magic. 

The pepperup potion is still around as well! Though I've discovered that when you use really cheap vodka, it's best to use about 3 more peppercorns and an added hour of steeping time. And I used really cheap vodka. But apart from that minor mishap, it's a delicious success. We have two little bottles. And it displays so well!

So while you're stirring a potion of your own, let's talk about The Basilisk. My absolute favorite Harry Potter meme can finally come into the discussion:

From HarryPotterHumor

hahahahahaha!!! I've been holding on to that one since before there even was a Harry Potter book-club! I love it. But more seriously..and even without catchy memes, I think the Basilisk is one of Rowling's biggest successes - myth and symbolism-wise. She pulls a major win here. I know, I know..the actual myth is less dramatic, but you know, artistic license is a pretty essential aspect of storytelling, and unlike some, I'm not about to fault her for a bit of creativity. We haven't exactly seen the basilisk yet - he's still hiding out in the Chamber, but his whole creeping through the pipes of the castle, trying desperately to kill with a glance is delightful. As is the exceptional luck of all Hogwart's students (leading me to wonder about protective spells and charms within the school itself). But, for those like our friend at Unexplained Mysteries (see above link), disappointed with Rowling's basilisk - there are battles worth fighting against Rowling's adaptations, this isn't one of them. Sit back, relax (try some of my potion!), and remember that despite not falling exactly into line with past incarnations, Rowling's basilisk is - at heart - every bit as beautifully evil as any other (though I agree, the sneaky weasel is a way better foe for it than a rooster's crow - best would be having Ron Weasley represent the weasel and kill it..but...well..SPOILER!

The point is, that myth is always semi-fluid, it's the deeper symbolism that ties it all together more than the externals. The real myths of the basilisk are so varied themselves that it seems more nit-picky than even I want to be to cry foul on this particular incarnation. Especially when, at heart, the book's version is a match. Rowling's basilisk is like myth itself - altered by time and place, decorated through her own imagination, and yet an obvious descendent of it's namesake. So Congratulations from me, J.k., on a job well done here. But don't worry, I'll chew her out for something else soon. Promise. 

for now, I'm just having too much fun being Gothic!

 But tell me. WHY exactly do Harry and Ron go to the teacher's loung to talk to McGonagall, overhear everything, then leave without telling her anything at all, and then (as if they can't get any dumber) go to talk to Lockhart of all people - knowing full well he's a hopeless failure. Is there a reason - aside from moving the plot along - that they would do that? Because I can't see one. Ron? Harry? Did your brains die right there in the staffroom?  Hmmm??

Moaning Myrtle - can you tell I'm having an easy time loading pictures?

 Moaning Myrtle is another win for Rowling. Maybe that's why I enjoy this book so much. She writes the house-elves, so I have something to cling to in my Un-Fan-ness, but then she has the basilisk, the dueling club, and Myrtle - whose life is so pathetic, so full of small miseries, and then death..and her death is full of the same collection of small miseries! She's a fantastic character. So very mundane - proof, at least, that it's not only muggles in the series who fail so completely at life.


 

Reflections: Saint and Pope

I wonder if some of us American Catholics are going to lose our fondness for St. Francis during this pontificate. So many bloggers and Catholic media personalities are tending toward the "I love him but.." line regarding Pope Francis, that I think we're going to discover just how much we don't actually love the Franciscan spirit when it's lived out right before our eyes. I know I often don't.  St. Francis was God's fool, and that foolish, full-hearted sort of love is terrifying, challenging, overwhelming; it leads us, like St. Francis himself, to strip naked before the whole world and fling ourselves as babes into the arms of God.  Francis embraced martyrdom, poverty, pain, and misunderstanding in an attempt to walk after Christ as a living icon.

