After Spring Break was over, Dr. Poe returned to class without a word about what he had been up to or where he had gone. But he did show us his collection of "dragon eggs" and informed us that he had to battle a banshee in order to get the Horntail egg. He did point out that since breeding dragons is still illegal in these areas, he will be making no attempts to do any breeding, but the collection was nonetheless impressive.
- V. B.
Prisoner of Azkaban
Dementors
We meet a lot of new creatures in this book. The worst
creature is a dementor, a creature that sucks all the joy out of you. John
Bunyan writes about a similar thing in Pilgrim’s Progress, only his creature is
the Giant Despair who traps Christian in the Castle of Doubt.
Depression is a horrible thing. We all go through it, some
more and some less, but we all deal with depression and doubt at some point in our lives.
To get rid of a dementor you just use the Patronus Charm.
This ties Harry with his father (same patronus animal) but he also has to think of the
most joyous memory in his life. “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is
true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is
lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think
about such things.” (Philipians 4:8) “I have told you these things, so that in
me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I
have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) We will all be visited by dementors in
life, so we must remember that “…the one who is in you is greater than the one
who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4b)
New Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher
Professor Lupin is a werewolf. He wasn’t born that way, but
rather he was infected and has to deal with now. It is the way that Lupin deals
with his condition that makes him different.
He is the first Dark Arts teacher that actually knows what
he is talking about. He introduces the class to a boggart, a creature that
takes the form of your worst fear. Lupin teaches them to overcome their
greatest fears. Lupin tells Harry that because he is afraid of dementors, Harry
really just fears Fear itself. “For God has not given us the spirit of fear;
but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7)
To get rid of dementors (depression) you think of something
happy, and to get rid of fear, you laugh at it. Lupin also shows us that
chocolate is a wonderful way to get rid of depression and when Dr. Poe pointed this out all the girls in
class agreed heartily.
Divination
We are introduced to divination in this book. This falls
into the category of magic that the Bible, McGonagall, and Dumbledore condemn.
There is also an astronomy tower at Hogwarts, and this is important because it is
not an astrology tower. Astrology has
its roots in medieval synthesis of theology, Platonic philosophy, and science,
but over the centuries it lost its science and was taken over by the occult.
Hippogriffs and Time Travel
Not known to appear before the Harry Potter series. Spawned
from a griffin and a horse. Griffins originate as far back as Babylonian times.
To save Sirius Black and Buckbeak, Hermione and Harry must
time travel. Time travel is a big part of the science fiction genre. Rowling
sets up the time turner from the very beginning of the book.
What is time? How can time change? Eternity is outside of
time and space. When God created space, time was made. But God is outside of
time. He is the time ender, and time beginner.
Did Dumbledore know that Sirius is innocent? We know that
Dumbledore talks to Sirius and that he can read minds, and Jesus could read minds too.
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