Best Wishes

dizpotter:

CAN WE TALK ABOUT THIS?

I mean, can we just talk about how this parallels the actual education system?  Where they’re so concerned about teaching us things like logarithms and graphing that we don’t know shit about what’s actually out there in the adult world, like doing taxes or writing checks or anything?  I mean, “It is the view of the Ministry that a theoretical knowledge will be sufficient to get you through your examinations, which after all, is what school is all about.”  School children are often under the impression that getting A’s in all their classes ensures a successful future, but really, it’s so ignorant because the real world isn’t just one big question-and-answer paper.  There is so much more to the world than being able to give back information like some kind of super-computer, and brainwashing children into thinking that theory is key is just going to lead to a bunch of children falling flat on their faces when they’re pushed into the adult world and feel as if everything new they try to do is wrong because it wasn’t taught to them step-by-step.  I just really love Harry’s line, “And how is theory supposed to prepare us for what’s out there?” because I feel as if sometimes we just learn things for the sake of knowing them, despite whether it is actually useful. Yes, school is important, and getting bad grades isn’t a good way to start your future, but it’s so much more than that, you see.

(Source: dracoharrys, via lady-of-annwyn)

johngreenismypatronus:

Dear Mr. Potter,

Today, July 31st, is your birthday. I don’t know how old you are now, but I know a lot about your past birthdays… And the one I will always remember changed not only your life, but the lives of billions, both in your world- the Wizarding World- and mine- the Muggle world.

But…

(Source: thedoctorheretohelp)

(Source: lestranges, via anonhermionegranger)

miakosamuio:

The Magic Begins - A Harry Potter Challenge | #6. Most powerful quote/favourite lines. → Harry’s Amortentia

This was a really difficult one for me because I have SO MANY favourite quotes. And I like made a list of funny quotes, and then I made a list of meaningful ones and then I decided to do a quote from each book and then one by every character but I couldn’t choose just one because like some are really beautiful but some are really funny and how do a choose a group of quotes without doing more than fifty?!

So in the end I just decided to choose something that wasn’t crazy-amazingly-deep or the funniest line in the book, but something that I just thought was really sweet. It’s what Harry smells in the Amortentia when he’s sixteen.

Treacle tart, his favorite food, and also to him the taste of Hogwarts. The smell of a broomstick handle, which is the smell of Quidditch, his passion and the first thing he used to prove himself and was admired for. And Ginny. The girl who he loves, and this is before he even realises he fancies her which I think is really lovely because it’s like the feelings were always there but Harry was to busy saving the world to notice.

(via alittlebittootight)

miekecg:

yes

(via itsmyfoxhat)

carryondeadbabygiraffe:

mixtapesandcartops:

lupinatic:

here-is-the-place:

When people say these books are children’s books, as if to demean them, I balk. These books dealt with themes that adults do not fully understand or wish to. It dealt with racism, classism, sexism, homophobia, prejudice, and general ignorance. These books taught us that it doesn’t matter how you were raised, but that you get to choose to be kind, loyal, brave, and true. They taught us to be strong under the pressures of this world and to hold fast to what we know to be right. These books taught me so much, they changed me as a person. So just because they’re set against a fantastical backdrop with young protagonists does not mean that their value is any less real.

This.

First book: Starts with the double murder of a pair of twenty-one year olds who were much missed and leaving their baby son a war orphan. A child growing up in abusive conditions that would give Cinderella the horrors. Dealing with peers and teachers who are bullies. The fickleness of fame (from the darling of Gryffindor to the outcast.) The idea that there are things worth fighting and dying for, spoken by the child protagonist. Three children promptly acting on that willingness to sacrifice their lives, and two of them getting injured doing so.

Second book: The equivalent of racism with the pro-pureblood attitude. Plot driven by an eleven year old girl being groomed and then used by a charming, handsome older male. The imbalance of power and resultant abuse inherent in slavery. Fraud perpetuated by stealing something very intimate.

Third book: The equivalent of ableism with a decent, kind and competant adult being considered less than human because he has an illness that adversely affects his behaviour at certain times. A justice system that is the opposite of just. Promises of removing an abused child from the abusive environment can’t always be kept. The innocent suffer while the guilty thrive.

Fouth book: More fickleness of fame. The privileged mistreating and undermining the underprivileged because they can. A master punishing a slave for his own misjudgment, and the slave blaming herself. A sports tournament which involves mortal risk being cheered by spectators. A wonderful young man being murdered simply because he was in the way. A young boy being tortured, humilated and nearly murdered.

Fifth book: PTSD in the teenage protagonist. Severe depression in the protagonist’s godfather, triggered by inherited mental health issues and being forced to stay in a house where abuse occured. A bigoted tyrant who lives to crush everyone under her heel, torturing a teenager for telling the truth in the name of the government (and trying to suck his soul out too). The discovery that your idols can have feet of clay after all. An effort to save the life of someone dear and precious actually costing that very same life. The loss of a father-figure and the resultant guilt.

Sixth book: The idea that a soul can be broken beyond repair. Drugs with the potential for date rape are shown as having achieved exactly that in at least one case, resulting in a pregnancy. Well-meaning chauvinism trying to control the love life of a young woman. Internalised prejuidce resulting in refusing the one you love, not out of lack of love but out of fear of tainting them. The mortality of those that seem powerful and larger than life.

