Blog post 1 – Lilly

I’d like to talk about bildungsroman, or how we, as readers, follow along Harry’s story as he matures into a teenager and learns about the world of wizards and witches. One of the main reasons I find this genre the most interesting to write about is because as a reader, I feel like I’m growing up and becoming a part of the wizarding world alongside of Harry. Because Harry spent all of his life locked up in a cupboard and unaware of what he really was, he knows nothing about the world of magic. As readers, we are able to witness his first experiences as a wizard. He talks with the snake about visiting Brazil and unknowingly is the reason it escaped from its habitat. He is utterly confused as to how it happened, just like the many other odd experiences that occurred with him in high stress situations (getting on top of the roof when being chased by Dudley and his gang, for example). Once he finds out that he is a wizard, he starts to realize that the odd occurrences were because of magic. It still took him a bit of time to fully realize that this wasn’t some sort of joke. One of my favorite parts of the book with Harry learning about the wizarding world is in Diagon Alley, when he comes across all of these artifacts that he had always thought to be fantasy. Broomsticks, wands, cauldrons, robes, mounds of gold in a bank run by goblins and guarded by dragons, the list goes on. Harry’s excitement when finding out other small things is enjoyable as well; chocolate frogs that jump around, the moving portraits on the cards inside of them (as well as moving pictures in general), the ghosts at Hogwarts, flying on a broomstick for the first time, and the many other things he experiences. These are all things that really captivate readers by connecting them to the main character in the story; Rowling makes the readers feel the same sense of discovery that Harry experiences in his first two years as a student at Hogwarts.