Wild about Harry
He’s grabbed our imagination, Harry has.
Harry Potter, that is.
The young wizard hero of J.K. Rowling’s popular series of books – “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” being the sixth, with the final one expected sometime in 2006-2007 – is more than just a fictional invention to some readers.
Like all good literary characters, Harry and his friends and foes – Hermoine Granger, Ron Weasley and Profs. Dumbledore, McGonagall among the former, Prof. Snape, Draco Malfoy and “He Who Must Not Be Named” among the latter – at times feel more real than those who people our actual lives.
If you need evidence of that, just look at the drawings on the pages that we have devoted to our Harry Potter Contest. We asked Potter fans between the ages of 5 and 15 to draw their own versions of the characters originally imagined in Rowling’s book by illustrator Mary GrandPré. And 48 readers responded to our call. Of the drawings submitted, we picked the top nine in three different age categories: 5-8, 9-11 and 12-15.
For their efforts, each of the top nine – as deemed by Spokesman-Review illustrators Molly Quinn and Bridget Sawicki (I offered a suggestion or two) – will get a $20 gift certificate to their favorite bookstore. In addition, to recognize the efforts of all who entered, each of the illustrations entered can be found on the Spokesman-Review Web site ( www.spokesmanreview.com).
Though a few admitted to having seen the movies – the fourth, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” is due in theaters Nov. 18 – most of the contest entrants were inspired by what Rowling put originally on paper.
“Even though I’ve seen all of the ‘Harry Potter’ movies a zillion times, my first memory of what the characters look like has not faded,” explains 14-year-old Sarah A. O’Hare of Spokane.
O’Hare, who will be a ninth-grader at North Central High School in the fall, chose to do a mixed-media drawing of Harry and his best two friends, Hermoine and Ron, as they would look in the most recent books. Facing us directly, arm in arm, the trio smile the way good friends tend to do in the presence of each other.
Which is strange, since each character is so different in temperament, not to mention style.
For O’Hare, Hermoine is “a natural perfectionist” whose “bushy hair is a very original characteristic.” Harry, standing in the center, “is a very average teen boy” who, nevertheless, continually demonstrates “a great deal of bravery and inner strength.” And Ron, she says, “is as untidy as Harry but more so. And, he sort of has selfish personality sometimes.”
But those differences complement each other, O’Hare says, “and they would do anything for each other, no matter what.”
In any event, she says, “This is how I imagine the trio when I read.”
Eleven-year-old Brett Baldwin of Hayden Lake, working in pencil, captures one of Rowling’s many action sequences – specifically, Harry’s fight with The Basilisk – from the second novel, “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” – in which our young wizard is aided by his feathered ally, The Phoenix.
The soon-to-be sixth-grader at Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy, who says he chose to work in pencil because he “really doesn’t like coloring much,” was drawn to portray the The Basilisk in particular.
Which is fitting because, he says, “I like to draw big serpents and stuff.”
Spokane Potter fan Megan Wells, who is only 8, returns us to a peaceful moment. Though she has read all six of the novels (or rather, she says, her dad has read them to her), she chose to capture Hermoine in a scene from the third novel, “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkabam,” which has the students visiting the magical village of Hogsmeade.
Wells, who will be a third-grader at Brentwood Elementary, says she liked the students’ visits to Hogsmeade because of “how there’s lots of candy shops and stuff.” And when asked why the series overall is so popular, her answer may be basic – but it might also be the most accurate:
“Because,” she says, “so much exciting stuff happens in them.”
In them and, as a consequence, our imaginations as well.