That ol' children's books chestnut

[scoutmom21113]

No: HPFGUIDX 95784

> David wrote:
> I don't want to suggest Haddon as a special authority but this 
> passage struck a chord with my own feelings about the HP series - 
> that in some rather hard-to-define sense they don't quite get to 
> grips with the way that life is progressively limiting upon us as 
we get older.
> 
> Thoughts?
> 

Bookworm:
I had the following thoughts when I read your comment: The first was 
something an older colleague told me about a year after college – 
life isn't like school. In school, if you don't like a subject or 
teacher, you just wait a few months and your classes change. Life 
doesn't change on a regular schedule.  

Second, when you first start out, there are many doors open to you. 
With each career decision, some doors open in front of you but 
others start closing behind you, and your options become more 
limited. 

Up until now, Harry hasn't had to make many long-term decisions 
about his future. He took the same standard classes as all the other 
students in his year with a few electives.  To be an auror requires 
at least N.E.W.T.s. McGonagall specifically mentioned DADA, 
Transfiguration, Potions, and Charms, all of which are standard 
courses.  Even if he changes his mind about being an auror, doing 
well in these classes will benefit him in whatever career he 
chooses.  (That is assuming that he gets high enough scores on his 
O.W.L.s in these subjects – I suspect he will squeak by.) 

In the article David referenced, Haddon wrote, "At 20, 25, 30, we 
begin to realise that the possibilities of escape are getting fewer. 
We begin to picture a time when there will no longer be somewhere 
else and far away. We have jobs, children, partners, debts, 
responsibilities. And if many of these things enrich our lives 
immeasurably, those shrinking limits are something we all have to 
come to terms with." 

Harry is still in school where life moves at a regular pace. He 
isn't 20 yet and hasn't gotten to the point where doors start to 
close behind him. He gets to choose between one or two electives, 
but otherwise is told what classes to take. When he passes his 
classes in 6th year he moves on to 7th year classes. After he leaves 
school – that's when he will have to make the decisions that will 
cause life to become "progressively limited".

In terms of Harry's relationships with his friends and the way he 
deals with Voldemort, we may see some of those `limiting' decisions 
in the next books. I would argue that the decisions Harry has to 
make in fighting Voldemort and/or the Death Eaters are outside the 
normal experiences of a student and he would be acting in an adult 
role during wartime, not in the day-to-day circumstances that Haddon 
is talking about. 

Ravenclaw Bookworm