BEST BLOG ENTRY: Draco Malfoy: Truly What He Appears To Be?

One of the major characters that Harry comes into contact with and has to deal with throughout the series is his arch enemy: Draco Malfoy.  Now, at first glance, Draco seems bad.  As a follower of Voldemort and a Death Eater, he appears to have no good in him.  However, does the fact that he is a Slytherin and seems to be at the scene of every crime really show his true colors?  I think there is more to Draco Malfoy than meets the eye.

In the early books, Draco introduces himself to Harry and tells him that in respect to making new friends, “I can help him with that.” Although this seems like a jerk move, which it kind-of is, I believe that Draco was merely taking pride in the house that his family for generations and generations back had come from.  Just as Harry wanted friends who were in Gryffindor, Draco viewed the members of the Slytherin house as the kind of friends that he would like to associate with.  Nobody can fault him for that.  However, later in the first movie, Draco insists on being cruel and disrespectful to Harry and his friends multiple times.  On one occasion, he takes Neville’s remembrall, and brings it to an area in which Neville could never retreive it.

Some of the more contraversial times in the series is when Draco is dealing with the conflict of having to be a Death Eater.  I truly believe that he is a good kid on the inside, and that responsibility was thrust upon him before he was ready.  Although he is a jerk at times, and makes Harry’s life more difficult, he is merely trying to have a little fun.  When he has actual responsibilities that deal with life and death, the poor kid doesn’t know what to do.  For example, when he first learns of what he has to do at the end of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, he literally goes and cries in the bathroom.  How sad is that?  He doesn’t really have anybody to back him up or help him out.  That would be a lonely place.  I think that if Draco didn’t have Lucius as a father, then he and Harry could be genuine friends. 

When Harry is disgusied in Malfoy Manor, and his face is totally distorted, Draco is asked if he knows who this person is.  Although, he knows without a doubt that it is Harry, he does not say anything.  Does he want Harry’s life to be preserved?  Does he want Voldemort taken down?  It’s hard to know, but one thing we do know is that Draco protected Harry in this situation, when he had all the power in the world to end his life.  There must be something good inside him.

Finally, Draco deals with the ultimate battle between good and evil.  He has the responsibility of killing Dumbledore, one of the greatest wizards ever known to the wizarding world.  That’s like trying to kill the President of the United States times twenty.  So many people would hate you for that.  Plus, good luck.  Dumbledore has the power to save himself whenever he wants, so if he doesn’t want to die, he’s not going to.  When the time comes to kill the Hogwarts Headmaster, Draco successfully disarms him.  However, he cannot bring himself to say the unforgivable words, “Avada Kedavra.”  Why?  Everything we know about him tells us that he would kill Dumbledore in the blink of an eye.  In addition to being scared, I don’t think that Draco ever had it in him.  He was a pretty good kid, who didn’t want the blood of another wizard, especially one of the greatest, on his hands. 

The last sign that Draco is really good on the inside is when he walks away from Voldemort and his army at the end of the last movie.  Although he does not join the good side, he is turning away from the evil in his life.  It’s a hard thing to do-to walk away from the one wizard who has the most power to kill you.  In the end, I believe Draco was a noble wizard, who just got mixed up with the wrong kind of people.  On the inside, he had the potential to be a true hero. 

Hatred: A Reason To Unite

We all have our favorite characters in Harry Potter that we have grown to know and love.  However, there are also the characters who we absolutely cannot stand, and who provoke an alliance of hatred among Harry Potter fans everywhere.  There are many out there, but in my opinion, the ones who deserve to be ragged on the most are Dolores Umbridge, Severus Snape, and the Dursleys.

The Dursleys:  Yes, there is much to hate about these people.  Their cruelty towards Harry, their prideful and arrogand actions, and their shallowness towards those they associate with are enough to make enemies anywhere.  Although I absolutely hate these people, they honestly can’t be judged too harshly.  It’s not like they knew that Harry was “The Chosen One” and that he was respected by nearly everybody in the wizarding world.  As muggles, they can’t really understand or fathom who he really is.  Yes, they treat him very harshly, but let’s be honest,  if a wizard was living in my house, I’m not sure that I would be okay with letting him roam free around my house.  Harry’s actions in the first book alone are a good enough excuse to not trust him.  His hair grew at unnatual speeds, he made the glass disappear at the zoo, and he attracted thousands of letters brought by owls.  That sounds pretty crazy to even me.  Their negative attitude toward Harry being a wizard is pretty understandable.  However, even looking at the Dursley family from the perspective of a muggle, we can still find things to hate about them.  First of all, they completely spoil their son.  Did they honestly get him 37 presents for his birthday?  Seriously?  And as if that isn’t enough, they give into his relentless pleadings to get more than he already has.  That is out of control.  They literally let him eat whatever he wants, and clearly could not care less that his weight is getting to an unsafe level for somebody his age.  Even when Harry is 100% in the right, they still find reasons to punish him and hold grudges against him.  I don’t know how Harry dealt with them for so long. 

