Fantasy Advent Day 18: Harry Potter Lessons Learned, Chapter 14: Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback

Welcome to the continuing adventures of December's Fantasy Advent and Chapter 14 of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Tom Riddle's birthday is only a few days away, so we're going to send him off in style by meeeting him again in 1992. But first, we see Hagrid's wish fulfilled with a dragon named Norbert.

"Bless him, look. He knows his mummy."

Some people in this world are gatekeepers and sadly that applies to being a parental figure. I myself don't have kids and it's not for lack of wanting them, but I have been a mentor to many, an aunt to over a dozen, and call my fictional characters my unofficial children. These days, not as many get angry with me for feeling maternal when I'm not a mater, but I've learned over the years that anyone can act in the place of a parent with enough care.

One of my favorite moments in this chapter is when Hagrid declares himself Norbert's "mummy." Hagrid is more of a daddy figure and Norbert will eventually be discovered to be a Norberta, but the intention and love is there. Hagrid overlooks his child's faults and stands up for her when she's being bullied. (Or so Hagrid believes.) In the movie, Hagrid even worries about what will happen if he doesn't feel at ome among the other dragons.

This is one of the chapters that passes the most easily, since it's a series of vignettes about kids keeping a secret about a dragon and helpin a friend. But its overall theme is that it is possible and understandable for help to simply mean standing by someone without asking too many questions.

Lesson learned: Work with what you've got

There's probably no such thing as a book for What to Expect When You're Expecting a Dragon, but Hagrid does his best with a combination of instinct and information. You have to wonder how many chickens he had to sacrifice to feed Norbert a bucket of brandy and chicken blood every half hour Norbert is just a little smaller than the elephant in the room, but Hagrid treats her with as deserving of love and uses creative thinking for the rest.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione learn to help when they cant halt Hagrid's plans. It could have been a risk reaching out to Charlie, but Ron trusts his brother to know what to do. I've often been told to look for what can be done when everything seems impossible and the Golden Trio model his

The chapter ends with a price being paid, so come back next time for the consequences..