 "[Francis] is great because he is everything. He is a man who wants to do things, wants to build, he founded an order and its rules, he is an itinerant and a missionary, a poet and a prophet, he is mystical. He found evil in himself and rooted it out. He loved nature, animals, the blade of grass on the lawn and the birds flying in the sky. But above all her loved people, children, old people, women. He is the most shining example of ..agape"*



Like Francis, this pope is making himself comfortable naked before God and man. He's not trying to show anything, I think, so much as he's simply being himself before God, and God's poor sinner before man. He's decided that he fears being misunderstood and misrepresented less than he fears that each person he interacts with will not see the love of God in him. And so he embraces everyone with that holy promiscuity Francis himself was know for. Every person, not every thing. And the distinction is always there for him. Pope Francis does not seem careful in his words in the thoughtful way a Thomas More, a Thomas Aquinas, or a Benedict XVI might be, his words are careful of their own free will, because they come from a soul already defined, and they are careless because he's chosen to allow them to be. Because this is his calling: to rebuild the Church, not as merely the guardian of morals, but as the true home of each and every soul. And we are a world that misreads careful words as cold and unloving. We need a chance to come home first - to be like that poor, wild boy in the parable, who's father ask questions another day; after the party, after the joyful embrace, after he's fed his starving boy, bathed him, clothed him, and loved him back into safety. 

 "I will show the way, He said. Follow Me and you will find the Father and you will all be his children and he will take delight in you. Agape, the love of each of us for the other, from the closest to the furthest, is in fact the only way that Jesus has given us to find the way of Salvation and of the Beatitudes."*

I am often uncomfortable with those formed by St. Francis. I'm torn between the desire to imitated and the knowledge that this is not my call, not my charism. But I love the squirming sense it gives me, that love really is the answer. And that love doesn't require niceness so much as holiness. And all of us, from the crustiest old imitators of Padre Pio, to the all embracing daughters of Mary Magdalene are called to be holy.

* both quotations are from Pope Francis' interview with Eugenio Scalfari


.

Harry Potter again at last! (Oh my goodness, really, I wrote that!?!)

I LOVE these memes!

Poor Harry is getting neglected. I suppose it's best we spend the busy autumn months being slow with book two, as so many conversations and long discussions aren't likely to come up until later in the series, but still, I feel neglectful. My brain has been all in a haze thanks to my husband's long hours, my daughter's enthusiasm, and everything that needs to be done before winter sets in. 

Jenna's recent post, thankfully, brought something to my attention though that I think would be so interesting to discuss. I think we've mentioned Rowling's successful use of place, regarding especially the Hogwart's castle. In this book we see the strength of place growing as we see both Harry and Riddle's relationship to the school. Both boys obviously see Hogwarts as home. And there is a sort of magic to home, both in the series and in reality. Being rooted to a place is powerful and leaves a mark on both the person and the place. It seems too that Dumbledore is very much at home in Hogwarts. It is his place as well. Rowling shows it best when she gives us a glimpse of the school's previous headmaster: Armando Dippet. Dippet is kind, and I'm sure very competent, but he doesn't infuse the school with his presence the way Dumbledore does. The sense is that Dumbledore's emotional connection to the school is similar to Harry's and to Riddle's. It's his place, and because it is his: emotionally as well as vocationally, the change in official status does nothing to damage his magical link to the school and it's students. It's a rich detail, I think, and one that gives a layer of tangible, natural magic to the series. And I hadn't noticed it until Jenna pointed it out.
  

I wondered what Dumbledore meant by asking Harry if there was anything Harry'd like to tell him.  If Dumbledore does know everything that goes on in Hogwarts--which would be a natural position to assume as children looking up to their wise, knowledgeable mentor--then there is something unsettling in his allowance for things to run their course. 

Christie points out that there's frustration in the role of Dumbledore so far. Rowling writes him almost omniscient and yet he watches and waits and does nothing as his students are assaulted. If I were on the board of governors, I'd be likely to want him replaced by someone with less power but more motivation. Someone who does more than watch and wait. It's a character flaw that's never really dealt with satisfactorily in the series. In part, I think because kid's books need to give the children space to save the world, and in part because Rowling's created a too-powerful character, who knows too much and is too capable to be anything but passive. But because he's so passive, he stands to lose much of his goodness.