Severus Snape: This is an easy guy to hate for sure.  He goes around making enemies and finding reasons to be angry at everyone.  It is no wonder that Harry and his friends took an immediate disliking toward him from the very beginning.  Even though things are not as they seem in many circumstnces, Snape just seems to attract trouble and assume guilt for many of the things that happen at Hogwarts.  When the troll was let in on Halloween, all the evidence seemed to be pointing to him.  When Harry’s broom was jinxed, Snape again seemed to be the culprit.  JK Rowling did a great job of making us see a very narrow perspective of Snape’s life, causing the majority of us to hate him and to cast all guilt on him.  Especially in the earlier books, Snape seems to go out of his way just to make life difficult for Harry.  In Harry’s very first potions class, Snape puts him on the spot and asks him an impossible question, which is designed for the sole purpose of embarassing and finding cause to scold Harry.  Even though Harry doesn’t flaunt his fame, Snape seems to think that he does, and he does everything in his power to try to diminish the role that Harry plays in the wizarding world.  Snape also seems to give Harry detention an unusually many amount of times, and he takes points away from the Gryffindor house for absolutely no reason at all.  Also, Snape kills Dumbledore.  Enough said.  If that’s not a reason to hate somebody, I don’t know what is.  Snape also always seems to be looking for a way to bring others down, thereby building himself up.  However, as fun as it is to jump on the hate bandwagon and talk trash about Snape, we can’t forget to mention things from his side.   Although I absolutely despised Snape in the first six books, a single chapter in the last book completely redeemed him.  When Harry goes into the pensieve and sees who Snape really is, it changes everything.  Things in previous books are not as they previously seemed, and Snape’s good intentions can be seen when pondered upon from his point of view.  Seeing his side of the story made him one of the greatest heroes in the entire series, and proved that without Snape, Harry would have never been able to defeat Voldemort.

Dolores Umbridge: As I have hacked away at other characters, I have also talked about their side of the story and tried to understand their perspective.  This is not the case with Professor Umbridge.  She has absolutely no redeeming qualities, and is possibly the #1 character on my hate list (not just in Harry Potter).  At first glance, she looks like a very likeable lady.  Her smile, style, and stature all lead those around her to believe that she is a very approachable and understanding lady.  That could not be farther from the truth.  When she becomes the headmistress at Hogwarts, she is immediately hated by almost all the staff and students.  She attempts to demand attention, and in order to get her way, she asks the Ministry of Magic to back her up.  She gets started right away firing teachers that she deems unworthy to teach and whom she thinks undermines her authority.  When punishing students for crimes that they did not even commit, she gives them cruel and unusual punishments, which in circumstances not-a-few have brought tears and grief. Harry was forced to essencially write lines with his own blood over and over again.  Her high voice is enough to drive anybody up the wall.  When things don’t go her way, she does everything in her power to get what she wants.  She literally puts up a new rule everyday, with the threat that anybody in violation of it will be expelled, or worse.  She has no respect for anybody, and even chooses to disrespect Dumbledore, among many of the other teachers at Hogwarts.  This is the one character in Harry Potter that I absolutely loathe more than anybody else.

"I Must Not Tell Lies"

Dumbledore vs. Voldemort: Who Is More Powerful?

The Fight Between the Two Greatest Wizards of All Time

Harry Potter fans everywhere know that Voldemort is the name feared beyond any other in the wizarding world.  With a flick of his wand, he literally has the power to destroy anybody.  However, Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, is arguably one of the greatest  and most powerful wizards of all time.  If these two masters of magic were to fight to the death, who would emerge victorious?

