The House of Gryffindor is the place where most Harry Potter fans would love to be sorted into by the venerable Sorting Hat. Not only is it the house where the hero, Harry Potter, and his friends belong, this is also the house where the wizards and witches are known for their great courage. Founded by Godric Gryffindor, this house proudly displays its strength and courage with its golden and scarlet blazon, featuring a mighty lion on a red-colored background.
The House of Gryffindor is located on the seventh floor of the Hogwarts castle, the entrance to which is slyly hidden behind a painting of a fat woman in a pink silk dress. Though she is not one to refuse entry if told the right password, the Gryffindor students had better be careful if disturbing her precious sleep.
Behind this painting is the Gryffindor commons room, which remains busy and full of students during most of the daylight hours. It has a common bulletin board, where one can find all kinds of news: from news about the latest school rules and regulations, to news about the next Hogwarts trip, to advertisements for second-hand brooms, books, and other school supplies. There is also a fire place, through which one can connect with the outside world, using the "floo network". Besides these, there are several tables and chairs, where the Gryffindor students congregate for study and chatting amongst friends.
This common room of the House of Gryffindor leads to two staircases, one leading to the boys' dormitory and the other leading to the girls' dormitory. The girls' staircase feature an enchantment that prevents boys from entering the girls' dormitory. However, as the girls are considered more trustworthy, no such enchantment guards the boys' staircase.
The head of Gryffindor during Harry Potter's time is the stern and sharp teacher, Professor Minerva McGonagall. The house ghost is Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, better known as "Nearly Headless Nick" because of his partially beheaded neck.
The House of Gryffindor also has been the place where many of the most famous and successful wizards and witches have belonged. For instance, this house was the one to which the very head of the Hogwarts School, Sir Albus Dumbledore, once belonged.
Other well-known figures from Harry Potter's world who have belonged to this house include Harry Potter's parents (James Potter and Lily Evans), and his godfather, Sirius Black. Gryffindor had also housed all the members of the Weasley family (the "Redheads"), without exception.
The House of Gryffindor, like any other aspect of the Hogwarts castle, closely guards its secrets, and much remains hidden that may yet be unfolded. Full of great mysteries of the past and great aspirations for the future, this house is where courage and loyalty are treasured above all.
About the Author
Amy Koelle is a self-confessed Harry Potter enthusiast (some would say "addict"), and is the principal content creator for HarryGear.com. She also publishes a monthly Harry Potter newsletter, available at: ==> http://www.harrygear.com
Tuesday, 17 July 2007
The Evil of Harry Potter by Arthur Zulu
"She lov'd me for the dangers I had pass'd; And I lov'd her that she did pity them. This only is the witchcraft I have us'd." --Othello, from "Othello, the Moor of Venice," by William Shakespeare
Forgive the author for the little witchcraft. For alchemists, sorcerers, and witches ruled the world during the Middle Ages. And still do today. Because about now a Catholic faithful in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico or Lourds, France, is on their kneel expecting a miracle; somewhere someone is consulting a shaman, voodoo priest, or witch doctor; another is checking a horoscope, ouija board, crystal ball, tarot card, or reading the features of their face, or their palm. Elsewhere, somebody is trying to find interpretation on tortoiseshells or the yin-yang symbol, or shaking a fortune stick out of a container, or wearing a "Saint" Christopher medal or "good luck" charms; while others are finding meaning in broken mirrors, black cats, and the numbers 4, 9, and 13.
And so spiritism (from Greek pharmakia or English pharmacy), which involves direct, or indirect contact with demons, or wicked spirits, has come to stay in its various forms--divination, magic, looking for omens, sorcery, binding with spells, consulting mediums, and inquiring of the dead. The proof of this is that in just the United States, about 30 magazines with 10 million readers are publishing different forms of spiritism, while Brazil spends a whopping 500 million dollars annually on the subject. And while first century Christians in Ephesus were reported to have burnt their magical books totaling $37, 200, eighty percent of Roman Catholics in Brazil visit spiritistic centers after Mass. Why is it so?
"All good to me is lost; Evil, be thou my Good." --"Paradise Lost," by John Milton
Not that the practice of spiritism is new. It has its root in Babylon--the center of false religion. From there, it spread to Asia, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, Egypt, and other lands after men left Babel with the fall of the Tower to found new habitats for themselves. Nothing was done without resort to divination in these lands, which gave rise to the Augurs--men who interpreted the future through the flights of the birds, or their entrails. A man of repute like Cicero, the Roman orator, was versed in looking for omens in the flights of birds. And kings, like Croesus of Lydia, visited the oracle of Delphi for "divine" messages, and got equivocal replies.