Next week, be prepared! We're reading through darker waters, my potions are photograph-able (and load-able!) and I'll be back on a proper writing schedule! I promise.

Potions to Pass the Day

Notes from the Potion’s Dungeon:

Pepperup is a success! I love this recipe..too easy to fail, and amazingly perky. Take a long whiff and then sip slowly when you’re feeling down, under the weather, or in need of something peppery. To make, place 2 heaping teaspoons of whole black peppercorns in a pint of vodka. Allow them to steep under the light of the setting sun for about an hour then strain out the peppercorns, bottle, cork, and deliver to Professor Snape for full marks. Or, just take a shot. It’s Potions 101.

And now we’re starting a slow-brewing elixir for lowered inhibitions and reduced internal chatter. It won’t build love, per se, you’ll need a waxing moon for that, but it will make romantic evenings more fun..as well as making board games with friends, dance parties, and political discussions ridiculously amusing! For now, we’ve put together Siberian ginseng, dried apricots, candied ginger, cinnamon bark, whole nutmeg, ….. To steep. For Romance, expose it to moonlight for at least an hour each night; for full-hearted political discussions, set it out - properly covered - in a rainstorm. It needs to steep a week for full potency. So we’ll leave it on the shelf for now. Snape disapproves of love-potions, so make sure it’s a hidden shelf!

This week’s Reading:

The Dueling Club is one of my favorite scenes in the series. Partially because it’s one of the rare moments of inter-house recreation. We get to see the houses - out of class and -at least superficially - out of their school-imposed clicks. It’s also an interesting scene because it shows Snape and Lockhart in sharp contrast: dark and light are obvious..and somewhat misguiding it seems; but of primary interest to me is the contrast between the Showman - with his well-dressed hair, dramatic gestures, and cultivated pursuit of the spotlight; and the Shadow - who cultivates an image to deter interest rather than attract it, excels in subtlety and derision, and who is obviously in his element here, aiding Lockhart in his enthusiastic self-humiliation. Rowling’s talent for caricature is happy here. There are so many distinct temperaments to play with. Harry’s ability to speak to snakes is well-revealed here, with a wider potential for reaction than the classroom or common-room could offer. There has been some discussion around the ‘net about the occult implications in Harry’s ability to talk to snakes (my personal favorite for overall enjoyment is Godhatesgoths.com - who knew that God had such a loathing for pale kids in black skinny-jeans!). I think that, looking at the treatment of snakes overall in the series, and especially in this second book, we see a trend toward a very balanced treatment of the serpent. Like serpents throughout the Bible, we see snakes here as mutable, tools in the hand of those with the authority to use them. But also as creatures with a dark mystique. The wizards of Rowling’s world seem every bit as cautious of snakes as the rest of us. It’s an interesting line for Harry to walk - and I’m looking forward to seeing it’s effect on his future.

Fawkes is…interesting. I prefer the image of the phoenix born anew in beauty from the ashes than Rowling’s ugly little hatchling. It seems to diminish much of the imagery. As does the name itself, which Jenna discusses a bit with my poor neglected husband here. I can’t see any other link between Guy Fawkes and phoenix, apart from the burnings, which makes the phoenix’s name sort of an uncomfortable, partial-mockery of a dead man, and very much a throw-a-way of a potentially meaningful opportunity by an author who does seem to try very hard with her names. 

So brew up some Pepperup to sip alongside your afternoon tea, and share your thoughts  - I'll edit in some photos when - and if - Blogger lets me load them. And check back with Jenna for more to discuss on these chapters. She gives her response to the perennial Christian question: Do we give these books to children, or are they too dark, too witchy, too entirely lacking in artistic merit? The third would have been the stickler for me, until I found myself reading Corduroy the Bear for the umpteenth time. I do have standards with kid's books (even at this age) but I'm not convinced Harry falls outside those standards. And I'm not such a control freak that only the best and brightest of children's literature is permitted to fall under Yarrow's impressionable gaze. But I can see reasons for pause in the series, as there are in most books, depending on the individual child's needs, temptations, and maturity. Would I be more likely to tuck away Potter and prominently display The Hobbit..yes, I would, but it would be because I love The Hobbit, it's a better book, and one of my favorites, and parents are always going to encourage their favorites. It's just a fact of nature. But while I can see aspects of the books that are very problematic in the formation of youthful morality, I don't see enough to deny a child the books. Yet. 

