William Jamison Instructor

Notes on Harry Potter

Why are  so many people wild about Harry? (Or at least they were back then...)

I have a fascination with the thought of teaching at Hogwarts though notice they do not seem to have a philosophy course in the curriculum!  Over the last decade (will it be known as the Harry Potter Decade?) or so I have read the Harry Potter Books and watched the movies. I listen to the music on the soundtrack CDs while working. It sets a nice mood for me. Why?

There was a flurry of writing over the issue of why Potter was such a hot item. (It seems to be fading now). Why do children like to read the books? We have their quotes to read over and think about. Some declare reading them has pulled them away from the abyss and toward success. My favorite is a video blog by AccioJellyBean. Adults ponder these issues and offer various reasons why they think they have been so popular with children. Better, they also ponder why the books have been popular with adults as well. Notice that Lady JKR says she wrote the books for herself, because she liked them.

Some have detailed the perfect fit the stories have with the trends in political and economic aspects of British or American society. Others have described the wonderful use the plots make of classic templates that always win hearts and imaginations. Harry is Jesus made flesh. Those who see a satanic cultus have been pretty much laughed out of town or they live in towns most laugh at. (This is especially the case since all seven books were published and the Christian analogies became so abundantly clear. Harry dies for his friends.)

We also have the interplay with public relations and the media. Lady JKR received good PR even prior to the first publication of HPP/SS. The news media were interested in the poor single mother making good. It was like magic. Scholastic bid high for the rights in America and that meant a burden was on them to produce fans. They did a good job. But of course, the book was good in its own right. The movie stuck to the text, so to speak. One thing AOL did right. The kids would have been disappointed otherwise. (I realize to some extent this seems ridiculous since so much of the character development and plot are missing from the movie and some lines are delivered by totally different people but the movies are at least recognizably in touch with the books.) Now when we read we picture things according to the film for better or worse. Frankly, I could never have imagined the delivery of lines such as, “It does not do Harry to dwell on dreams and forget to live.” as well as Richard Harris did. Bless him. The irony of it hurts, but it sounds like good advice and one reason to dwell on someone else’s dream when it delivers such wonderful insights.

With so many enjoying the books each for their own reasons, it makes little sense to think there is a peculiarly important reason why the books have enjoyed the overwhelming success they have. There are lots of reasons.

I did not want the story to stop but with book 7 it did. It bugged me each time that I had to wait to see the next movie and even longer to find out what happens to Harry in the next book since it had not been written yet. Book 7 came out July 21, 2007 and my order for it was already placed months before. But I knew I had to be patient. I didn’t want JKR to feel rushed. I wanted her to do the job right all the way to the word “scar.” (She didn't quite get that as planned but it was okay.)

When I received my order for HPCS, as a side note, I puzzled over this recent development of ordering things before they are published. I have had outstanding orders for about four of five things that have not come out yet. This never used to be the case, at least for me. So this is some new kind of economic development in its own right. I suspect computers had something to do with this. And credit. (Since, I have noticed we are preordering lots of things now! Book 7 had already set new records before publication.)

I would love to teach at Hogwarts. Imagine! Students studying. Reading assignments and papers done. Students working at the library. (I seriously think Snape is the best teacher there). Reading books after class on school grounds. Students getting along well in their own houses at least. Competition between houses is a good stressor. Teachers get to teach what they consider important and they don’t have to worry so much about their popularity. They can be as strict as they want. In fact, if they are not good enough or strict enough they can lose their positions! (I said this before book 7 when we find out Snape is a hero and has been all along.)

No more casual clothes. Discipline is the order of the day. All you need to do is deduct points or give detentions, even if those are no longer hanging by the thumbs in the dungeons; they are amazingly effective at Hogwarts. Students really behave. School spirit is great. The school spirits are interesting as well.

The classrooms look like the pits – well, dungeons at least. At least they are not temporary or make shift! And if they are drafty? Except maybe divination class where it is warm on purpose. Students have sweaters and robes to keep them warm. Cooler is always better for staying awake anyway. Heck, even dead teachers can keep going in a school like this! (See professor Bins in the books.)

No Internet. Heck, no eklectricity at all in fact. But instead of instant messaging there are instant owls. No spam, though there are occasionally howlers. You never have to find someone’s address even if they are hiding from everyone. Owls know where they are. Imagine the possibilities! Message to Osama? Better use a timer if you want your owl back. How would that work? (And now Osama is dead thanks to the Navy Seal Team and the others involved - but I liked my thinking regarding owls so will leave this in as well.)

But I think the reason I would want to teach there is not just the castle and its peculiarities. It’s the quality of the students. They are smart and interested. They are the kinds of kids we really want. Is this different than the ones we really have? They come to school reasonably prepared even if some of their wands are defective. There is still the pressure on those who would over indulge in intellectualosity-- maybe I should use the word "lucubrations". “This is light?” “How can you be behind in your school work? We are on vacation!” “She’s a nightmare. No wonder she doesn’t have any friends.” But that sort of thing is resolved. “Thank goodness. Hermione pays attention in Herbology.” What could be more rewarding than being her teacher?

I do miss the fine arts. History taught by a dead teacher is not the best critical thinking course. Would critical thinking be out of place in Hogwarts? Not likely. Maybe there is a place for philosophy? At least in Britain.

Well, no tickling sleeping dragons. For an interesting paper on why fiction might feed our imaginations so well have a look at this link on Professor Elisabeth Camp's page at Penn: http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~campe/Papers/CampFctnChrctrztns.pdf

http://harrypotter.warnerbros.com/home.html  

And now we are living after the era! The last of the Harry Potter movies has come and gone and people are already trying to cope with what life is with no more Harry Potter books to wait for. If you are interested on Facebook I have a page called PHPD (Post Harry Potter Disorder) which you can join.