Now spiritism has refused to go away because of its seeming success in helping men and women to solve their problems. But is it?
Back in the day, Joan of Arc, the sixteen-year-old French girl who saw visions, was burnt to death by the Roman Catholic Church for practicing witchcraft. And in 1542, 1563, and 1604 in England, Acts of Parliament were enacted declaring witchcraft a capital offence. But today, witchcraft has been elevated to a prestigious art, and, we are leading our innocent children to bookstores at 12 midnight--the witching hour--to buy them books on how to be a witch. Or wizard. We are living in the witchcraft generation!
"Civilization is going downhill. . . . When civilization goes downhill, the whole planet goes down."--Lewis Mumford
Values. Values? What values! I thought that there used to be something called moral values. And that it was the duty of the parents to inculcate them into the children. But not so. Now that we have more female readers than male--idle mothers at that who have not read Deuteronomy 6: 4-9--the children would no less be better than walking corpses. "Mom says it's OK. So what about that?" the child snaps at you. What is okay?
It used to be the "Lord of the Rings," "The Wizard of Oz", "Alice in Wonderland," and "The Narnia Chronicles," until Harry Potter came. And it seems that the door to a coven had been thrown open and we are beholding naked witches and wizards. So the same parents who would not ordinarily have completed witchcraft registration forms for their kids are presently buying all the Harry Potter books, with Lighting-bolt tattoos conspicuously stamped on the foreheads of the upcoming proud witches and wizards. Who knows but that the satanic tattoo was designed by Beelzebub himself, the king of demons! We now have the Professor Dumbledores (the Hogwarts headmaster and a powerful wizard), the Hedwigs (Harry's owl and courier), the Parselmouths (wizards who rapport with snakes), and so on.
That would not be the first MISEDUCATION that the parents have given their young ones. (Some Loraine Hill.) Because the shameless Ananiases and Sapphiras have lied to their dumb kids about the non-existent man with red clothes and a long beard from the "Norh Pole" called Santa Claus, or Father Christmas, who goes about on "Christmas Day" handing out gifts to people. What is his home address in the forbidden frigid Arctic? They have been deceived that on Halloween night, the dead come out of their graves. Tell your parent to point out Adam, or your great-grand dad, come Halloween, among the crowd of dead-living souls. Yet, in the US, Canada, and Britain where this is practiced, be sure to see children dressed like ghosts and witches asking for sweets, or candies, in a game of "trick or treat," the next "Devil's" night, October 31.
Even certain devil-may-care parents have led their siblings to some church with a "Messiah," and ended up in literal infernos. (Not Dante's "hell.") And this hour, someone, and their family, is in a church of Satan, or performing initiation rites in a secret cult.
We are living in a lying and twisted genaration. Gargabe in, garbage out--sowing rot and reaping rot. Hitler was an angel! And so are all your politicians. Add to this, the world of "Identified Flying Objects" (IFO's), the so-called witches and wizards. What you get is something like a weird equation.
It used to be that people checked blurbs of books, or film ratings, before reading books, or watching movies. But the fall of Satan and his demons to earth as a result of the war in heaven between him and Angel Michael after 1914, has changed all that. Because that Great Dragon wants to perish with thousands of faithfuls in the imminent final battle. Yet, God has warned against the practice of all facets of spiritism.
"There shall not be found among you any one who. . . . [is] a witch. . . . or a wizard. . . ." --Deuteronomy 18: 10-12
That was God's unambiguous command to his people, the Israelites, before they entered the Promissed Land, Canaan--a land steeped in idolatry and all forms of spirististic practices. In fact, He had earlier set aside the death penalty for such offenders at Exodus chapter 22 verse 18. But that warning did not prevent the stiff-necked people from rivaling the Canaanites in those practices--even burning their children in fire! People like Saul, Jezebel, and Manasseh were guilty of pagan worship and demonism.
Similarly, there are official, and non-official, witches and wizards nowadays; neophytes; and parents teaching, or initiating, their children into witchcraft. The next stage would be the opening of an official school of witchcraft. Someone says there are already several of them.
Sooner or later, therefore, all our children would become witches and wizards--the real Harry Potters are coming. Sooner or later, the world would have no need of cars, ships, airplanes, or rockets. Sooner or later, there would be no need for electricity, computers, and the Internet. But a witch world where the favorite game is Quidditch played on Nimbus Two Thousand, or Firebolt brooms by players wearing The Sorting Hat; and the best dish is Every Flavor Beans.
