Today is the birthday of J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter. We had a little fun with the headlines and let our imaginations run free. Here’s what we think some of today’s headlines could have read if we lived in Rowling’s magical world.
Note: This is purely fan fiction conceived from USA Today’s intern Summer Bedard.
This is way too cool
just look at them, just look how much they enjoy making Lockhart life miserable af
This scene was great. Absolutely great. So much sass.
I have been seeing confessions saying how Snape is not a good person, or how hateful he is. Although I don’t deny that he has certainly been the antagonist for many parts of the book (I remember seriously disliking him when I read the first few books), it is rather sad that some out there continue to believe how Snape should never have been forgiven, or how he is less of a ‘good’ person than, for example, James Potter. And so, after many days of thinking about it (and free periods to think about it), here’s a short analysis of why perhaps, we should appreciate the complexity of this character more rather than continuing to hate him.
One must realise that circumstances surrounding Snape had been very different from that of James Potter and even Harry Potter—in fact, it could be said that he is the most unfortunate out of the three. In Snape’s memories (Deathly Hallows), we were shown how Snape came from an abusive household, and how much he had hoped to go to Hogwarts where he would learn magic and, it seems, be accepted as a normal person there and be treated equally. We also learnt that before he entered Hogwarts, he made his first and only true friend—Lily Evans, who also became the love of his life.
Yet, Snape quickly learns that Hogwarts is not all that he had dreamt to be. His first taste of it was during his journey on the Hogwarts express, where he expressed his desire to be in Slytherin and was scorned by James Potter and Sirius Black. Luckily for him, Lily stood up for him, and the matter was laid to rest. However, as he continued his studies in Hogwarts, he saw how James Potter and his merry gang of Gryffindors (apart from Lupin, though he did not stop the bullying), was constantly ganging up against him and not serving any punishments he felt they deserved. He saw how James Potter got more famous and liked by many teachers as Snape suffered through his bullying and despite how Snape felt Potter had less talent than himself. It would not be far fetched to suggest that Snape was perhaps also alienated by others due to him being a Slytherin and his love for the dark arts (I think he knew deep down that those ‘friends’ he had who later became death eaters were not good in any way, but they were the only few who were willing to be with him then), and this combination of alienation and unjustice felt in Hogwarts, along with the final straw of losing Lily forever to James Potter, provoked him to take on the Dark Mark. By then, he couldn’t forgive James Potter, who had everything he did not have.
James Potter VS Snape
As I have hinted in my second paragraph, James Potter’s circumstances were very different. James Potter grew up in a well loved household and was also well liked in Hogwarts. His bullying of Snape was constantly cheered on by his fellow Marauders and no one took any action to stop it (apart from Lily). In short, his time in school was glorified. And therein made all the difference: school for Snape was not fully a place of respite, but a place where he was still bullied—his time all the way till 17 was not a good one (if he ever had a good year, that is; only the times he shared with Lily were his best), and Lily had left him due to his mistakes in his later years in Hogwarts—stopped defending him and became close to his bully. James could thus have understood what a terrible bully he used to be and changed his ways to become a better person, but Snape was bitter for all the injustice he had received which had been etched into his mind (as they say, childhood bullying has a most profound impact on individuals) and could thus never have forgiven James Potter. James Potter had been labelled a bully in his mind, and he most probably had a bad impression on the Gryffindors in part due to the Golden Boy James Potter was in his house.
Rather unfortunately, his time back in Hogwarts, seeing all the Gryffindors again and the child of James Potter and Lily Evans, a constant reminder of his mistakes and of how Lily left him for his bully, did nothing to improve his already messed up situation and he took to bullying the students and blatantly showing favouritism towards his own house, something he had experienced from others during his time at Hogwarts, perhaps knowingly doing something his teachers used to do which he hated them for.
Harry Potter VS Snape
Harry Potter’s situation is very different from Snape’s: Harry may have grown up in an abusive household, but he was loved and appreciated, even revered in Hogwarts. Despite the blatant bullying from Snape, he had his best friends who stuck to him always and teachers and even the Headmaster who was on his side. He never took to bullying others because he had always felt loved from so many people, and Snape was never that lucky—his head of house then probably cared not much for him as an individual.
Harry was also never tempted to join the Dark side for two reasons: he was already loved by people in the Light, and Voldemort had killed Harry’s mother, thereby sealing him from ever becoming a Dark wizard. On the other hand, Voldemort had never done anything bad to Snape when he joined; but most importantly, when Snape learnt that Voldemort had killed Lily, he was willing to help the Light (driven by guilt and his love for Lily), although he knew that he would never be appreciated or loved for all that he had done—in the end, his change in sides was motivated by love. In the end, his crucial role in the Wizarding War redeemed him. Also, Voldemort had given him the appreciation he so thirst for when others did not, when others only saw how good James Potter was. This did not mean that he was all for blood purity for all that—he was only asking for something which he was never shown as a child: appreciation (which Snape may have confused with love when he was younger). His taking of the Dark Mark meant that he was serving the Dark Lord, and he could not see a way out of leaving Voldemort’s service whilst not being less appreciated or loved than James Potter (or even unloved, for he was already branded with a Mark he could never take away). The only person he felt ever loved him as an individual was dead.
Overall, circumstances were different between all three, and these circumstances made all the difference to the character of all three. Whilst I do not deny that Snape is a horrible teacher as he bullied and showed favouritism to students, his situation is much too complex to define him as being an evil bat because of this. In a way, I feel most sorry for Snape (which I’m sure he would hate me for) for he never felt much love in his life and was constantly undertaking dangerous tasks during the war. He is indeed a most complex character in the Harry Potter series, and I thank JK Rowling for creating him.
(I might do a more in depth analysis in the future if I have time)
After much speculation, the Sherlock special is confirmed to be a one off set in Victorian London. No broadcast date as of yet but the episode is expected to air around Christmas 2015.
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“The special is its own thing. We wouldn’t have done the story we’re doing, and the way we’re doing it, if we didn’t have this special. It’s not part of the run of three episodes.
"So we had this to do it – as we could hardly conceal – it’s Victorian. Mark Gatiss and me, we wanted to do this, but it had to be a special, it had to be a separate entity on its own. It’s kind of in its own little bubble.” - Steven Moffat
Read the full article here.
Looking forward to Sherlock being set in the actual time!
i never knew McGonagall could be so cute!
Another Professor McGonagall’s post because she is so awesome!!
