J.K. Rowling has publicly stated that the Forbidden Forest is her favorite place at Hogwarts, a fondness that stretches back to her childhood near the Forest of Dean, where the woods were a “source of shelter and safety to us.” It is perhaps not surprising that, after Harry and Hermione’s narrow escape from  Goodrich’s Hollow, when they needed “somewhere more sheltered,” the “brightest witch of her age” Apparated them to that very forest, where she remembered once camping with her parents. Thanks to Phineas Nigellus Black’s portrait overhearing her explanation, the Forest of Dean becomes the setting for Harry’s pivotal encounter with the Silver Doe, his recovery of the Sword of Gryffindor, and his reconciliation with Ron. Thus, one of the key scenes of the series traces its roots to the simple memory of a Muggle family’s camping trip.

Rowling certainly packs her series full of wild and natural settings, magical beasts and the witches and wizards who love them: from Hagrid, who adores all creatures, even ones who would happily devour him, to Charlie Weasley, who gave up a promising Quidditch career to study Romanian dragons, to Luna Lovegood, would-be tracker of mythical beasts. One common thread that runs through the series is for these wild, fantastic beasts to be caged or captured, then set free by our heroes.

The first act of magic readers see Harry perform is the liberation of the zoo snake from captivity. On his birthday outing, Dudley had more interested in eating ice cream than seeing the animals; after downing one huge chocolate cone upon arrival, he threws a tantrum at lunch because his knickerbocker glory did not have enough ice cream on it. He visited the reptile house in hopes being entertained by movie-style monsters: “huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons” but, when the snake failed to deliver the desired entertainment, he declared the sleeping boa constrictor “boring”, despite its huge size.

            Harry, in contrast,  makes an immediate connection to the snake, empathizing with it in its captivity before he discovers they (literally) speak the same language. Both Harry and the boa are “bred in captivity,” repressed prisoners in world of that is not their own. The snake does not know what Brazil is like, having never been there; Harry does not even know the wizarding world exists. Harry’s accidental magic frees the snake, who slithers off for Brazil with a grateful “Thanksss, amigo” Fortunately, the great naturalist Hagrid will soon come along to liberate Harry. [Read more…]