I grew up with Harry Potter and unlike millennials, I didn’t really have to wait for them. You see, English is my second language. I learned it for the first time when I moved to Australia at age 8. And yes, at the beginning I mostly read picture books about milkmen and storms, then I discovered my love for Emily Rodda (“Deltora Quest” is still unmatched”) and eventually I found my way to Harry Potter.

The last Harry Potter book was released when I was five. The last Harry Potter movie was released when I was nine. I never had to wait. And so I got my heart broken that much faster.

You see, you read The Philosopher’s Stone, there are some sad bits in it like how Harry lost his parents as a child, how his family abuses him, how his teacher bullies him. But for the most part, the boy is allowed to flourish and grow for the first time in his life. He excels at magic. To the point where he manages to thwart the return of the greatest dark wizard of a generation at age 11. The boy is actually allowed to have a happy ending.

And then you have “Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets”. The stakes are slightly higher here. A little girl gets kidnapped. Harry discovers that some adults are actually really stupid. But he still manages to defeat Voldemort yet again. He’s allowed to succeed and return home, knowing that he saved the lives of countless.

So we’re going to stay here for now. On the book with the last happy ending. The book with near death experiences but where no one dies.

The Perspective Is Shifting

With each book, the wizarding world becomes a little darker. The movies capture this effect particularly well. I think this is the first point where you truly start to see how incompetent both Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic really are. You mean to tell me that a giant snake slithered around the pipes and nobody caught her? Ginny Weasley literally got possessed and nobody realised it until she was taken into the Chamber of Secrets.

And then you have the matter of Hagrid. Say what you will about Hagrid, his heart is in the right place. He is sympathetic towards monsters because he, himself, is perceived as one. Why would he, the man who cannot tell anyone of his true heritage, not give monsters a second chance? The problem is that there was never a real investigation. The ministry and Hogwarts cared more about optics than they did about human life.

And so Hagrid never got to learn and grow among his peers. He was forever stuck as the 13 year old boy, expelled from school, with a broken wand he may never know his actual talent for. And the further you get in the series, the more you realise this is not a one off scenario. It happens to people over and over again. The ministry of magic and even Hogwarts cares more about optics than they do about safety.

You cannot tell me the ministry actually believed Hagrid was responsible for the deaths. If they truly thought he was responsible for murder, letting him stay in a school full of children is a blatant act of neglect. Even if they just thought he was a moron, they should never have allowed him to stay in a position where he was called upon to care for children.

Which leads me to believe that they never truly thought he did it. And I think Harry starts to see this negligence in this book. He very clearly understands that Hagrid didn’t do it. He risks his own life to prove Hagrid’s innocence.

The fact that he was willing to go to the forbidden forest and the chamber of secrets with no adult supervision / help just goes to show how little faith he has in most adults. He doesn’t truly trust them to take care of him. Not when he spends 90% of the series being told he’s imaging things, he’s obsessing, he’s a liar! And no one ever truly apologises to him after it turns out he was telling the truth all along.

I Still Hate Snape

And that shouldn’t come across as a surprise to anyone. We’re still at book 2. He may have saved Harry’s life in the previous book but he hasn’t stopped bullying any of the children. And yes, I understand that every single adult in this story has let the children down in some way. They can all be cruel. And I don’t think that’s an accident. I think the point of the story is to show what can happen when you are small and vulnerable and someone takes advantage of that.

There are so many cases of bullying in that school that never get taken seriously. And I won’t deny the fact that part of the reason why Snape makes so many atrocious choices (like joining a group that wants to kill muggle borns when his best friend is a muggle) is because when he was weak and vulnerable, he was taken advantage of. And so when he got power, instead of choosing to be good and protecting the powerless, he instead chose to use his power to make others feel what he once did.

And the only time he truly regrets his choices is when it comes back to bite him. But we’ll get to that later.

But I Hate Dumbledore More

Dumbledore failed as a headmaster. Sure, he may appear kindly and provide a funny remark every now and again, but he doesn’t protect his students from what really matters. Sure, it’s all good to be kept alive but life isn’t everything. Sometimes the greater reward is to have a short life filled with happiness rather than a long one.

It astounds me that Snape is allowed to spend his entire teaching career showing not just blatant favouritism but straight up physically and mentally abusing students he doesn’t like.

Bullying is not taken seriously in this school. Why would any student be afraid to be a bully when they can clearly see adult teachers doing the same? All this shows is that Dumbledore either doesn’t see what’s happening in his own school or he doesn’t care. And considering the man has the power to literally read minds, I don’t think his failure to act is due to a lack of knowledge.

I think it greatly works in his favour to have a bunch of mistreated children worship him because he’s seemingly the only kind person in their life. No one is as easily malleable as a child who has never known safety or unconditional love. And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Dumbledore’s most devoted followers are broken children. When the wizarding world and the ministry of magic fail a child, they inevitably fall into doing Dumbledore’s bidding (whether they know it or not).

And it is this manipulation that allows him to test Harry. Maybe it was against his will to leave but we clearly see instances of him escaping aurors and getting into places he’s banned from when he truly wants to. So it’s a bit ridiculous that a man as powerful as him would truly desert his students while they were at risk of being murdered.

And it’s highly convenient that Fawkes just happened to be a living ‘loyalty to Dumbledore’ detector with healing tears. This was an elaborate test. Fawkes swooped in with his healing tears and the sorting hat just as Harry was at risk of failing. Fawkes provided just enough support to allow Harry to show his skill and ingenuity.

And by telling Harry that he must’ve shown Dumbledore a great deal of loyalty for Fawkes to come and save him just adds positive reinforcement for Harry to risk his own life doing what should’ve been the responsibility of an adult.

Once you know Dumbledore’s plan, it’s near impossible to not notice the grooming for what it is, an attempt to get Harry to value the lives of others more than he values his own. Harry was always meant to die. And while I’m sure Dumbledore felt some guilt watching the child he intended to sacrifice grow up and worship him, at the end of the day, he cared more about the greater good than any individual.

And it was more important for Harry to be a powerful wizard than it was for him to remain safe, happy and comfortable.

Final Thoughts

I know I’ve jumped ahead of myself a bit here. But I’m not lying when I say I don’t expect to attract anyone new to the series. This book series was incredibly popular while I was growing up and the fandom is still going strong.

I doubt I’ve revealed any information / opinions that haven’t already been discussed to death. But it’s been a few years. So I hope I still gave you an entertaining read. I actually can’t wait until I reach the end of the series. It only gets darker and more complicated from here on out.

If you are among the select few who have never read the books / don’t own them but want to, please buy second hand. We don’t need to give JKR any more money.

Until next time lovelies.