Your thoughts?

Potions, Lies, and Mysteries: The Harry Potter Project - CoS 8-9

Like Harry, we are moving more quickly than expected into autumn. The early mornings are cold, and I feel for him up on his broom as I feed the pigs and watch the sun rise through my own steaming breath. 

I've put off my own 'pepperup potion' for too long, and so photos will have to wait til next week, when the bottled brew is ready to be seen and sipped (slowly, please, or you might end up looking like Ginny for the next quarter-hour). But the season is right for it, and I'm looking forward to having some on hand!

Rowling does come up with some excellent potions. Adorable names and amusing extras alongside - I can appreciate why Snape would lean towards the subtlety and the never-ending options for improvement that come with recipe-magic.  I think about him often now, as Autumn is the season for infusions, potions, essences, and tinctures. I'm especially interested in Madam Z. Nettles' Scintillation Solution - some suggest it's a brain tonic, making poor Madam Nettles a witty conversationalist, but I like to think it makes her 'bright' in another sense - a spell for brilliant, glittering skin perhaps. And I want it for my own. 

 When Harry finds the Kwikspell Course (I hope it's advertised as The Kwikspell Kourse and sold for five payments of $19.99 - with a 'kwik' response getting you an additional 'spell-boosting wand extender' and three extra-potent toadstools) on Filch's desk, we see more of the habitual lying the students of Hogwarts are noteworthy for (in my reading anyway). Harry lies to Filch, Hermione to Myrtle at the dullest party imaginable, Harry lies to Sir Patrick Delaney-Podmore's ghost at Nearly Headless Nick's request, and of course Nick himself is awash in socially-acceptable party lies. After Mrs. Norris is found, Harry, Ron, and Hermione attempt to lie their way out of any connection with the petrifying, and all of this is very casual, expected behavior. It's a small thing, I know, but one that grates on me while reading. Perhaps because I'm learning just how much I do value honesty; or perhaps because most of the lies are so careless.

The Death-day party itself is not terribly interesting. Rowling's ghosts are better left in the background, I think. But rumors that some Catholic critics of the series have linked the Death-day party to a Black Mass are still unsubstantiated. If anyone finds such a link, please pass it on. I can't find any real connection in the books or online....yet. 

Christie's recent post delves into the use of blood-slurs in the wizarding world - fascinating and thought-provoking - as well as touching on the mention (in last week's discussion) of those who disapprove of the Mandrake image in this book. I looked it up and discovered (to my surprise) that there are not a few who link the Mandrakes ugly-baby look in earlier chapters and eventual use in a Restorative potion (Lockhart calls it a Mandrake Restorative Draught, but we can't really trust him to know the proper name of anything but quality hair care and Odgen's Old Firewhisky) to a subtle pro-abortion agenda by the author. This is, I think, more than unfair to Rowling, who has her faults, but can generally be counted on to avoid the overly-subtle agenda. Mandrakes are in fact known for their human appearance, and for their cry, which kills. And Rowling's shown us  many times that her main skill as an author is in creating the cartoon - sometimes with a way-too-pushy agenda, but never with a so-light-you-can't-quite-taste-it message. So lets not pretend we believe she's delighting in cutting up 'living human babies' or encouraging the reader towards abortion in anyway through her use of Mandrakes, which are - after all, primarily used in fertility and life-promoting ways throughout magical tradition. 


But the mysteries in the book are deepening..and the Chamber of Secrets is such a grand, gothic sort of name for the hidden place of evil within a castle of magic. Unashamedly gothic. I love it.

