Harry Potter Lessons Learned, Chapter 8: The Potions Master

Welcome back to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and, with it, the chapter where we finally meet Severus Snape. We also get a guide to the school, an understanding of how classes work, and a lovely afternoon tea with Hagrid that is interrupted by news of a break-in at Gringotts. We also get to see the nervous "ickle firsties" become comfortable enough to express their personalities a bit." But today's lesson is about allies.

"Fame isn't everything."

Severus Snpae is my favorite professor, but he is my least-favorite instructor. When I was not much older than Hogwarts students, I did a 9-week Spanish language program. On that first day, our teachers walked into class and began speaking to us. After a few minutes, the last teacher to speak asked if anyone had understood what they had said. I raised my hand because I realized that years of growing up with bilingual parents and studying Latin and Greek in school had made it possible for me to understand a lot of Spanish before I actually took that course. At the teachers' request, I spent a lot of time in those first weeks helping my new friends learn to do the same and eventually, we all learned on the same level.

This chapter makes me think o that experience from the perspective of everyone else in my class. It must have been frustrating and a little bit scary to not know what was going on. They probably worried that they'd be asked to answer a question and look foolish. I felt lucky to have the language come to me easily and I still speak Spanish fluently because I use it all the time, but I feel called to have sympathy for the Harrys of the world instead of gloating about being a little bit like Hermione.

But luckily, Harry has allies. We learn in the first sentences that a lot of people point and stare, but also whisper about him. It's easier to talk behind someone's back, so I think it's a good thing that he has a much smaller circle of people who get to know him within his normal interactions.

I've once before mentioned that we need to give credit to other people who aren't necessarily Ron and Hermione. In this chapter, I want to talk about Seamus Finnigan. AfterTw being interrogated by Snape, Harry suggests that the professor ask Hermione for the answers because she's clearly eager to contribute to the class. While a few people laugh at his joke and Snape sees him as cheeky, Harry catches Seamus' eye and his classmate winks. This is one of the first people to just give him a signal that seems to say, "Good one, mate. Keep going." Or at least, Seamus gives him a signal that he notices Harry wasn't just being a joker. Seamus doesn't egg him on or shut him down and I love him for that.

The second part I'd like to discuss is the tea with Hagrid. I recently learned many details about the tradition of afternoon tea and one thing that struck me was tea expert Arthur Gaultier's comment that "This isn't just about sipping tea; it's a moment to pause, savor, and enjoy the company of others." Hagrid invites Harry over to take that time out from his busy week and welcomes Ron to the experience as well. Not to jump too far ahead, but it's poignant to me that Harry's son gets to have tea with Hagrid his first week at Hogwarts, too. But that's a story for a quarter century from this chapter.

Harry has his antagonists in Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape, but for the first time, he really has allies. Seamus gives him permission to be himself. Ron helps him with his potions lesson. Hagrid is on his side from the start, as we've discussed before and seen when he validates Harry's dislike for Filch.

Lesson Learned; When in doubt, look for allies

In the last week, there have been a lot of people looking to band together because they've felt afraid and alone. I've connected with people who are proud to live in my state or who want to find new friends who support the rights of other people.

Friends are sometimes hard to come by, but it's always possible to look for a common ground. Harry and Ron started as two new students who hadn't found people to sit with and we're already seeing them becoming fast friends in their classes.

So this chapter's lesson is to find strength in sharing the small stuff. It's a good stepping stone to friendship.