Santa’s Mail Bag and John’s Answers for a Christmas Post

Thank you for your kind note. I’ll try to answer some of your questions! I cc my 19 year old daughter Anastasia Granger, another Hermione, with whom you might want to correspond.

First of all,in HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban,we all know that Sirus Black came up.We can infer from the following books that he is good at magic.But why in the fight against wormtail ,he stood still untill he was caught by officers?He had the chance and he was able to escape.I also had a question towards the Sorting Hat,since wormtail is not so brave and even turned to Dark Lord,why would he go to Gryffindor?What do you think of the sorting hat?

These are all good questions! I think the best answers are in the article J. K. Rowling’s Brilliant World Building by Nathaniel Givens. Please let me know if it helps. Givens’ thesis is that the small number of magical people, their remarkable powers, and yet that they are almost entirely dependent on Mugglesmakes them as bizarre as they are. A paragraph:

The odd behavior of witches and wizards and the bizarre nature of their social institutions is not sloppy world-building. It’s brilliant world-building based on a keen observation of human nature. If a tiny cohort of humans were given incredible magical powers, this is pretty much the world that you would end up with. Parasitic, backwards, shallow, and reckless.

Secondly, what does Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! mean?So far I haven’t understand this sentence said by Dumbledore

I wrote about that in this post at HogwartsProfessor.com in 2007. Let me know if this helps. In brief, Dumbledore is criticizing the practice of sorting First Years into Four Houses; each of the words is a picture of the prejudice of one Hogwarts House.

And I can’t understand why Voldemort will be so crazy,in his school life he doesn’t prove to be a child! Sounds so horrible! And in the book of Chamber of Secrets, as Hagrid is a Gryffindor, why does only Pro.Dumbledore trust him? Why do the other professors believe Riddle but not Hagrid?

Dumbledore is the only one to trust Hagrid and suspect Tom Riddle because he knows both that Hagrid has a good heart and that Tom Riddle comes from a very disturbed background (we can assume that he did not tell the other professors what he saw at the orphanage). And — Hagrid is a Half-Giant, which the professors surely knew, and this counted much more against him than his Gryffindor house membership helped. Not to mention how manipulative Tom Riddle was!

Do you think there are some same features between Hitchcock’s short stores and Rowling’s book?I fell in love with literature lately,but I have no certain ideas to do reading,I hope you can offer me some exact and useful advice.

John

Dear John,

I hope you don’t mind me continuing to pick your brain about fiction.

This year I have finished rereading the Hogwarts saga and started rereading the Narnia series. One thing that seems like a recurring theme in fantasy is the inherently bad guys. In the Hogwarts saga, it’s the Slytherins. No Slytherins join the DA, and Hagrid says there’s not a wizard who went bad that wasn’t a Slytherin. Given Rowling’s emphasis on choice and her belief in redemption, this doesn’t seem to fit.

Same in the Narnia series – Caspian and gang don’t want to enlist the help of hags and other “bad creatures” because Aslan wouldn’t approve. Is it a postmodern sensibility that makes me wish that there was redemption for all, or at least a token Slytherin/hag that could represent the possibility of redemption? Or is it simply easier for YA novels to make things black and white?

I would appreciate your thoughts on this.

Respectfully,

David

CSL, I’m guessing, in the LWW gang that butcher Aslan, is pointing out that there is intrinsic evil in the world, a troublesome thought to those of us raised on relativism and universal redemption (if ‘universal’ only because there is no sin admitted in anyone…).

Mr. Granger,

Several years ago I was given a copy of Looking For God in Harry Potter (2004). I read much of it, using and citing it heavily for one particular college project. I then put it aside until such a time as I could savor it in its entirety. I have recently turned my attention to it once again, and I have also discovered the most recent edition How Harry Cast His Spell.

I am writing in the hopes you might explain the differences between the editions (including The Hidden Key To Harry Potter). I ask because I am trying to determine if each edition is only an expansion of the previous or if material present in the older editions is left out of the newer.

I am trying to decide if I should read the edition I have, buy the current edition, and/or track down the earlier edition. What would you consider to be the definitive reading of your text? I appreciate your time and input and I look forward to delving into your illuminating analysis soon.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

JR

Dear JR,

Thank you for your kind note!

I am writing in the hopes you might explain the differences between the editions (including The Hidden Key To Harry Potter).

Hidden Key was written in 2002 from ‘Taking Harry Seriously’ lecture notes. It was reformatted and re-written when Tyndale purchased the book. The only material left out in that re-organization as Looking for God in Harry Potter was a final essay about the nature of reading books at depth (perhaps the best part of the book).

Looking was re-written with additions in light of Deathly Hallows It’s the most up to date and complete of the three titles. Deathly Hallows Lectures has much of the material I wasn’t allowed to add to Looking, Harry Potter’s Bookshelf has the guide to reading at four levels and to English Literature imbedded, and Ring Composition in Harry Potter has my latest notes.

I hope that helps!

Fraternally,

John

I recently read your book How Harry Cast His Spell and immensely enjoyed it, especially all of the Christian symbolism.  Your book was at the top of my Christmas list and I’m very happy to have received it.
I’m not sure if these are mentioned in any of your other books, but I’d like to share with you a few of the things I’ve noticed when reading the story:

1. JKR has mentioned June 24 as being Dudley’s birthday.  As you know, June 24 is also the feast day for St. John the Baptist, the cousin of Jesus.  In the GOF book, Dudley is talked about as being wide as he was tall, so he is put on a diet.  To me, this symbolizes the “I must decrease while you increase” message John the Baptist told Jesus.