Seventh book: Bad situations can get worse, to the point where even the privileged end up suffering and afraid. More internalised prejudice and fear hysterical terror of tainting those you love. Self-sacrifice and the loss of loved ones, EVERYWHERE. Those who are bitter are often so with a reason. The necessity of defeating your inner demons, even though it’s never as cool as it sounds. Don’t underestimate those that are enslaved. Other people’s culture isn’t always like your own. Things often come full circle (war ending with the death of a dearly-loved pair of new parents and their orphaned baby son living with his dead mother’s blood relative instead of his young godfather). Even if ‘all is well’ the world is still imperfect, because it’s full of us brilliant imperfect humans.

 
So… still think that Harry Potter is a kid’s series with no depth?

now i want to read them all again

THAT COMMENTARY HOLY SHIT I WANT TO RUB THESE BOOKS ON MY BODY

(Source: fhlostonsparadise, via wholockedinhogwarts)

here-is-the-place:

When people say these books are children’s books, as if to demean them, I balk. These books dealt with themes that adults do not fully understand or wish to. It dealt with racism, classism, sexism, homophobia, prejudice, and general ignorance. These books taught us that it doesn’t matter how you were raised, but that you get to choose to be kind, loyal, brave, and true. They taught us to be strong under the pressures of this world and to hold fat to what we know to be right. These books taught me so much, they changed me as a person. So just because they’re set against a fantastical backdrop with young protagonists does not mean that their value is any less real.

(Source: fhlostonsparadise, via lovelydayforthis-deactivated201)

mumblingsage:

i-follow-you-on-the-web:

notquitecanadian:

watsonly:

ooohwellinever:

silversoul:

nudityandnerdery:

Um. Me and Dee were talking about this part today.

“Wait ‘till you see movie 4. I was in it.”

WAIT ‘TILL YOU SEE MOVIE 4, I WAS IN IT.

WAIT ‘TILL YOU SEE MOVIE 4, I WAS IN IT.

“I pretended to be this strapping young chap named David Tennant and woo’d the author to become Barty Crouch Jr. It was brilliant.”

Headcanon accepted

^ This.

(Source: beyondthepolice, via thedoctorhasleftthebuilding)

Also, those of you that pay very close attention — or are lelephantsnail, may have noticed that I had a friend up this weekend. I linked her name, she’s a super-awesome person, and you should check out her blog.

We attempted “the entirety of Harry Potter and the… movie marathon,” as I was secretly calling it; regrettably we did not complete the 17.6 hours requisite for this endeavor. We actually only got about half-way… and by “about half-way” I mean we finished Goblet of Fire. 4/8 isn’t half bad… considering we also spent a good amount of time talking about music/The Fault in Our Stars/John and Hank Green… and did a significant amount of walking. I believe we also spent about 4 hours of the time she was here just scrolling through Tumblr… which lead to a lot of discussion about Harry Potter/Emma Watson (because they’re 85% and 65% of my dashboard, respectively) but not watching Harry Potter.

I was going to live-blog our watching of the films… but I decided against it. I’m really obnoxious to watch movies with (I comment on… a lot) and so I didn’t want to scare you all off. Perhaps I’ll retrospectively address some of the comments I made at a later date. Until then,

Best Wishes.

P.S - Yes, I believe the words “Why are you so perfect?” were uttered… [I conservatively estimate] a couple hundred times about Hermione/Emma, Ginny/Bonnie, Luna/Evanna.

witbeyond-measure:

“As Harry Potter was the only other thing I was passionate about, the doctors gave consent for me to leave the hospital and collect the fifth Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, from the local book shop. I was so ecstatic to have the book and excited to begin reading it, but there was never any hint of your imminent arrival and the way you would change my life so drastically. Luna, you instantly captivated me. I didn’t know why but there was something about you with your upside-down magazine, straggly blonde hair, and the honest, abashed way you stared at people without blinking that fascinated and perplexed me at once. You laughed hysterically at one of Ron’s quips and didn’t stop to excuse yourself and feel ashamed when it became clear that everyone found you strange. Throughout the book, I found myself waiting for your brief appearances and wanting to know more about you and why you were the way you were. You baffled me, not because you were odd (though indeed you were), but because you were perfect. But it was a different kind of perfect to the perfectly thin, smiling magazine girls I simultaneously idolised and reviled. It was the way you carried your oddness like it was the most natural thing in the world. You didn’t market your oddness as your defining feature the way some insecure teenagers do, in guise of confidence and security. And nor were you oblivious to the awkward and uncomfortable feelings your oddness provoked in others. When, unable to comprehend how you wore your oddness so honestly and unashamedly, your peers reverted to mockery and bullying, you recognised this as a reflection of their own deep-seated insecurity and calmly let them carry on, quite above your head. You weren’t trying hard to present a certain aspect of yourself that would boldly identify you in the world. And that’s when it occurred to me how bizarre and positively ridiculous it was to apply the word “weird” to describe you, when you represented the most natural and unpretentious state possible to be; you were yourself.” 

»Evanna Lynch(in part of her Dear Mr. Potter letter, where she describes first reading about Luna while in a recovery programme for anorexia)

Also worth the reblog.

(via alittlebittootight)