Tag Archives: Harry Potter

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Visiting with an Old Friend: Harry Potter


Upon writing this in 2016 I was 37 years old

“There’s no way I’m reading this book.” I think I tried at least half a dozen times before finally giving up and looking for an Internet summary for a young-adult lit class in college. The year was 1999, and I was a Division 1 Athlete on a full sports scholarship and didn’t have the time for a story about witches and trolls or whatever these books were all about. It wasn’t until months later, during a dull summer afternoon I gave the Boy Wizard and his Lightening Bolt Scar another shot.

Fifteen-ish years… seven books, eight movies, three trips to the Harry Potter theme park in Orlando and an sleeve of Harry Potter tattoos later, I’m on the verge of attending a midnight release of another Harry Potter book.

I am 37 years old and just became an elementary school principal and I now have a son who turned three this past spring and another who is five months old. Like most of us who are now in our 30s, we grew up alongside the amazing world of Harry Potter, and the impact it has made on our life is hard to quantify. For my generation, (although I joined the wizarding world a little later than most of my peers), Harry Potter is a close friend and trusted companion. We came of age with the the young boy who found who he really was after leaving the “cupboard under the stairs” and we have now taken him into adulthood with us. I can’t imagine a childhood without him, and I’m so glad he’s stuck around as I’ve grown older.

The books came to me at a time when reading was a chore… an assignment or research needed for a paper. I was in college and hadn’t been really interested in a book since The Catcher in the Rye or A Separate Peace which I read early on in high school. I was interested in my track practice schedule and where my next track meet was. I didn’t have time for “reading for fun.” I was never really a fan of the fantasy genre. I never really got into Star Wars and at the time had only read one book in the Chronicles of Narnia series (The Lion, Witch and Wardrobe, of course for a class assignment).

All that until I met a young wizard when I was in my early twenties. I was immediately… pardon the pun… enchanted by J.K. Rowling’s… pardon the pun again… magical way of spinning a tale. Harry, Ron and Hermione felt like old friends and Hogwarts felt like home. I had never interacted with text the way I did with these books. I had heard of “page-turners” before, but never held one myself. That was until that dull summer day all those years ago.

I tore through the first book in a few weeks, the second in about the same. Then came the Prisoner of Azkaban, my favorite of the series, which I devoured in three days on a trip to Boston. Book four, the longest of the series, took me about a week and was the first book I reread multiple times. The Order of the Phoenix was the first book I bought the day it was released and got through it in a few days. Then came book six, The Half Blood Prince. My first midnight release party. That night I asked Stephanie to marry me, gave her a ring and we sprinted to a small Indy bookstore on the Wildwood boardwalk to wait in line with hundreds of other people. I celebrated my engagement by reading in the hotel lobby until five in the morning and had the book finished on the beach the next day. The final book was an incredibly sad, yet even more exciting day for me. The last time I’d travel to Hogwarts with my friends, but also finally a chance to see our story to the finish line. I picked my preordered copy up at 8:00am and read 36 chapters and one epilogue (759 pages) in 17 hours. I stopped to eat and shower (I read during bathroom breaks too).

Luckily, the Potter fandom has created a life-line for the stories years after the books and movies came to an end. The stories’ centralized themes of friendship, love and leadership helped me be more self-reflective and even inspired others to create charities like the Harry Potter Alliance and Hogwarts’ Running Club. A recent study led by top professors across the world states that “people who grew up reading Harry Potter are more politically engaged and develop keener social perception and increased empathy.”


It’s been years since I picked up a new Potter book, but my time in the Wizarding World has still been busy. From Mugglenet.com and MuggleCast, to Pottermore online, movies, plays… and now as an educator and father introducing a new generation to my “old friends” and Professor Dumbledore’s wise words. My sons’ newborn photos (above) were done with a Harry Potter theme, (I’m sure he will love me sharing them when he’s in his teens). That’s what this series is all about… learning to love reading, whether it’s for the first time or like me learning to love reading again later in life.

