I have recently read the (wonderful) book Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by the eminent J.K. Rowling.
In this book Harry’s main problem is that there is a new teacher at school who’s nearly as nice as a particularly nasty slug badly disguised in pink lace.
She thinks Harry is a “nasty attention seeking liar” and gives him detention for it. It turns out that what she tells people to do in detention is cut open the backs of their hands with a very sharp quill. For most of the book there is a silent battle of wills raging between Umbridge (the teacher) and Harry.
Harry often struggles to remain resolute despite Umbridge’s taunts and various punishments. He could complain to the staff and have the torture stopped, but he doesn’t want to give her the satisfaction of knowing that she’s gotten to him.
Can you imagine hating someone so much that you would go and slice open the back of your hand for a couple hours each night just so they wouldn’t get a bit of satisfaction?
It sounds pretty unrealistic, but J.K. Rowling has a magic touch that turns the outrageously unbelievable in to, quite simply, the truth.
After her description of the battles taking place in Harry’s mind I will never doubt that he made a perfectly sensible choice.
You should definitely read this book! (Matter of fact, I think they should make a law saying that everyone in the United States has to read the entire Harry Potter series by the time they’re nine…)
Selly,
5 Stars
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