Harry's transfer to Hogwarts

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 127860


Geoff:

As this discussion on education has developed and we have inducted 
our friends from the US into the mysteries of the UK schools system, 
a remark recently by Steve as to whether Jo Rowling let the  subject 
go "off page" has led me to think that, perhaps, we are making 
mountains out of molehills and that she did not plan the matter to be 
as important as we are making it.

We know that when JKR wrote "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's 
Stone" she was not necessarily writing it as a children's book per se 
but certainly with children in mind and I would like to put forward 
two thoughts.

Firstly, to the average young reader, the intricacies of the UK 
school transfer system are a closed book. They are used to moving 
between schools as they grow up but the mechanics of the change are 
in the hands of their teachers and their parents so oddities which we 
have raised about the change to Hogwarts would not occur to them. So 
including this in the book would possibly be a waste of energy.

Secondly, in perhaps the traditions of children's books (and my mind 
goes to Roald Dahl's terrible family – was it the Twits?), the 
Dursleys are really  a caricature of a normal family and might well 
be seen by young readers in the same way that Cinderella's ugly 
sisters are perceived. Although Harry is a perfectly believable 
person, some of the things which happen to him are fantastical and so 
the Dursley's flight to the house on the rock, Hagrid's visit and the 
invitation to Hogwarts etc. are perhaps viewed initially with a pinch 
of salt. Many of these events become more grounded in reality as the 
books go on and become more serious and darker although there are 
still these fantastical events such as Aunt Marge's mishap to remind 
us that we /are/ in a magical environment. Even now, I still find one 
of the funniest moments for me is the demolition of the Dursley's 
fireplace by Arthur and Vernon's attempts to cling on to "normality" 
while this is going on.

Perhaps we should spend less time trying to rationalise everything – 
fun though this can be – and occasionally just let the magic wash 
over us.

If Steve will forgive me for pinching his tag line – 
just one man's opinion.