Lockhart and other Joys

love you too, Gilderoy ;)

 Gilderoy Lockhart is pure delight! Obviously, he fails on a human level..but he's supposed to fail. He's a self-absorbed monstrosity..and I think it's in caricatures like Gilderoy that Rowling's talent really shows itself. While I'm forever disappointed with her primary characters, her peripherals are delightful, cartoonish, and consistent. Lockhart is one of my favorites, he so unabashedly self-serving..and his office is full of his own signed photos!!! What could be better - especially wizarding photos that seem just like tiny little mockeries on the wall. We are supposed to laugh, shaking our heads at him, and we do, because really, there's no other way to respond. Hermione does break character though, in her little crush on him. I can't really believe that Hermione isn't one of the first to notice his shallowness and his weak magic. It's not really fair to Hermione's character that she giggles and blushes with the rest of the girls whenever Lockhart goes by. I feel like there's a confusion here - Hermione seems to be passionate about knowledge until it comes to Lockhart, and then she's sort of reduced to just being impressed that he's "written most of the booklist"..and while Laura's right in saying (back in the comments somewhere) that it's tough to be consistent when you're 12, I think Rowling makes Hermione a bit weaker of a character when she has her hold on to the illusory Lockhart months after meeting the real man.

Poster

We've been talking a lot about the attitude toward muggles in the wizarding world, and this book really does bring out the dark underside. The fact that the rights and protection of muggles is even under debate is a pretty sad commentary on the wizarding community, also, as Christie's mentioned, J.K. Rowling seems to be presenting common decency as exceptional goodness pretty often as it relates to any interaction between wizards and anyone else, be they elves or muggles. I'm not sure if it's to create in the reader an awareness of how deeply flawed the wizarding world is, or if it is supposed to be viewed by the reader as exemplary. Thoughts here??

Jenna brought up an interesting point about believability - Ron's wand is an obvious Plot Necessity. If it weren't, any decent school would have it replaced, because he really can't do anything with it. Right now, it's just for humor: Ron attempts a spell - Failure! The general disorder of the school though, makes Lockhart's careless release of freshly caught Cornish Pixies acceptable and fun, but at some point you'd expect one of the more aware teachers to catch on to Ron's troubles and loan him a dumpy sort of school wand for the year. All that said, this book is doing a great job so far of  bringing us back to Hogwarts without making us feel we're repeating anything.

Cornish Pixie, bored by Lockhart's chatter

Reflections: The Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde

 “..but more often he would be alone, feeling through a quick instinct, which was almost a divination, that the secrets of art are best learned in secret, and that Beauty, like Wisdom, loves the lonely worshiper.”

~Oscar Wilde

“The Young King”

I read Oscar Wilde on calm Sunday afternoons and never fail to fall in love.  Wilde’s fairy tales are the tales of a man well acquainted with dark and light; a man haunted by God and beauty, nurtured by pain, and lost amid the wild distractions of the world. They are stories can’t be read without tears - there is too much of life there. Wilde wrote them for his own children and it’s lovely to see him point them again and again toward the whole-hearted love of the saint.

“As for thy dreams, think no more of them. The burden of this world is too great

for one man to bear, and the world’s sorrows to heavy for one heart to suffer.”

“Sayest thou that in this house?” Said the young king, and he strode past the Bishop,

And climbed up the steps of the altar, and stood before the image of Christ.

~Oscar Wilde

“The Young King”

The magic of Wilde is that of one who can not turn away from the pain he finds. Each tale teaches love in a different way, but all though the eyes, heart, and mystical imagination of the author, who, like the priest in the final tale, has finally lost his demons and come to welcome the whole of the world into his heart.

“The fauns also he blessed, and the little things that dance in the woodland, and the bright-eyed things that peer through the leaves. All the things on God’s world he blessed, an the people were filled with joy and wonder.”

~Oscar Wilde

“The Fisherman and His Soul”