Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Big Ideas
- How to recover from a dementor encounterHow to recover.
- Meet Your Boggart: Riddikulus!How to deal with a boggart.
- The only thing worthy of our fearThe only thing to fear.
- The Patronus CharmHow to deal with a dementor.
- I knew I could do it … Because I’d already done itAnd you pretty much can.
“Harry pulled out the Hogsmeade permission form and looked at it, no longer grinning. It would be wonderful to visit Hogsmeade on weekends; he knew it was an entirely wizarding village, and he had never set foot there. But how on earth was he going to persuade Uncle Vernon or Aunt Petunia to sign the form?
He looked over at the alarm clock. It was now two o’clock in the morning.
Deciding that he’d worry about the Hogsmeade form when he woke up, Harry got back into bed and reached up to cross off another day on the chart he’d made for himself, counting down the days left until his return to Hogwarts. Then he took off his glasses and lay down, eyes open, facing three birthday cards.
Extremely unusual though he was, at that moment Harry Potter felt just like everybody else—glad, for the first time in his life, that it was his birthday.”
~ J. K. Rowling from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter. Number 3.
This time we get to meet the prisoner of Azkaban. None other than Harry’s wrongfully-imprisoned Godfather with the coolest name ever: Sirius Black.
We also get to hang out with Professor Lupin, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher (and werewolf!) and a Hippogriff named Buckbeak. Good times! :)
Check out our Notes on the whole Harry Potter series here. (And, get a copy of the book here.)
I’m excited to share my thoughts on a few of my favorite Big Ideas so let’s jump on our broomsticks again and kick off the ground!
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Get the BookHow to recover from a dementor encounter
“‘It was a dementor, Poppy,’ said Professor McGonagall.
They exchanged a dark look, and Madam Pomfrey clucked disapprovingly.
‘Setting dementors around a school,’ she muttered, pushing back Harry’s hair and feeling his forehead. ‘He won’t be the last one who collapses. Yes, he’s all clammy. Terrible things, they are, and the effect they have on people who are already delicate —’
‘I’m not delicate!’ said Harry crossly.
‘Of course you’re not,’ said Madam Pomfrey absentmindedly, now taking his pulse.
‘What does he need?’ said Professor McGonagall crisply. ‘Bed rest? Should he perhaps spend tonight in the hospital wing?’
‘I’m fine!’ said Harry, jumping up. The thought of what Draco Malfoy would say if he had to go to the hospital wing was torture.
‘Well, he should have some chocolate, at the very least,’ said Madam Pomfrey, who was now trying to peer into Harry’s eyes.
‘I’ve already had some,’ said Harry. ‘Professor Lupin gave me some. He gave it to all of us.’
‘Did he now?’ said Madam Pomfrey approvingly. ‘So we’ve finally got a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher who knows his remedies.’”
Dementors have arrived at Hogwarts. Those dreadful creatures hidden beneath their cloaks that suck the happiness right out of you.
We’ll talk more about how to deal with them before they knock you down. But what’s the preferred pick me up when you get attacked?
A little chocolate. (Hah!) Which, is known to boost our moods and improve our microbiome so…
But! Let’s stick to 70%+ dark chocolate (which reduces the amount of sugar) and limit ourselves to 1 ounce per day. (The last time I got a little sick I took the whole “chocolate is good for you” thing a little too far and found myself eating a whole bar a day. Laughing. Caught up to me.)
And, of course, remember that when we get knocked down by the dementors in our lives, that’s the time to be EVEN MORE committed to our protocol and keep our bright line commitments to ourselves so we don’t spin out of control right when we need to stay centered!
Meet Your Boggart: Riddikulus!
“‘Nothing to worry about,’ said Professor Lupin calmly because a few people had jumped backward in alarm. ‘There’s a boggart in there.’
Most people seemed to feel that this was something to worry about. Neville gave Professor Lupin a look of pure terror, and Seamus Finnigan eyed the now rattling doorknob apprehensively.
‘Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces,’ said Professor Lupin. ‘Wardrobes, the gap beneath beds, the cupboards under sinks — I once met one that lodged itself in a grandfather clock. This one moved in yesterday afternoon, and I asked the headmaster if the staff would leave it to give my third years some practice.’
‘So, the first question we must ask ourselves is, what is a boggart?’
Hermione put up her hand.
‘It’s a shape-shifter,’ she said. ‘It can take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us the most.’
‘Couldn’t have put it better myself,’ said Professor Lupin, and Hermione glowed. ‘So the boggart sitting in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form. He does not yet know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door. Nobody knows what a boggart looks like when he is alone, but when I let him out, he will immediately become whatever each of us most fears.”
The boggart!
Yet another one of Rowling’s genius creations. So… The boggart is a shapeshifter. It assumes the form of what most frightens us. It’s different for everyone. (What’s your boggart look like? :)
The best way to deal with a boggart? Our wise Professor Lupin tells us there are two primary weapons against our fear: 1. Friends and 2. Laughter.