2. The four marauders were Peter Pettigrew, James Potter, Remus John Lupin, and Sirius Black. Peter, James, and John were the three disciples who witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus.

3. Just before he’s about to receive the Killing Curse, Harry has thoughts of Ginny’s lips on his.  Ginny’s true name is Ginevra, which is an anagram for vinegar.  This reminded me of the vinegar on Christ’s lips just before he died.
Sincerely,

Cathy

Dear Cathy,

Merry Christmas! (Today is the Feast of the Nativity for traditional Christians.)

I loved your note especially the vinegar catch! Ms Rowling has said Ginevra, as I’m guessing you know, is Ginny;s real name and that it is the archaic or Gaelic form of Guinevere, King Arthur’s wife. Arthur, of course, is the name of Ginny’s dad, but, more important in light of the story is the many ways that Harry is a King Arthur stand-in throughout the books, especially his pulling the Sword of Gryffindor from the Sorting Hat (Sword-In Hat…).

But I’ve never read the vinegar anagram anywhere and tip my hat to you for the catch!

With admiration,

John

Hello! My name’s A— C——; we met when you came to speak at [Major University].

I went to the Great Ideas Lecture and [name of professor]’s class to hear you talk about Harry Potter and truth. I also had lunch with you and some of the professors.

I have one question regarding the academics in Harry Potter: Why and how did Rowling choose these particular courses? I mean, Defense Against the Dark Arts is certainly a practical course, but other classes while being cool and helpful on occasion seem to not be as practical.

Thoughts?

Dear A— C——–,
Great to hear from you! My apologies for the delay in responding; I’m just back from a week in Greece to visit with my daughter there.

To answer your question — I have only two ideas.

First, they are magical variations on Muggle ‘public school’ and ‘Comprehensive’ classes. The Hogwarts Saga is really a Gothic and magic entry in the tradition of Schoolboy novels — and the cast of characters — from the loopy French teacher, benevolent Headmaster, funny twins, and sadistic science teacher — are all stock figures in this genre.

See Harry Potter’s Bookshelf for much more on this.

Second, check out the Harry Potter Lexicon and Accio Quotes to see if the Presence has spoken about this! I don’t remember anything from the top of my head, but I’m getting old!

Thank you again for your note!

With admiration,

John

Hi John,

We met briefly at the end of last Friday’s Harry Potter Conference and I was interested in seeing the details of your Strike ring composition analysis.

I also saw you speak about the Harry Potter ring composition at LeakyCon in Chicago a few years back and was intrigued, but haven’t gotten to purchasing the right book yet. (I’ve got Harry Potter’s Bookshelf, which has been a great resource in my undergrad English studies.)

I’m interested in the ring composition stuff both as a student of literature (currently writing my undergrad thesis about Dolores Umbridge) and as a creative writer myself… it seems like the consummate lesson in fiction craft.

Thanks very much, it was a pleasure to hear you speak again.

Very best,

PR

Dear PR,

I attach both a paper I wrote towards my MFA that touches on the Cormoran Strike novels and will send a relevant chapter on logos epistemology from Deathly Hallows Lectures. I send, as well, these links to some of my Ring Composition notes: the book, stray ideas.

I very much look forward to reading what you think of each!

Fraternally,

John

John,

My name is G— O’N—-. I had the opportunity to see you speak at [Liberal Arts College] this past March. Thank you again for your lecture on The Hunger Games. I always love to scratch beneath the surface of a book I already enjoy.

As Mockingjay Part 2 comes out, I have come to question a decision on Suzanne Collins’ part. Why didn’t she allow Katniss to take part in the mission to rescue Peeta from the Capitol?  I know she had minor injuries from her trip to District 8. But I imagine Katniss going completely against the advice of Coin, Plutarch, Haymitch and Boggs and going on the rescue mission to make it absolutely certain that Peeta would be rescued.

What are your thoughts?

Thank you,

G O’N

Dear G—- O’N—-,

Thank you for your kind words and thoughtful question.

Two reasons Katniss doesn’t make the journey to save Peeta?

(1) No way Plutarch approves it; the Mockingjay is everything to his propos.

(2) More to the point, it would make Peeta’s attack on Katniss that much less jarring.

And that story turn is the first real shocker in a book laden with soul twisting challenges.

Thanks again for writing!

John

Looks like writing advice guru James Scott Bell may have figured out your tricks.

In his new book “Write Your Story from the Middle,” he writes this in the introduction:

“I’m going to suggest you write your story from the middle and work outward from there.

“What? The middle?

“That’s right. The dead center. Because that’s where you’re going to discover what your story is really about.”

(Emphasis his.)

I didn’t buy the book or read the rest of it (this is from the convenient Amazon “look inside” feature), but when I saw his interview with himself here: http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/2014/03/plotters-and-pantsers.html I knew I had to check it out.

He says that at the midpoint of the book, the main character is forced to “look at himself in the mirror” and face who they are, realize they are going to die, and accept that fate. The fact that his word choice includes the character looking in a mirror in the middle just fascinates me.

Cheers,

R——–

Dear R——–,

What can I say? Except, perhaps, I wish chiasmus or ring composition or “meaning in the middle” writing was one of my tricks? Think of the money to be had if every work with this structure was paying my residuals and copyright dues…

Thank you for sending!

Gratefully,

John