Monday, August 26, 2013

Are you a witch/wizard or aren't you?!

When studying Rowling's epic series, Harry Potter, one of the things continually remarked upon is her circularity. Everything comes back. For example, Colin Creevey gets carried off by a crowd of students due to his small stature in Chamber of Secrets and is remarked upon as being "small in death" as Oliver Wood carries him to join the other dead in Deathly Hallows.

One circle I came across while rereading the series this time is a small exchange between Ron and Hermione, each teasing the other for their lack of common sense in a moment of peril.

In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Hermione realizes they need a fire to escape the Devil's Snare, but panics because she has no matches. Ron is quick to make the scathing remark: "HAVE YOU GONE MAD? ... ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?"

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, however, the roles are reversed. Harry, Hermione, and Ron are working hard towards defeating Voldemort which, at this particular moment, means finding Snape in the Shrieking Shack. They were stuck at the Whomping Willow, trying to figure out how to stop the tree so they can use the secret passage way. Ron mourns not having Crookshanks around to hit that special knot in the tree. Hermione exclaims "Crookshanks! . . . Are you a wizard, or what?" while trying to catch her breath.

Just one of the many humorous exchanges between the constantly arguing, but still very much loving relationship that is Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. But even in these small moments, it's nice to see Ms. Rowling is still revealing the high level of her genius in connecting everything in the series -- even the most miniscule of things.

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