I’m excited to bring my sons to Hogwarts for the first time and introduce them to my old friends. I’m interested to see if they’ll be sorted into Slytherin like their father… although based on Jackson’s adventurous, brave and quite daring side… I have a feeling he might be a Gryffindor, Oliver… Slytherin, (before the sorting hat even touches his head)… just like that Boy Wizard with the Lightening Bolt Scar I’m sure they’ll be in awe of the wizarding world. No matter the house they’re sorted into, or what it takes for my boys to become interested in the series, I think we’ll all be awaiting our Hogwarts letters together.

Here are some other Harry Potter related blogs I’ve written: 

https://chroniclesofanewdad.com/2018/06/23/top-ten-ways-you-know-youre-obsessed-with-harry-potter/

https://newdadchronicles.wordpress.com/2014/12/07/florida-trip-told-through-harry-potter-quotes/

https://newdadchronicles.wordpress.com/2015/12/07/jax-tattoo/

https://newdadchronicles.wordpress.com/2015/09/17/my-son-is-a-parseltongue/

https://newdadchronicles.wordpress.com/2015/09/02/backtohogwarts/

https://newdadchronicles.wordpress.com/2015/04/02/jackson-and-the-deathly-hallows/

https://newdadchronicles.wordpress.com/2015/03/25/for-in-dreams/

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Ketchup on Eggs


Who the heck puts ketchup on eggs?!!?? It’s not normal. As a matter of fact it’s un-American.  I am 100% serious when I say that if this kid is a ketchup on eggs kind of guy he’s getting left on his aunt and uncle’s door step Harry Potter style.  

All the note will say is: “He puts ketchup on eggs; he’s not welcome in my home anymore.”

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In Difficult Times

As Jax begins a tough week (tougher for me then for him probably) I hope he knows that life isn’t always fair… But as Dumblefore once said, “It is our choices, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

Our entire lives we are lead to believe there is a reason that things happen the way they do, or that someone else is pulling the strings. That fate holds our lives close and dangles, what we think we want in front of us, only to pull it away like its a whimsical children’s game to be played when we are bored.  

The problem with fate is that if we believe we are being controlled by an outside force then we are conceding that we are actually not in control of our own destiny. I refuse to believe that we do not have a say in how our lives turn out. Saying that something happens for a reason or that “it is what it is” is a cop out for the weak of heart and for those who underestimate the value and worth of what ever it was they are chasing. It is the characteristic of the strong man that he can bring momentous issues to the forefront and make a decision about them. The weak are always forced to decide between alternatives they have not chosen themselves.

Nothing in life is perfect, and nothing in life is ever going to follow the path that was cut by thoughts and ideas, but the things that are meaningful are worth working for, no matter what other say or the obstacles that stand in the way. The obstacles, that like an iceberg at the surface, seem simple to navigate, but are much deeper and can sink even the most sturdy ship. 

But it’s the destination that makes every icy ocean, every complicated situation worth it in the end. They say all those who wonder are not lost… But then it can also be said not all those who are lost wonder. Once what you have is worth fighting for then it’s not about how you get to the point you want to be at… It’s about making sure that you do get there that matters. 

Sometimes you have to take the harder path to make it to safety, and sometimes the path of least resistance is not always the best way to travel.   

✌🏼️

😘

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Jax’ Tattoo

  
As a guy who enjoys tattoos and also a guys who enjoys having a son… I’ve been wanting to get some ink done to represent Jax for a while now.  I decide on a meaningful representation of a father and son taken from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows short story The Tale of the Three Brothers. 
  
The story revolves around three wizard brothers who once conquered death for a short time by defeating a deadly obstacle with their magic. The personification of Death appeared out of anger because he felt that they had cheated him, but pretended to congratulate them by awarding them gifts of their choosing: The Elder Wand, The Resurrection Stone and the Invisibility Cloak. Two of the three brothers wished to conquer Death beyond what they had done already, and foolishly chose their gifts accordingly, leading to their early demise. The third brother was wiser, and hid under the Invisibility Cloak that allowed him to postpone death until he was ready; he lifted the veil that had helped him to evade the afterlife and was welcomed by Death.

