Latin was the language spoken by the ancient Romans. The story of Rome is fascinating, but there are varying stories of how it began. Some say it began with two brothers named Romulus and Remus, others with an altogether different hero. Either way, Rome grew from a mustard seed into a giant city, one that... Continue Reading →

Perhaps one of the most tragic, heart-wrenching concepts in the Sorcerer’s Stone is the dreaded Mirror of Erised. Thinking about it still sends shivers up my spine.  Harry Potter, age eleven, feels as though he has found a family of sorts at Hogwarts. After all, he now has friends for the first time in his... Continue Reading →

A really interesting bit of information about The Sorcerer’s Stone is that when J.K. Rowling wrote it, she was struggling heavily financially. A single mom still grieving from the death of her own mother, she was highly educated- and very poor. Here’s a quote from her about when she first thought of the idea for... Continue Reading →

When J.K. Rowling thought up the idea of the house system at Hogwarts, she scribbled down her ideas on a napkin. Sometimes big ideas start out really small.  When I was younger, I attended a hippie school in California that divided its kindergarteners into three groups- Sunflower, Day Lily, and… I can’t remember the last.... Continue Reading →

It’s all very well that we’ve established a magic school- but what about the teachers? I mean, what’s a classroom without a teacher? What’s a school filled with young minds without someone to hone each child’s special talents and raise them up? Who keeps discipline? Rowling truly outdoes herself in creating some very striking individuals... Continue Reading →

Your friends are the family you can pick, as the old saying goes, and it’s so true. There’s no way Harry can help being related to the Dursleys, but he can pick his friends. Friends aren’t forced, you don’t have to put up with them one way or another. You can choose them. If you... Continue Reading →

Family is a very important thing in the Harry Potter books, a very central theme. A person’s family helps shape who they are and what they become. This idea is developed heavily throughout the series. In the Sorcerer’s Stone, we get an example of three kinds of families. Harry’s Family: A broken one containing dead... Continue Reading →

The answer to this question has many layers. First of all, who are the people who dislike Harry Potter? In my experience, it has been Christians, specifically Protestant homeschoolers. I myself am a Christian, but not Protestant, Orthodox, which is the most ancient Christian church there is (2,000 years old). And yet, I have still... Continue Reading →