Tagged: mugglenet

Features / The Daily Prophet

Four Parts of the Wizarding World J.K. Rowling Should Further Explain in the “Fantastic Beasts” Spinoff

After the initial wave of what we’ll call intensity had passed, I started to think about what this would really mean for my understanding of the “Potter” series. Would I really learn anything? Wasn’t “Fantastic Beasts” just a small, 54-page guide to the magical beasts found in the wizarding world? How would this be applicable to my already-existing knowledge of “Harry Potter,” if at all? And what the heck is an Acromantula?!

Features / The Daily Prophet

Harry Potter and the Hero’s Journey

Last week, I found a post on Tumblr that analyzed a character from the TV show “Doctor Who” and compared that character’s journey to the pattern of Joseph Campbell’s “monomyth,” or “the hero’s journey” (the original post can be found here). Monomyth, as conveniently explained by Wikipedia, “is a basic pattern that its proponents argue is found in many narratives from around the world.” Essentially, it is the theory that many great literary heroes have all gone through the same seventeen stages of adventure (i.e., their stories all follow the same pattern). After researching this for a while, I was inspired to make my own comparisons between Harry’s journey in the “Harry Potter” series to see if it matched up with Joseph Campbell’s pattern.

Features / The Daily Prophet

Exploring animal cruelty and mistreatment in “Potter”

It’s a well-known fact that throughout the “Potter” series we’re introduced to a number of different animals, both “Muggle” and magical, each of which are uniquely portrayed by Rowling in their own way. In an interview with BBC Radio 4, Rowling expressed that she typically liked to derive many of these creatures from folklore and mythology, and many, even the seemingly “normal” ones, exemplify magical properties (think owls delivering mail). Further, though, I think it’s important to recognize that a lot of the different creatures in the “Potter” series haven’t necessarily been given happy endings, or stories for that matter.