Harry Potter Lessons Learned, Year 2, Chapter 7: Mudbloods and Murmurs

Welcome back to the chapter-by-chapter reading of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. There are some new and nasty things to see at Hogwarts this chapter, from class discrimination to outright bigotry and even a hissing death threat. But there are things to learn as well, so let's take a look at what we can's a lot of new and nasty things to discover in this chapter about Hogwarts,

"No one asked your opinion."

I've had the misfortune of hearing hate speech over and the reactions it caused. The first time, a schoolteacher showed how religious persecution led to a riot. A friend of mine was called a racial slur a few years later and I didn't blame her for slapping the person who said it. But I also saw people staying silent when someone they knew justified slavery based on her opinions of who deserved freedom.

I love that hearing Hermione called "Mudblood" isn't a normal, acceptable, or overlooked thing. Fred and George practically attack Malfoy while Alicia Spinnet shrieks at him. Ron tries to curse the little piece of slime and unfortunately gets hit with the slug-vomiting effect. I love his impulsive retaliation as much as Mr. Weasley smacking Draco's father with an Encyclopedia of Toadstools in a bookstore. I don't condone violence, but I absolutely see reason in reacting strongly to this.

What Hermione needs isn't a brawl on her behalf and I appreciate that puking slugs isn't the end of Ron's involvement in this incident. In the movie, Hermione knows what she's been called and Hagrid's the kindly uncle figure who makes things all better, but in the book, Ron is fiercely loyal from a position of privilege. The Weasleys are a Pureblood family on the same level of historical fact as the Malfoys. Ron could have just as easily seen Hermione as lesser, but he was raised by Muggle-loving parents and sees witches and wizards of various blood statuses as valid. He's the one to cast aspersions on the idea of Purebloods being superior.

Lesson Learned: Pay attention to what will help

I have a good friend who wanted to help when times were hard. I would be frustrated by something or upset by a situation and she would immediately tell me how to fix things. She didn't mean anything by that other than wanting to put things right. That's great, but what I needed first was to be heard and then helped.

Everyone who reacted to Malfoy's attack on Hermione had good intentions, but we should see Ron as the example here. We can be aware of what will start a healing process only by looking to the person who was hurt to understand their pain.