Voldemort has killed countless people, including many of the noblest and greatest wizards ever known.  His merciless nature allows him to kill without feeling any remorse.  He seems to be able to mutter “Avada Kadavra” as often as Harry uses the spell “Expelliarmus.”  (If you are unaware, that is unbelievably often). The killing spell is no different to him than any other.  Dumbledore does not kill easily, and realizes that there will be repercussions with every choice he makes.  Because of his caring nature, it might be difficult for him to ever kill anybody, even Voldemort. Another reason that Voldemort would have an advantage over Dumbledore is that he has a soul that is split into seven pieces.  So in reality, the Hogwarts Headmaster would have to kill Voldemort seven times, wheras Voldemort would only need one opportunity. SPOILER ALLERT:  In addition to Dumbledore having to destroy the Horcruxes, there comes the dilemma of Harry being one of them, and Dumbledore could not possibly bring himself to destroy that one specific piece.  Therefore, Harry acts as a sort of insurance for Voldemort, and that causes a little bit of a problem.  However, Harry would undoubtedly be willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of those around him, especially Dumbledore.  Probably the most convincing reason that Voldemort would win is the fact that one of his Horcruxes did in fact lead to the demise of Dumbledore.  When Dumbledore found the ring, which was a Horcrux, he did not fully appreciate the danger of it.  He allowed the Dark Magic it contained to infect him, and because he did not catch it quickly enough, it indirectly caused his death.

Voldemort, He Who Must Not Be Named, The Dark Lord, Tom Riddle, etc.

My personal opinion is that Dumbledore would undoubtedly win in a fight.  He is way more knowledgeable about magic than Voldemort, due to his years of experience.  Dumbledore has countless loyal and trustworthy followers who would stand by his side in any moment of need, and would even die for him.  Although Voldemort has followers, few, if any of them, are truly loyal to him.  They only stand by his side when they know there will be repercussions (aka death) if they abandon him.  Dumbledore’s ability to feel love, happiness, joy, and hope would also serve him well.  Having something to fight for can make all the difference in the end.  In addition to my confidence in Dumbledore, I also believe that Voldemort knows deep down that Dumbledore would win.  In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, it talks about how the only person Voldemort fears is Dumbledore, which is why the Sorcerer’s Stone was hidden close to his watchful eye.  One of the biggest aspects of the series deals with The Deathly Hallows, which are known to make the owner of all three the master of death.  If Dumbledore had wanted to become invincible, he surely could have done so.  He knew where all three of them were, and had possession of all three of them at different points of his life.  He gave up the invisibility cloak to Harry, carried the Elder Wand to his grave, and concealed the Resurrection Stone in the Golden Snitch for Harry to open at the proper time.  And you know what?  If all this doesn’t convince you that Dumbledore would win, then consider the last, and most convincing reason that he would win.  Good always triumphs over evil.  That’s really all there is to it.   So, all in all,  if these two ever crossed paths and only one had the chance to come out alive, I am convinced that we would all see Dumbledore rising victorious from the ashes of this fight.

Hermione vs. Ginny: Who Deserves Harry?

Greatest Couple There Ever Could Have Been

For me, one of the most unexpected and disappointing aspects of the Harry Potter series was the relationship status of some of the most important characters.  The fact that Ginny Weasley and Harry Potter, and Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley ended up together was probably one of the biggest upsets for me.  I can think of very few reasons that Harry and Ginny should have ever had a romantic interest. From book one, I always imagined that Harry and Hermione would have been together.  Upon first meeting, Hermione and Harry seemed like unlikely friends, let alone lovers.  However, as the first book progressed, and their friendship grew, the likelihood of a closer relationship later in the series was undeniable.  In the first book, Harry and Hermione came to know each other better than any of the other characters did.  I think that Hermione and Harry are better friends than even Harry and Ron are.  Hermione was raised by muggles, just as Harry was, and she understands the struggles and heartache that come with that.   She understands Harry’s connection with Voldemort, and she gives him advice and support as he copes with this.  Ron is pretty much clueless.  Through the obstacles and problems that these three friends face, Harry and Hermione fight on the front lines, while Ron mostly takes the back seat.  To me, Ron serves more as a friend and a source of comedic relief when times get rough than anything else.  He is a great friend to both Harry and Hermione, but let’s be honest, isn’t Hermione a little out of his league?  Hermione has a lot going for her, and Ron just doesn’t seem to have his act all together.

