From: Kathleen Horning <horning>
Date: Mon, 08 Nov 1999 09:34:02 -0600

Beth, I'm so glad you raised the question about the magic used in Harry Potter, as the question as to whether or not it is arbitrary was raised earlier in this discussion and never really addressed. Your observation that sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't, with examples of each, is a point well-taken.

This will lead us easily into this week's focus on Book One, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" since the establishment of the magical world of Hogwarts is a central focus of this volume. I really appreciated the manner in which she set everything up in the first volume. Everything is new to Harry and readers learn about this strange new world as he does. I also appreciated that his classmates are all at different levels of knowledge about the Muggle world and the magic world. For example, his best friend Ron is as clueless about Muggles as Harry is about magic, and Hermione falls somewhere in between them, as an over?hieving Muggle-born witch.

So, to repeat Beth's question, what do others think about the magic in Harry Potter, specifically the first volume? Do you agree that it's arbitrary, and does it matter if it is? Or do you think it serves other functions, as Beth has pointed out an instance where it advances the relatinship between the characters? Let's hear from the readers of Book One.



Kathleen T. Horning (horning at education.wisc.edu) Cooperative Children's Book Center University of Wisconsin-School of Education 4290 Helen C. White Hall 600 North Park St. Madison, WI 53706 608&3930 FAX: 608&2I33
Received on Mon 08 Nov 1999 09:34:02 AM CST