Blackwolf the Dragonmaster's Diary of Magecraft

Being a Chronicle of the Inner Secrets of, and Spells of Magick as Wielded by, the Philosopher of the Internet and Unofficial Sorcerer-in-Residence of the City of New York

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Location: New York, New York, United States

As New York's Unofficial Wizard, my mission is to encourage the Mortals of Manhattan to imagine responsibly!

Thursday, July 14, 2005

Blackwolf Wields the Sword of Godric Gryffindor

Well, Harry Potter fans, are you ready?

How dare I ask that of you! Of course you're ready, Mortals. You've spent three years yelling and screaming over this, by Merlin's beard --- and frankly, so has your humble Dragonmaster. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth volume in J.K. Rowling's epic seven-part chronicle of the life and journey into young-manhood of one Harold James Potter, is going to cause an emotional earthquake of such epic proportions that it will be obvious to everyone around you that getting with the program WILL be essential!

But, as in prior years, there will continue to be those annoying voices of dissent, those imbeciles possessing litle or no respect for the power of the Imagination. Case in point:

Dateline: Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire, England ---- Pupils from the Holt Primary School were ready to celebrate the launch of Half-Blood Prince by dressing up as their favorite Potter characters. But the event was scrapped when parents and a local rector expresed concerns over witchcraft. According to Holt Primary's headmaster, Paul Martin, the rector claimed that he, Martin, was seeking "to lead our children into areas of evil."

The students themselves were severely upset and confused over the bickering of the adults that had resulted in the cancellation of the event. Headmaster Martin, however, tried to rectify the situation with these remarks: "When I received a letter from the rector which suggested that I was 'seeking to lead our children into areas of evil,' I felt that he situation was escalating disproportionately. May I reassure all parents that my staff and I only wished to raise the profile of reading. We did not wish to cause any offence or upset, and the fact that this whole incident has turned sour is entirely regrettable. I now wish to put this whole sorry business behind us, and encourage the parents to pull together to help us make the end of this current term a happy, positive experience."

Yes, friends, once again we have to listen to the petulant whining of imagination-lacking dunderheads who feel that Harry Potter is an instrument of evil. Even Pope Benedict XVI has his own concerns, which he expressed to Berlin-based sociologist and author Gabriele Kuby, for her book Harry Potter: Good or Evil? His Holiness wrote to Ms. Kuby, in part: "It is good that you enlighten people about Harry Potter, becuase these are subtle seductions which act unnoticed and, by this, deeply distort Christianity in the soul, before it can grow properly."

Well, Your Holiness, at the risk of getting all sorts of hate e-mails over this revelation, I don't like bursting people's bubbles, but I believe the Mortals have a saying: "Been there, done that." And if I may elaborate, let it be known, if I haven't made it clear to you already, that the story of Harry Potter is the tale of a boy, ripped apart from the family that should have cared for him by forces beyond his control: a boy forced to make choices that will serve the greater good of protecting his own world, the Wizards' world, and the world of Humans, or, as they are called here, Muggles.

Not to raise a ruckus here, goodly gentles, but I am sick and tired of people who equate Wizardry with devil worship or other such naughty things! Walt Disney explored these issues in days of yore when he was planning the Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria sequence of Fantasia. 'Twas Walt, I recall, who observed that "good and evil, antagonists in all great drama whatever the guise, must be relatively made simple." If J.K. Rowling has not made simple this story of the struggle between the good Wizards of the Order of the Phoenix and the evil Wizards of Lord Voldemort's Death Eaters, then maybe it's time I came to visit every one of those houses of yours and painted you imbeciles a picture!

Like most of my Brother and Sister Mages, I get extremely defensive when somebody trashes my chosen profession; indeed, I have often stated that I am willing to fight such oafs tooth and nail, to the death if need be, to stand up for this cause. Oh yeah, let's remember here that Half-Blood Prince and the book that will follow it will finally answer the world's questions about the Second War, that ultimate smackdown between Gryffindor and Slytherin in which young Harry must either destroy Lord Voldemort or be destroyed by him ...... that two worlds may yet survive!

And if you haven't gotten it yet, all I have to say is:

FOR THE LAST TIME, GET A CLUE OR GET THE HELL OUTTA THE WAY!

So speaks Blackwolf the Dragonmaster, Duke of Talisker!