Harry Potter Lessons Learned, Year 2, Chapter 4: At Flourish and Blotts

Welcome back to our chapter-by-chapter reading of the Harry Potter series. Last time, we brought Harry to his found family at The Burrow and in Chapter 4, "At Flourish and Blotts," we get to see how that family takes care of their own. We also see the Malfoys and their bigotries at work and that teaches an equally valid point. Let's dive in.

"As different as possible."

I have had the same best friend since the age of fourteen and I often credit a turning point for that. No, we didn't face a mountain troll together, just a bully. Someone I saw as an authority figure humiliated me in public for things that had no actual effect on the larger world and as soon as they had departed, this person turned to me and said, "I'm not okay with how they treat you." That was something that had never occurred to me and I can point out examples from the rest of our friendship that prove that my friend didn't take this lying down.

I'm reminded of this friend by the entirety of the Weasley family. It's all summed up in this line: "What Harry found most unusual about life at Ron's, however, wasn't the talking mirror or the clanking ghoul: it was the fact that everybody there seemed to like him." This is an example of how life there is "as different as possible" and it's empowering to him. Bullied into silence for a decade by his uncle, he's invited to sit with Mr. Weasley so he can be a source of wisdom. Forbidden from mentioning flying cars in Little Whinging, he can play Quidditch with his friends.

Once they go to Diagon Alley, it's a chance to put this new dynamic to the test. Yes, Harry goes one grate too far and overhears sinister dealings at Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley, but once he gets plot development from Lucius Malfoy, he is brought back into the fold at our favorite bookstore.

I'll come back to Gilderoy Lockhart properly in a future chapter, but I want to focus on the fistfight towards the end of the chapter. Mr. Weasley didn't disappoint me at all in how he reacted to the Grangers being in the wizarding heart of London. I often see an exhortation to take pride in yourself by thinking of how excited Arthur Weasley would be to meet you.

Arthur Weasley tackling Lucius Malfoy into a bookshelf in response to an insult to the Muggles in the room is very satisfying. We can't always smack a bigot with the Encyclopedia of Toadstools, but we can appreciate the need to stand up against the Malfoys of the world.

Lesson Learned: Fresh courage take

No matter your location, age, etc., there are people being discriminated against. You may be one of them. You may be friends or family to them. You may not know anyone personally, but you always have the right and the power to stand against hate. J.K. Rowling once said that "we do not need magic to transform our world. We carry all the power we need inside ourselves already." Tap into that power when and how you can.