A boggart doesn’t know what shape he should assume when there’s more than one person around. Therefore, hanging out with your friends when a boggart is lurking is a good idea. :)
And… The way to REALLY take care of the boggart? LAUGHTER! Of course, there’s a charm for that as well. This one “is simple, yet it requires force of mind.”
Repeat after me, please: Riddikulus!
You may recall that Neville’s greatest fear was Snape. Professor Lupin coached him to imagine Snape dressed up as his grandmother—wearing a tall hat with a stuffed vulture on top. Plus a long green dress, a fox-fur scarf, and a big, red handbag. Imagining Snape dressed like that? RIDDIKULUS!
Enter: Laughter. Exit: Fear.
So… What are you most afraid of?
Can you dress it up in something absurd and give it the old Riddikulus! charm?!
The only thing worthy of our fear
“‘You know that day we fought the boggart?’
‘Yes,’ said Lupin slowly.
‘Why didn’t you let me fight it?’ said Harry abruptly.
Lupin raised his eyebrows.
‘I would have thought that was obvious, Harry,’ he said, sounding surprised.
Harry, who had expected Lupin to deny that he’d done any such thing, was taken aback.
‘Why?’ he said again.
‘Well,’ said Lupin, frowning slightly, ‘I assumed that if the boggart faced you, it would assume the shape of Lord Voldemort.’
Harry started. Not only was this the last answer he’d expected, but Lupin had said Voldemort’s name. The only person Harry had ever heard say the name aloud (apart from himself) was Professor Dumbledore.
‘Clearly, I was wrong,’ said Lupin, still frowning at Harry. ‘But I didn’t think it a good idea for Lord Voldemort to materialize in the staffroom. I imagined people would panic.’
‘I did think of Voldemort first,’ said Harry honestly. ‘But then I — I remembered the dementors.’
‘I see,’ said Lupin thoughtfully. ‘Well, well . . . I’m impressed.’ He smiled slightly at the look of surprise on Harry’s face. ‘That suggests that what you fear most of all is — fear. Very wise, Harry.’”
The only thing worthy of our fear? Fear itself.
You might have noticed this is a recurring theme. We touched on it in the prior two Notes in the series. Recall that we had Dumbledore telling Harry: “Call him Voldemort, Harry. Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself.”
It’s impossible for me to read that and not think of Franklin Roosevelt’s wisdom from his first inauguration: “So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is… fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”
(This 30-second clip of FDR giving that speech is worth a goosebumps-inducing view.)
Ralph Waldo Emerson had something to say about this as well. Here’s how he put it: “Fear is an instructor of great sagacity and the herald of revolutions. One thing he teaches, that there is rottenness where he appears.”
The only effective, rational, courageous response to fear? As Emerson advised: ALWAYS do the thing you fear. BRING IT ON! That, and a little Riddikulus! does the trick. :)
The Patronus Charm
“‘So . . .’ Professor Lupin had taken out his own wand, and indicated that Harry should do the same. ‘The spell I am going to try and teach you is highly advanced magic, Harry — well beyond Ordinary Wizarding Level. It is called the Patronus Charm.
‘How does it work?’ said Harry nervously.
‘Well, when it works correctly, it conjures up a Patronus,’ said Lupin, ‘which is a kind of anti-dementor — a guardian that acts as a shield between you and the dementor.’
Harry had a sudden vision of himself crouching behind a Hagrid-sized figure holding a large club. Professor Lupin continued, ‘The Patronus is a kind of positive force, a projection of the very things that the dementor feeds upon — hope, happiness, the desire to survive — but it cannot feel despair, as real humans can, so the dementors can’t hurt it. But I must warn you, Harry, that the charm might be too advanced for you. Many qualified wizards have difficulty with it.’
‘What does a Patronus look like?’ said Harry curiously.
‘Each one is unique to the wizard who conjures it.’
‘And how do you conjure it?’
‘With an incantation, which will work only if you are concentrating, with all your might, on a single, very happy memory.’”
The Patronus Charm.
Yet another (!) one of J.K. Rowling’s magical touches. Want to fight the despair of the encroaching dementors? Only one thing will do…
You must concentrate, WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT, on a single, very happy memory. And, note, this requires such mental strength that “many qualified wizards have difficulty with it.” :)
As we’ve discussed, when I read to Emerson we like to pause and reflect on what we’re reading. Here’s the sequence in this section:
Me: “What’s your happiest memory?”
E: (After thinking about it for a moment) “The day Eleanor was born.”
Me: (After dropping my jaw and mouthing “Wow.”) “That’s one of mine, too.”
“You know another one of my happiest moments? The day YOU were born.”
“And you know what another one is? The day your mommy and I got married. We told each other that we love each other so much that we wanted to spend our entire lives together. And maybe one day we’d be lucky enough to have kids.
E: “And, you did! Two!!”
Me: “We never dreamt we’d be so lucky to have a kid as wonderful as you.”
*misty smiles + cuddles*
(I’m still astonished (!) that was his answer. We had both Emerson and Eleanor at home in almost the *exact* same spot right by our bed. Emerson was 4 1/2 when Eleanor was born and was there (with his Nama) for the whole process.)