Ginny enters the scene in the first book, and really doesn’t have any major roles except for being a little sister to Ron.  She acquires a liking towards Harry merely because he is, “The Chosen One”.  In the second book, Ginny is dragged into the Chamber of Secrets and succumbs to the counterfeit friendship of Tom Riddle, which she finds through his diary.  She has to be saved from the Chamber of Secrets by Harry because of her foolish mistakes.  Ron also has to be saved many times by both Hermione and Harry because either his wand is acting up, or he just simply doesn’t have the knowledge to get himself out of a given situation.  It seems to me that Harry and Hermione both spend a good amount of their time saving other people, which is second nature to them both.  If that’s what they want to do, I feel like they should be in it together, and work as a team.  Ron and Ginny don’t seem to be any help in most situations, and act as more of a burden than a aid in times of need.  In both Ron and Hermione’s, and Harry and Ginny’s relationships, the characters seem to be unequally yoked.

Most Awkward Couple Ever

Overall, Hermione just seems to be more Harry’s type than Ginny.  She is kind, outgoing, smart, courageous, pretty, and friendly, whereas Ginny just seems to be timid and shy.  Really the only thing she has going for her is that she is part of the Weasley family.  Ginny also seems to be lacking self-respect.  She goes around “snogging” in public with the various boyfriends she acquires throughout the book, and doesn’t have the confidence to ever stand up or speak for herself.  Despite being just a background character who really doesn’t take the forefront in the minds of Harry Potter fans, Ginny doesn’t even seem to be on the forefront of Harry’s mind.  In the last movie, I’m pretty sure Ginny has about two lines.  Seriously?  How does Harry end up being with such a minimal character?  I think he deserves better than that.  Nobody can deny that Ginny is hands down the most awkward character in the Harry Potter movies.  Despite being taller than Harry, she also seems extremely uncomfortable any time she talks to him.  Hermione and Harry have the most chemistry of any of the characters in the Harry Potter series, and it only seems right that they should be together.

I Couldn’t Have Said It Better

Harry Potter: More Than Just a Series

The Most Magical Theme Song on Earth

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCNHVMIYqiA

What makes a woman who was on the verge of homelessness and helplessness now one of the richest and most famous women in Great Britain? A simple idea.  Or what started out as one anyway.  But this idea has grown, and grown, and grown, until there is barely a person in the world who hasn’t heard of it.  An idea so great and so brilliant that it has brought joy and laughter, friendship and love, and has even been influential enough to change the lives of even the most helpless and hopeless among us.  Harry Potter is surely more than just a series to those who have followed it from the beginning.  Because of the inspiration that came to J.K. Rowling one day, the world has been made just a little bit better.  But what is the big deal?  What sets this series apart from the next? Well, here is my perspective of Harry Potter.

I’m going to be completely honest, I am not a big fan of fantasy books.  Anytime somebody says something about them, all I think of is dragons and fairies and a bunch of stuff that could never exist.  It seems pointless to put time into something doesn’t benefit me in my everyday life.  However, Harry Potter is the exception to this statement.  I have loved every minute of the Harry Potter franchise.  Although there are dungeouns, dragons, spells, and magic, Harry Potter is not just another fantasy series that can be overlooked.  This has been the source of countless cherished memories from my childhood.  When the final movie came out, I didn’t want to see it because I knew that the minute the ending credits appeared on the screen, my childhood would finally end.  There would be no more books, no more movies, and from my perspective, no more excitement in the entertainment world.  These movies and books literally brought tears to my eyes.  I am not joking.  I literally was so sad that Harry Potter was ending that I cried three times in the last movie.  Three times! I didn’t even cry in Marley and Me, so it says a lot that J.K.’s creation could bring me that point. The most amazing thing is that I am not alone.  I am not the only person who has spent countless hours reading and rereading the books, watching and rewatching the movies, and letting Harry Potter take it’s place in my life.  I can guarantee that I am not the only one who was devastated to see it come to an end.

 Each of us can remember just a little bit of the joy we felt when Harry was sorted into the Gryffindor House, and the sense of friendship we felt when Harry and Ron saved Hermione for the first time, the terror when we first saw Voldemort, and the sadness when we saw Harry staring for hours at his parents that would never truly be by his side…and we will never forget any of those moments.  Now, some would argue that Harry Potter is just a book, and that it’s stupid to get so involved in a book and characters that don’t exist. Yes, the magic that I have experienced throughout the course of the Harry Potter experience is in great part due to my imagination, but I would take the side of Dumbledore and argue that, “Just because it happens inside your head doesn’t mean that it’s not real.” So this blog is a tribute to the best series ever written.  It is an attempt to keep Harry Potter alive, even though it has not been truly appreciated, and even forgotten by much of the world.  This is an attempt to help us relive the most magical moments of our lives that deserve to have a place forever in our hearts.