Haha! And You Thought We Were Done With Harry Potter

Sorry but, apparently, J.K. Rowling just couldn't stop writing about Harry and the world of wizards. After having finished the seventh Harry Potter book and sending it off to all the printing houses, eagerly awaiting their chance to make millions and millions of copies, she appeared to have gotten Harry Potter withdrawal because she went on to write The Tales of Beedle the Bard as well as two Hogwarts schoolbooks. Honestly, I'm surprised that's all she wrote because, judging by the number of times she references them in her other books, it sounds like she could have easily written A History of Magic and Hogwarts, A History. As it is, I will use this final Harry Potter post to discuss the remaining three books, due to the fact that they are all so short.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard
I give you fair warning: for each and every one of these books I have to discuss how impressed I am by the extent to which Rowling has built her own world. That goes for the book of fairy tales as well, of course, starting with the fact that Harry and Hermione had never heard any of these tales and Ron had never heard of Cinderella. I deeply appreciate the fact that the fairy tales bear some definite similarities to our Muggle fairy tales while retaining the obvious differences. I am also in awe of the fact that Dumbledore (in his notes on the book) mentioned some of the different versions that certain fairy tales had gone through. I love this particularly because it is so true of stories which are so old that nobody can remember where they came from or how the original went. Of course, there's also the anti-Muggle factor infused into some of these stories and that, too, is typical of any stories which have lasted a considerable amount of time. Just as we have had certain books banned over the centuries, so certain wizards decided to modify stories with a moral which doesn't appeal to them in order to preach a moral more to their liking (which, I guess, defeats the purpose of the original story). I was also grateful to finally get a distinction between "wizard" and "warlock". I had been wondering about that.

Quidditch Through the Ages
Here I give Rowling enormous credit, not only for inventing an exciting and entirely original game played exclusively on broomsticks, but also for: inventing a history of the game, including a reason for the invention of the Snitch; numerous other games played on broomsticks several centuries ago, before Quidditch gained popularity; and the invention and progression of the flying broomstick. While a broomstick was supposedly chosen as a flying vessel because it was such an inconspicuous object (easily hidden or explained in a wizard's or witch's home in the days of witch hunts) I don't see how it's any less conspicuous than any piece of furniture, such as the flying carpets that the witches and wizards of the east are more fond of. However, things like that often have an arbitrary beginning and then, after centuries of doing it a certain way, it comes to appear to be the most natural solution, so I'm okay with it. 

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
I love everything about this book from the fact that she came up with, not only 75 different creatures, but also, in some instances, variations within those species. Dragons alone come in 10 different varieties and Rowling took the time to invent and describe them all. I especially appreciate the explanations provided in this book as to why Muggles are unaware of these creatures. Obviously things like dragons and unicorns maintain a presence in our folklore, but have you ever wondered why your garden isn't infested with gnomes that you need to spin around until dizzy and then throw as far away from your house as possible? I did, and this book gives a believable (as believable as a book about wizards can be) explanation for it. My favorite part of this book was the doodlings and sarcastic notes left by Harry and friends. They only help to further cement their personalities, which Rowling expertly manages to showcase, even in such a confined outlet.

And there you have it: an expertly well-crafted story, full of vivid characters that we both love and love to hate, set in an incredibly well-built world which is simultaneously fantastical and based in reality.