The story’s moral is that you should live life for the right reasons: love and those you love.  Greed will lead to unhappiness and you will die without having enjoyed what means the most to you, as the power-hungry Antioch Peverell asked for a wand more powerful than any in existence and he was the first to die. Cadmus was also greedy but not as much as Antioch, he was the second brother to die. But the youngest brother who was a humble man asked for a thing that he could use to live a long and happy life.  One in which he was allowed to see his child grow. And thus because of this he attained a great age and passed The Cloak of Invisibility to his son.

Ignotus preferred a rather joyful, peaceful life, unlike his brothers. As such, he lived for several years with no quarrels or worries and raised a family. Ignotus saw to it that the very last thing he did in his life was pass the cloak on to his son, guaranteeing that his future descendants could live long happy lives as he had, and when he finally left the mortal world with Death, Ignotus had no regrets. 

I was happy to get a tattoo representing a moment that every father dreams of… Passing down something (knowledge, skill, an invisibility cloak) to their child which will ensure he will live long, happy and successful live.  

   
    
   Thx to Nycci at the Inkwell for doing such great work!
  
The Tale of the Three Brothers (HD Video)

My other HP tats: 

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Leaves are the Devil

I literally hate raking leaves… Like I literally would rather do about 25,000 things besides rake leaves.  I love everything about yard work, building stone walls… Mowing the lawn… Laying brick walkways… But I can not say that there is anything I enjoy less than raking leaves.

See that is what brings me here… Where I am today… With a son.  I had a son and I thought it would make life easier.  You know, have a son and make him do chores and pretty much do all the yard work and stuff.

Ummmm… Someone explain to me the logistics of the child labor laws… Because I’ve been out here three hours and Jax is sleeping still. 🍁🍁🍂🍁 

I’m pretty angry at this point. I hate leaves and I hate the fact that I have 476,976,087 leaves to pick up by myself.  I hate it so bad that I made a list of things I’d rather do than rake leaves…

1. Tell a kindergarten class that Santa put them on the naughty list.

2. Clean the gum under every desk in my school.

3. Count how many steps it takes to walk the Great Wall of China while someone skip counts next to me.

4. Read “50 Shades of Grey” to my grandma.

5. Sit front row at a Clay Aiken concert.

6. Throw away a perfectly good leftover pizza.

7. Watch “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” and take a shot every time Kim takes a selfie.

8. Be a bathroom attendant at a bar downtown.

9. Swim in a pool before waiting 30 minutes after eating.

10. Tell a group of sorority girls that Starbuck’s no longer sells Pumpkin Spice Lattes.

11. Listen to an audio version of The Great Gatspy narrated by Fran Drescher.

12. Accept invitations to play Facebook games

13. Talk to a telemarketer

14. Sit in traffic for 13 hours after drinking

15. Walk barefoot over a pile of Legos.

… It’s too bad I actually had to actually clean up all these damn leaves.  Like pick everyone up by hand… By myself… DAMN IT!

…19 hours later and all he’s doing is playing around. #GetToWork #ThatLaughThough…

Insane amount of leaves out there today. Too many to count. Too many to even think about doing by myself… Then again I might as well just hire someone. You know also bc my son isn’t going to do much out here.

… Well I better get back to work… At least one of us is having fun out here…

  

 Jax and I when “we” started picking up leaves this morning

 

Jax and I when “we” finished picking up the leaves tonight

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My Son is a Parseltongue

young_tom_riddle_4_by_vjameslily-d32owmr

So I have been so hesitant to write anything about what’s been bothering me lately.  Like really bothering me.  I know I pretty much write about anything and everything on here because that’s what this blog is about… The real stuff… The good, the bad and the ugly… Clint Eastwood style.   But I also want to make sure that later in life Jax doesn’t have a complex… (Or at least too much of a complex).

