Monday, December 22, 2014

In Short: Why I Love Harry Potter

In addition to my predetermined Advent reading, I've also indulged in a little Harry Potter re-reading. (If the 870 pages of Order of the Phoenix can be called "a little.") In the final chapter, I discovered this gem, which I'm pretty sure I missed every other time I read it.

"There were still deep welts on his forearms where the brain's tentacles had wrapped around him. According to Madam Pomfrey, thoughts could leave deeper scarring than almost anything else, though since she had started applying copious amounts of Dr. Ubbly's Oblivious Unction, there seemed to be some improvement."

Weaving together the whimsical and the profound in a single sentence, with a touch of humor. (And the idea that thoughts can cause more damage than any other kind of wound...how had I missed that little side commentary before?) If you haven't read this series lately, I highly recommend it. It means at least as much to me now as it did when I first read it as a child. Now more than ever, I can see that it's the perfect combination of an exciting fantasy world, excellent character development and writing style, and - in an incredibly heartfelt, honest manner - the simple triumph of good over evil.

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