"…broken and blind he died/…/The darkest justice of death, blind and unblessed"--Dylan Thomas
So when you are resting below a lily field, or a cherry tree, remember (if you like) that you left behind a world of goblins--a world born to evil. If you contributed to its demonization, the lily, or cherry tree, would lament the lamentations of Jeremiah on account of your being entombed under her. And you would receive a lecture on how not to gild the lily, or how not to bark up the wrong tree. If you like, listen; if you like, don't. But if you played the "angel" when you strutted and fretted the world's stage, God have mercy on your soul.
The surviving "elves" themselves would look back in amazement about how the Muggles--the non-magical people--got along on earth in those by-gone days. And then they would zip around to see the sober solar system, and, on a dare, dash through the confounding cosmos--on broom sticks twice the speed of light--and be the first to discover water in Jupiter, and, the initial spark of the Big Bang! And thank us--ignoramuses and most-to-be-pitied parents--till the appearance of the sapphire moon, for making them witches and wizards. What a privileged, and highly-honored, generation!
Therefore, propose a salubrious toast and clink your wine glasses, unblst folks, for the little devils. Way to go! You see?
A-p-p-l-a-u-s-e!
ARTHUR ZULU is an editor, book reviewer, and the author of CHASING SHADOWS! and HOW TO WRITE A BEST-SELLER. For his works, professional services, and free helps for writers, goto: http://controversialwriter.tripod.com Mailto: controversialwriter@yahoo.com Web search: Arthur Zulu
About the Author
Arthur Zulu is an editor, book reviewer, and published author
Forgive the author for the little witchcraft. For alchemists, sorcerers, and witches ruled the world during the Middle Ages. And still do today. Because about now a Catholic faithful in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico or Lourds, France, is on their kneel expecting a miracle; somewhere someone is consulting a shaman, voodoo priest, or witch doctor; another is checking a horoscope, ouija board, crystal ball, tarot card, or reading the features of their face, or their palm. Elsewhere, somebody is trying to find interpretation on tortoiseshells or the yin-yang symbol, or shaking a fortune stick out of a container, or wearing a "Saint" Christopher medal or "good luck" charms; while others are finding meaning in broken mirrors, black cats, and the numbers 4, 9, and 13.
And so spiritism (from Greek pharmakia or English pharmacy), which involves direct, or indirect contact with demons, or wicked spirits, has come to stay in its various forms--divination, magic, looking for omens, sorcery, binding with spells, consulting mediums, and inquiring of the dead. The proof of this is that in just the United States, about 30 magazines with 10 million readers are publishing different forms of spiritism, while Brazil spends a whopping 500 million dollars annually on the subject. And while first century Christians in Ephesus were reported to have burnt their magical books totaling $37, 200, eighty percent of Roman Catholics in Brazil visit spiritistic centers after Mass. Why is it so?
"All good to me is lost; Evil, be thou my Good." --"Paradise Lost," by John Milton
Not that the practice of spiritism is new. It has its root in Babylon--the center of false religion. From there, it spread to Asia, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, Egypt, and other lands after men left Babel with the fall of the Tower to found new habitats for themselves. Nothing was done without resort to divination in these lands, which gave rise to the Augurs--men who interpreted the future through the flights of the birds, or their entrails. A man of repute like Cicero, the Roman orator, was versed in looking for omens in the flights of birds. And kings, like Croesus of Lydia, visited the oracle of Delphi for "divine" messages, and got equivocal replies.
Now spiritism has refused to go away because of its seeming success in helping men and women to solve their problems. But is it?
Back in the day, Joan of Arc, the sixteen-year-old French girl who saw visions, was burnt to death by the Roman Catholic Church for practicing witchcraft. And in 1542, 1563, and 1604 in England, Acts of Parliament were enacted declaring witchcraft a capital offence. But today, witchcraft has been elevated to a prestigious art, and, we are leading our innocent children to bookstores at 12 midnight--the witching hour--to buy them books on how to be a witch. Or wizard. We are living in the witchcraft generation!
"Civilization is going downhill. . . . When civilization goes downhill, the whole planet goes down."--Lewis Mumford
Values. Values? What values! I thought that there used to be something called moral values. And that it was the duty of the parents to inculcate them into the children. But not so. Now that we have more female readers than male--idle mothers at that who have not read Deuteronomy 6: 4-9--the children would no less be better than walking corpses. "Mom says it's OK. So what about that?" the child snaps at you. What is okay?
It used to be the "Lord of the Rings," "The Wizard of Oz", "Alice in Wonderland," and "The Narnia Chronicles," until Harry Potter came. And it seems that the door to a coven had been thrown open and we are beholding naked witches and wizards. So the same parents who would not ordinarily have completed witchcraft registration forms for their kids are presently buying all the Harry Potter books, with Lighting-bolt tattoos conspicuously stamped on the foreheads of the upcoming proud witches and wizards. Who knows but that the satanic tattoo was designed by Beelzebub himself, the king of demons! We now have the Professor Dumbledores (the Hogwarts headmaster and a powerful wizard), the Hedwigs (Harry's owl and courier), the Parselmouths (wizards who rapport with snakes), and so on.