But I’m starting to worry.  So this blog entry is less about me telling a story and more about me being able to get something off my chest.  Something that is worrying me.

I’m pretty sure everyone knows I’m an educator.  I’ve been a teacher and administrator for 15 years now.  Maybe I have some sort of hypochondria or a super heightened sense of attention to detail when it comes to child development, but I feel like I’m starting to stress out.

So he’s almost 17 months old… He’s done a lot over the past year and a half.  He’s hitting milestones left and right… But he’s still not taking. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m the first to defend the… “Everyone develops at their own pace” philosophy.  But when it’s my own kid it’s stressful. Don’t forget… This is the type of literature I read on a daily basis:

ch

Try reading that as a parent and not losing your mind.  Try reading and article that says by 15 months your child should be able to order Lo Mein in Chinese and be able to use chopsticks to eat it. I’m struggling to balance my professional career as someone who diagnosis students’ reading problems and has to decide if a students behavior issues are developmental, environmental or learned… I’m struggling to balance that with my professional career as a dad who worries about everything.

I mean, we do have the basic “mama” and “dada”… and for whatever weird reason there’s also “nene” (bottle).  But other than that he has the language skills of Animal from the Muppet Babies.

We talk to him (I mean… I could talk for hours… its my favorite pasttime).  Grammy, literally gives him literacy and vocabulary lessons all day… half of his toys talk to him… and we read to him every night.  And all we get in return is something that sounds like Parseltongue.  I mean, maybe I’m looking into this to deeply… but he sure fits the bill of a Parselmouth

“Parseltongue is, when spoken, a hissing sound, similar to that of a snake; as such, normal people cannot understand it (one known exception being Dumbledore). Apart from merely communicating with serpentine lifeforms, Parselmouths also seem able to influence the will of serpents to a certain extent. Aside from serpent-based creatures, Parselmouths can communicate with each other with the language, as Harry understood Tom Riddle’s commands to the Basilisk and the House of Gauntcommunicate with each other almost exclusively in Parseltongue. While inherited, Parseltongue usually requires the speaker to face a snake-based creature or object shaped like a snake (e.g. a carving); more proficient speakers may be able to speak it at will.” -HarryPotter Wiki

So maybe I should be less worried about the fact that he isn’t really talking or more worried that my son may be a Dark Wizard?

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#BackToHogwarts

 

Still waiting for some advice from JKRowling

 
September 1 is always such a cool time of year.  Fall is creeping in, Octoberfest hits the shelves, but most importantly it’s the day we get to head back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  

It’s crazy how all these years later, a simple date can still bring up so many great memories. From watching the first movie in the CCSU auditorium, reading the HPOoP in a weekend, getting engaged and then running to the midnight release of HPHBP in Wildwood, MuggleCast and MuggleNet theories getting me through endless yard word, reading 18 straight hours of HPDH all the way to visiting the Wizarding World and dressing Jax up as Harry Potter.  

I can’t wait to read the series and experience the magic (no pun intended) all over again with Jax.     

   
 

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Jackson Carmine and the Deathly Hallows

Jax what happened to your hand!??

  

Luckily Professor Snape was able to slow the spread of the curse

Apparently, my son has been hunting Horcruxes in his spare time.  You think he would have learned from Dumbledore’s mistakes and left the Guant ring alone.   

“The ring, Harry. Marvolo’s ring. And a terrible curse there was upon it too. Had it not been — forgive me the lack of seemly modesty — for my own prodigious skill, and for Professor Snape’s timely action when I returned to Hogwarts, desperately injured, I might not have lived to tell the tale. However, a withered hand does not seem an unreasonable exchange for a seventh of Voldemort’s soul. The ring is no longer a Horcrux.” —Albus Dumbledore (explaining the effects of the curse).