*sigh*  I’ve got a lot I want to blog about, but I’ve got a huge project ahead of me.  I’m moving my personal blog to a new, free home.  This makes things really difficult because I made a pretty dumb choice - almost all the pictures you see here are hosted by Typepad.  When I [...]

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Merlin at Muggle Matters has posted some interesting thoughts on Harry Potter and X-men based on the third film, released this weekend. It’s interesting stuff in light of our exploration here of the “Wise Old Man” archetype. Merlin looks at Dumbledore and Professor X (who is obviously the Wise Old Man of the [...]

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As promised, I’m going to proceed with some thoughts on Dumbledore, but we must begin with a quick overview of Jung’s “archetypes” as it relates to mythology. Whether you buy Jung’s “collective unconscious” stuff or not, considering his archetypal patterns enhances our understanding of many classic and contemporary works of fiction.
In short, “An archetype [...]

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Someone asked in a comment recently about whether or not Dumbledore was an animagus. We don’t this for sure, though it was mentioned that, having been transfiguration master, it’s a good possibility. This led to me to start some research in that area which got immediately sidetracked by another issue which I had been planning [...]

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We had a fun final project to do for our Harry Potter class.  We were to creatively answer the following four questions: (1) What did we learn from the course? (2) What is your favorite part of the books? (3) What do you think will happen in book 7? (4) What else about the Harry [...]

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The two classes I was taking - Mythology and The Harry Potter Phenomenon - are over. I’ve got a summer ahead of me, in which I plan to become a father (due date, July 16), continue pressing forward here at SoG, read as many books as humanly possible (Emma, Tom Brown’s School Days, and [...]

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All my final papers and projects are due today, hence the low volume of blogging this week.  I will be back very, very soon.

a2a_linkname=”Final Papers!”;
a2a_linkurl=”http://thehogshead.org/2006/05/19/final-papers/”;

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In the back of my mind, I’ve been toying with using a post to entertain the “Draco Wolf-boy” theory that is circulating. Janet Batchler has concluded her set-ups and payoffs series with a post on Draco, and she lays out the theory. Like her, I’m not entirely convinced, but I can definitely see [...]

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It’s no secret: I think Snape is going to turn out alright. Much has been made of his rage when Harry called him a coward, and I think this is indeed a significant moment. Those of us who think Snape is loyal to Dumbledore and the Order are convinced that in killing Dumbledore and protecting [...]

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From the Gwinnet Daily Post:
In the past, Harry Potter has successfully outsmarted wizards, defeated giant serpents and escaped certain death. Now, without so much as a wave of his wand, it looks like he has also prevailed in his latest struggle.
The Gwinnett Board of Education ruled Thursday that the best-selling book series will not be [...]

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“But where will you go if you don’t come back to school?”
“I thought I might go back to Godric’s Hollow,” Harry muttered. (Half-Blood Prince 651)
And it’s about time, Harry. As Harry learned all about Voldemort’s history in his private lessons with Dumbledore, an incredible difference between Harry and Voldemort became apparent: Voldemort’s desire to find [...]

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As you may have noticed, I’m still fighting spam here, some of which is causing this to be a less-than-family-friendly site. On Friday, I will download an anti-spam plugin that should deal with the problem. Till then, please bear with me!
Update: The spam invasion should now be over. One of my problems [...]

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The next question kind of follows up on my previous thoughts about Harry’s Anger in Order of the Phoenix.
Question: Near the end of Book 5, Harry states that he doesn’t want to be human. What do you think he means by that? Why is it a significant comment in the context of his development?
Tom Riddle, [...]

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Just a few quick notes on the site.
~ As this site grows in popularity, it grows in getting spammed. This week I’ve had to delete about 25 comments that slipped through my spam detector, and 80 or so that got snagged before making it onto the board. There were 10 or so just [...]

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Quick note before the next question: LaShawn Barber has kindly linked to this blog in a recent post and noted the questions I’m answering. She writes:
I really want to answer those questions…but I haven’t had much extra time to blog here at FFC. If you have the time, you may answer the questions [...]

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