That would not be the first MISEDUCATION that the parents have given their young ones. (Some Loraine Hill.) Because the shameless Ananiases and Sapphiras have lied to their dumb kids about the non-existent man with red clothes and a long beard from the "Norh Pole" called Santa Claus, or Father Christmas, who goes about on "Christmas Day" handing out gifts to people. What is his home address in the forbidden frigid Arctic? They have been deceived that on Halloween night, the dead come out of their graves. Tell your parent to point out Adam, or your great-grand dad, come Halloween, among the crowd of dead-living souls. Yet, in the US, Canada, and Britain where this is practiced, be sure to see children dressed like ghosts and witches asking for sweets, or candies, in a game of "trick or treat," the next "Devil's" night, October 31.
Even certain devil-may-care parents have led their siblings to some church with a "Messiah," and ended up in literal infernos. (Not Dante's "hell.") And this hour, someone, and their family, is in a church of Satan, or performing initiation rites in a secret cult.
We are living in a lying and twisted genaration. Gargabe in, garbage out--sowing rot and reaping rot. Hitler was an angel! And so are all your politicians. Add to this, the world of "Identified Flying Objects" (IFO's), the so-called witches and wizards. What you get is something like a weird equation.
It used to be that people checked blurbs of books, or film ratings, before reading books, or watching movies. But the fall of Satan and his demons to earth as a result of the war in heaven between him and Angel Michael after 1914, has changed all that. Because that Great Dragon wants to perish with thousands of faithfuls in the imminent final battle. Yet, God has warned against the practice of all facets of spiritism.
"There shall not be found among you any one who. . . . [is] a witch. . . . or a wizard. . . ." --Deuteronomy 18: 10-12
That was God's unambiguous command to his people, the Israelites, before they entered the Promissed Land, Canaan--a land steeped in idolatry and all forms of spirististic practices. In fact, He had earlier set aside the death penalty for such offenders at Exodus chapter 22 verse 18. But that warning did not prevent the stiff-necked people from rivaling the Canaanites in those practices--even burning their children in fire! People like Saul, Jezebel, and Manasseh were guilty of pagan worship and demonism.
Similarly, there are official, and non-official, witches and wizards nowadays; neophytes; and parents teaching, or initiating, their children into witchcraft. The next stage would be the opening of an official school of witchcraft. Someone says there are already several of them.
Sooner or later, therefore, all our children would become witches and wizards--the real Harry Potters are coming. Sooner or later, the world would have no need of cars, ships, airplanes, or rockets. Sooner or later, there would be no need for electricity, computers, and the Internet. But a witch world where the favorite game is Quidditch played on Nimbus Two Thousand, or Firebolt brooms by players wearing The Sorting Hat; and the best dish is Every Flavor Beans.
"…broken and blind he died/…/The darkest justice of death, blind and unblessed"--Dylan Thomas
So when you are resting below a lily field, or a cherry tree, remember (if you like) that you left behind a world of goblins--a world born to evil. If you contributed to its demonization, the lily, or cherry tree, would lament the lamentations of Jeremiah on account of your being entombed under her. And you would receive a lecture on how not to gild the lily, or how not to bark up the wrong tree. If you like, listen; if you like, don't. But if you played the "angel" when you strutted and fretted the world's stage, God have mercy on your soul.
The surviving "elves" themselves would look back in amazement about how the Muggles--the non-magical people--got along on earth in those by-gone days. And then they would zip around to see the sober solar system, and, on a dare, dash through the confounding cosmos--on broom sticks twice the speed of light--and be the first to discover water in Jupiter, and, the initial spark of the Big Bang! And thank us--ignoramuses and most-to-be-pitied parents--till the appearance of the sapphire moon, for making them witches and wizards. What a privileged, and highly-honored, generation!
Therefore, propose a salubrious toast and clink your wine glasses, unblst folks, for the little devils. Way to go! You see?
A-p-p-l-a-u-s-e!
ARTHUR ZULU is an editor, book reviewer, and the author of CHASING SHADOWS! and HOW TO WRITE A BEST-SELLER. For his works, professional services, and free helps for writers, goto: http://controversialwriter.tripod.com Mailto: controversialwriter@yahoo.com Web search: Arthur Zulu
About the Author
Arthur Zulu is an editor, book reviewer, and published author
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