NOT COMPLACENT

It is my strong belief that we are often so caught up in feeling sorry for ourselves, that we don’t notice something completely abnormal is STARING STRAIGHT BACK AT US! This was how it was with twelve-year-old Harry Potter, who was sitting on a parking bench and eventually realized that two eyes were staring out of the bush at him.

It had not been a good day for Harry. For one thing, his detestable relatives had not changed a bit. And they had completely lost it when he said the word “magic” on accident. And on top of that incident, he felt lonely and missed his school and old friends. How hard is it to return to a house starved of pleasant companionship after having friends for the first time? Harry finds it extremely dull. And yet, his friends haven’t sent him a single letter, although that proves to be the fault of a little house elf named Dobby. 

Poor Dobby. The strange little elf is a slave of a wizard family, and he’s forced to punish himself all the time. Magically bound to them, there is almost no way to escape. It turns out he knows of some secret mischief being planned at Hogwarts, although he’s magically prevented from speaking about it. His main goal is to save Harry’s life, to keep him from returning to Hogwarts and facing danger.

But Harry is no stranger to danger. And he does NOT want to stay behind. He would rather face Voldemort, his worst enemy, with friends on his side than remain alone. He’s a true Gryffindor, for he fears lack of action and helplessness more than danger. He’s about to have his wish, for this is about to be a dangerous year for him, and for everyone in the castle. He’s not complacent, he’s bold. But be careful what you wish for, you might just get it. 

His best friend is Ronald Weasley, and his whole family disapproves of the way the Dursleys treat him. The topic of what to do if Harry doesn’t answer another letter keeps popping up, and the Weasley sons decide to act before their parents. So, Fred, George, and Ron do the most logical thing possible- they decide to take their dad’s flying car and rescue Harry themselves in the middle of the night. This might sound reckless, but the Weasley twins, Fred and George, actually know what they’re doing. 

“‘But you can’t magic me out either-’

‘We don’t need to,’ said Ron, jerking his head toward the front seat and grinning. ‘You forgot who I’ve got with me.’” (Rowling, Chamber of Secrets, p. 25)

While Fred and George may be magical, they also know how to do without it. They’re like preppers who anticipate a time without electricity. Why? Because, in this story, the government restricts how old a person has to be before they can do magic outside school. The government restricts how old a person has to be before wielding weapons in the real world, too. Just as they learned the art of picking locks “like muggles,” it is best, if you are a child, to know how to use a stick as a weapon in a pinch. You never know when you might need it. And, above all, don’t be complacent.