Highlights of Pottermore

Between my anticipation for Avengers: Age of Ultron and my excitement about the news of DC's Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl coming later this year I've written about superheroes for the last thirteen weeks in a row.  I like superheroes a lot but I never wanted this blog to have a single theme so now might be the time to try something different.  I'm not going to talk about superheroes at all no matter how extraordinary the finale of The Flash was.  Clearly, instead of writing about entertainment I like I should do something completely different.  I have to talk about my personal life and describe my emotions in intimate detail.  I should do that, but if I do I will be incredibly uncomfortable for the next decade.  Instead I'm just not going to talk about superheroes.  I'm going to talk about Harry Potter.

Over the past year give or take I've been slowly reading the entire series again for the I-lost-count-several-times-ago time.  I have also been exploring the website Pottermore as I go.  Pottermore is made up of interactive illustrations from important scenes and a couple of game type things.  The most interesting part is the new writing from J.K. Rowling that gives backstory on some of the characters who have always been interesting but their entire bios couldn't fit in the books like these three.

Minerva McGonagall

For most of the series the audience only sees Professor McGonagall as a strict but caring schoolmarm.  In her Pottermore bio her trouble childhood is revealed as well as her dashed hopes and dreams a young woman.  Minerva's mother was a witch and her father was not.  The strife caused by the conflict of the two worlds had an impact on Minerva and plagued own romantic relationships.  While she was a student at Hogwarts Minerva proved to be an adept Quidditch player, which explains why she was so invested in the sport as to suggest Harry join the team in his first year at school instead of punishing him for something that he definitely should have been at least scolded for.  She worked at the Ministry of Magic before returning to Hogwarts as a teacher.  Rowling also revealed that the name Minerva comes from the Roman goddess of wisdom and McGonagall comes from a famously bad poet.

Dolores Umbridge

Similar to McGonagall, Umbridge was born to a wizard and a Muggle woman.  However, Minerva was close to her Muggle father whereas Dolores despised her mother and cut all ties to her as soon as possible.  She also joined the Ministry after leaving Hogwarts where she weaseled her way to the top of the food chain.  The only things that surpassed her hatred and maliciousness was her ambition.  When she was placed in charge of Hogwarts she believed herself finally free of restrictions and able to be as cruel as she wanted.  Rowling explained that Umbridge was loosely based on a teacher she had, but admitted that where Harry had very valid reasons to hate Dolores, J.K.'s dislike had little to no legitimacy.

Remus Lupin

Lupin's backstory is one of the more dramatic, and perhaps Shakespearean, in the Harry Potter universe.  Lupin also had one magical parent and one Muggle parent.  However, they enjoyed a mostly happy marriage until his father peeved off a werewolf, never imagining that it would come after the child Remus.  His parents never expected that he could go to Hogwarts like a normal boy wizard but Headmaster Albus Dumbledore approached them and convinced them that Remus belonged at the school.  He was proven right when Remus found a close-knit group of friends and excelled at his school work.  However, Remus lost his friends in the war against Voldemort and spent the next decade or so alone.  He believed he would be alone forever until Voldemort returned and Remus rejoined the resistance, where he met his wife.  Rowling said that Remus was one of her favorite characters and acknowledged that his wolf condition was a metaphor for sexually transmitted diseases, which is just one of the many ways her books address prejudice.