A Magical Dream in Our Childhood — Harry Potter

Author: J. K. Rowling (1965- )  is Joanne Rowling who writes under pen names J. K. Rowling and Robert Galbraith. Not only is she a famous novelist, but also she has other occupations, from film producer and television producer, to screenwriter and philanthropist.

Plot Summary:

Harry Potter, a brave and clever boy with a scar on his forehead. Because of surviving after Voldemort’s attack when he was a boby wrapped in vines, he was regarded as a savior in the magical world. The serial books described his experiences and adventures before and after he was admitted into Gryffindor, one of the institutes of Hogwarts School. There are four disparate institutes in the school, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. According to their personalities, students are sorted into different institutes by the Hogwarts Sorting Hat on the entrance day. With the help of his friends, professors and parents, Harry Potter found out several secrets in the Hogwarts and fought against Voldemort who was the evilest power of the world, and rescued both the magical world and muggles’ world.

Recommendation:

This was the first time I read the English books after watching series movies adapted from them. It is also a good choice to combine reading books with watching movies. It was necessary for us to read for there were so many scenes existing only in the books. In other words, movies could not show a great amount of details no matter how good the actors were at acting. We are able to find abundant inner work as well as subtle changes among characters in the books. Professor Snape, for instance, was a mysterious man for we could not figure out whether he was a good person until he died at last; moreover Draco Malfoy was also an important role in the books. Draco Malfoy, the son of the Malfoys, was a gold-hair boy with strong personality. He never behaved himself and even served the devil. What he did always became an obstacle for Harry Potter and his friends. His father was an assistant of Voldemort (also called You-Know-Who to avoid panic among people). Surprisingly, Harry Potter must be killed without Malfoy. 

Additionally, the more we read, the more interesting words related to magic we see. Golden Snitch, Quidditch, Forbidden Forest, Diagon Alley, etc. It seems that those words only exist in our dream. “Invisible cloak” can make you invisible. “Disarm”, one of the curses, can disarm your competitors. “The sorting Hat” may speak to you. Dobby, a free elf may be your assistant. You can fly in the Broom Flying……

To be honest, there were a great number of unknown words for us in the book. But we should not stop reading when we met some words unless they matter.

It’s worth noting that the serial books have both British version and American version. In the latter, many words were written in an oral way. For example, it is easy to see “yeh” which means “you”, especially in the dialogues. That would be a little strange to us at first but it will be fine later.

Quotes:  

“Potter, Harry!”

As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.

“Potter, did she say?”

“The Harry Potter?”

The last thing Harry saw before the hatdropped over his eyes was the hall full of people craning to get a good look at him. Next second he was looking at the black inside of the hat. He waited.

“Hmm,” said a small voice in his ear. “Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There’s talent, oh my goodness, yes —— and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that’s interesting…. So where shall I put ou?”

Harry gripped the edges of the stool and thought, not Slytherin, not Slytherin.

“Not Slytherin, eh?” said the small voice. “Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it’s all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that —— no? Well, if you’re sure —— better be GRYFFINDOR!”

Harry heard the hat shout the last word to the whole hall. He took off the hat and walked shakily toward the Gryffindortable. He was so relieved to have been chosen and not put in Slytherin, he hardly noticed that he was getting the loudest cheer yet. Percy the perfect got up and shook his hand vigorously, while the Weaslry twins yelled. “We gotPotter! We got Potter!”  (Excerpt from the chapter The sorting Hat, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone)

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