Sharing Our Hearts' Desire
My daughter was turning that magical age of 11 when the first Harry Potter movie came out in 2001. I’m pretty sure she took her friends to see it to celebrate her birthday which falls at a time when many of the subsequent movies were released. By then I think the third book was out and both of my children had become avid fans of the series, re-reading the books over and over until each next installment arrived at Mosaic Books.
Oh how I wish I’d made up a letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for my daughter to open on her 11th Birthday. These days with so many different computer fonts and specialty papers I’m sure you could create a believable facsimile and the text is right there in “The Philosopher's Stone”. Also in the Philospher’s Stone is one of the most powerful things I’ve read in a book, before or since... In an attempt to hide from Filch, Harry finds himself in an abandoned classroom with The Mirror of Erised. In the mirror he sees himself surrounded by his dead parents and relatives. When he brings Ron the next night, to show him his family, Ron sees himself as Quidditch Captain and head boy, holding the Quidditch cup. Harry continues to visit the mirror as often as he can, longing to see his family, hoping the mirror is showing the future. Eventually Dumbledore appears and explains to Harry what the mirror means. The backwards inscription reads “I show not your face but your heart’s desire.” He tells Harry, that the mirror will be moved and he hopes Harry will not search for it “...it does not do well to dwell on dreaming, and forget to live...” I read this at a time in my life when I was struggling with a number of issues, and I am grateful to J.K. Rowlings for those motivating words.
Oh how I wish I’d made up a letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for my daughter to open on her 11th Birthday. These days with so many different computer fonts and specialty papers I’m sure you could create a believable facsimile and the text is right there in “The Philosopher's Stone”. Also in the Philospher’s Stone is one of the most powerful things I’ve read in a book, before or since... In an attempt to hide from Filch, Harry finds himself in an abandoned classroom with The Mirror of Erised. In the mirror he sees himself surrounded by his dead parents and relatives. When he brings Ron the next night, to show him his family, Ron sees himself as Quidditch Captain and head boy, holding the Quidditch cup. Harry continues to visit the mirror as often as he can, longing to see his family, hoping the mirror is showing the future. Eventually Dumbledore appears and explains to Harry what the mirror means. The backwards inscription reads “I show not your face but your heart’s desire.” He tells Harry, that the mirror will be moved and he hopes Harry will not search for it “...it does not do well to dwell on dreaming, and forget to live...” I read this at a time in my life when I was struggling with a number of issues, and I am grateful to J.K. Rowlings for those motivating words.
It’s almost ten years since the first HP movie, and last week my adult daughter went to Vancouver to visit her older brother where they saw the final Harry Potter installment in 3D. We had lunch together today and she showed me the tattoo she had done a few days ago.
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