So… Spotlight on you and YOUR Patronus Charm.
What are YOUR happiest memories?! Seriously. Think about it for a moment.
Give me one awesome memory! _____________________________________
Science agrees: The Charm works. If you can get yourself to concentrate (with all your might!) on those happy memories you can’t, at the same time, be anxious or depressed. Not possible. Try it.
Here’s how renowned researcher Robert Emmons puts it in Thanks!:“The basic observation that positive emotions are somehow incompatible with negative emotions is not a new idea and has been demonstrated over several decades. Back in the 1950s, this basic principle of emotional incompatibility provided the basis of behavioral therapies designed to treat phobias and other anxiety disorders. One simply cannot be relaxed and stressed at the same time. Try it. You can’t. Relaxation drives out anxiety and vice versa. The Buddha said that ‘Hatred cannot coexist with loving-kindness, and dissipates if supplanted with thoughts based on loving-kindness.’ You cannot be grateful and resentful at the same time, or forgiving and vengeful. When we are savoring the moment we cannot be regretting the past.”
It takes practice to pull off the Patronus when those dementors are charging. Not all wizards can master it. But… You’ve got this!
Let’s practice now. Think of a super happy moment. Take a deep breath in. Smile. Exhale. Feel the joy of that memory deep in your soul. Hold up your wand. EXPECTO PATRONUS!!
I knew I could do it … Because I’d already done it
“‘Prongs,’ he whispered.
But as his trembling fingertips stretched toward the creature, it vanished.
Harry stood there, hand still outstretched. Then, with a great leap of his heart, he heard hooves behind him and whirled around and saw Hermione dashing toward him, dragging Buckbeak behind her.
‘What did you do?’ she asked fiercely. ‘You said you were only going to keep a lookout!’
‘I just saved our lives . . . ,’ said Harry. ‘Get behind here — behind this bush — I’ll explain.’
Hermione listened to what had just happened with her mouth open yet again.
‘Did anyone see you?’
‘Yes, haven’t you been listening? I saw me but I thought I was my dad! It’s okay!’
‘Harry, I can’t believe it. . . . You conjured up a Patronus that drove away all those dementors! That’s very, very advanced magic. . . .’
‘I knew I could do it this time,’ said Harry, ‘because I’d already done it … Does that make sense?’”
Here we are at the end of the story. Harry just saved everyone from the dementors by conjuring an epic Patronus. As Hermione says, that’s some advanced magic. How’d he pull that off?
He knew he could do it because he’d already done it. (And he’d practiced a ton!) In this case, we had the benefit of Hermione’s little locket that turned back time. In our case, we want to see how many different ways we can do the impossible by doing it before we really do it. :)
First, let’s start with this gem from the scientists who wrote Make It Stick: “Let’s return to the old saw ‘If you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.’ It turns out there is more truth here than wit. Attitude counts for a lot.”
They tell us about Carol Dweck and her research on the growth mindset. If you THINK you can get better and do something, you’re right. Why? Because you’ll actually try. If you *don’t* think you can do something, you’ll never do the work necessary to even have a shot. So…
Then how about the science of “self-efficacy”—or believing you can do what you want to do? Albert Bandura tells us that there are four keys: 1. Mastery Experience (aka, you’ve had prior success); 2. Vicarious Learning (you’ve seen someone else do it and think, “If they can do it so can I!”); 3. Social persuasion (someone tells you that you can do it!); 4. Physiology (you ACT like a successful person: “Eat, Move, Sleep, Breathe like a champ!”).
Navy SEAL Commander Mark Divine tells us we need to win FIRST in our minds. Then on the battlefield. While Robin Sharma tells us that things are always created twice: “first in the workshop of the mind and then, and only then, in reality.” He calls that “blueprinting.”
Then we have gold-medal winning peak performance coach Lanny Bassham. In With Winning in Mind, he tells us that “You can imagine far more than you currently can achieve. If you consistently rehearse what you want to achieve, what you imagine can become reality.”
He proved it with his own example when he “wanted to set the record at 400, a perfect score. But I had never actually fired a 400, even in training. Nonetheless, I vividly rehearsed shooting the first 100, then another and another. I visualized each of the last ten shots building toward the record. I rehearsed what I knew would happen at that point: I would realize that I was above the record. Next, I rehearsed hearing a voice say, ‘That’s OK. I do this all the time.’ Then I imagined shooting the final ten easily and saying to myself, ‘Another 400, that’s like me.’
I rehearsed this sequence several times a day for two months. In my first competition since beginning the rehearsal, I started with a 100 kneeling. My next two targets were also 100s. I began my last series with ten, ten, ten, ten. Only five more to go. Ten. Ten. Ten. Then reality set in. I was above the record. I heard an internal voice say, ‘That’s OK, I do this all the time.’ I shot two additional tens, setting the national record at a perfect 400.”
Harry’s version, “That’s like me. I just conjured an epic Patronus. Let’s do this!”
What’s yours? Let’s win first in your mind. Think of some past successes. See success in this project. Know you can do it, because you’ve already done it.
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