Harry Potter Characters Quote: "I fashioned myself a new name, a name I knew wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak, when I had become the greatest sorcerer in the world!" Voldemort, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
The Harry Potter characters are some of the most diverse, strange, yet fun characters ever written into the children's fiction genre.
J.K. Rowling has to be commended for adding so much to literature and it is almost too difficult to measure her contribution.
I mean, just from the perspective of getting children, especially boys, to become interested in reading and then go on to become competent - even great readers - is such a fantastic achievement itself.
If her characters were boring or just plain mundane there would be no ongoing interest in the franchise.
But thank God that's not the case!
Indeed, every character in the series has some importance, relevance and charm - no pun intended :)).
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Whether her characters are:
magical folk;
muggles;
dangerous and mythical creatures (dragons; giants);
thestrels;
hippogryffs;
talking snakes;
or any other contained within her stories!
You know they all add to the whole fabric of the story so that it becomes authentic and believable.
Most all Harry Potter characters can hold your interest and curiosity and stimulate your imagination.
The producer of Harry Potter, David Hayman, said...
"The reason I became involved with Potter was the characters. I love these Harry Potter characters and I relate to these characters in some way, each one in a different way.When we were making the films we look at the characters first because that's the heart and soul of the film."
I also love the way that J.K. Rowling's characters have different "arcs" that are always criss-crossing throughout the story.
For instance, Harry's Godfather Sirius Black is supposed to be a "notorious mass murderer", but as it turns out (via a great piece of plot mis-direction) that he is indeed a great friend and protector of Harry.
Deathly Hallows 1 Poster
The other "great protector" of Harry, Remus Lupin is in fact a dangerous monster who loses all sense of his good self when he transforms into a werewolf.
The tension that creates is both exciting and interesting on a very deep level.
Snape too always seems like the ultimate baddie but in effect is one of the great heroic characters of the book and film series.
He acts ultimately out of love for Lily Potter whereas Lucius Malfoy acts only out of concern for his own welfare.
He pretends to be an upstanding, upper-class wizard if you will, but is really a coward and a bully.
He is an opportunist always thinking of ways he may benefit from his allegiance with the Dark Lord.
Even that relationship is false as he mutters... "I never renounced the old ways...the way I'm forced to act, now that is my true mask!", in the Goblet of Fire when Voldemort returns in the graveyard.
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He is soon found wanting and you can see right through him.
Even Voldemort mocks him when he asks to have his wand in the Deathly Hallows and he says "My Lord?" in a particularly weak and disdainful voice.
Voldemort repeats his pathetic response and Malfoy backs down like a cowering dog.
It's all the worse for him being in front of his family and supposed friends.
It's really Malfoy's mother Narcissa who realizes in the end that they need to get away from Voldemort's influence and is more protective of Draco than Lucius could ever be.
I really think that it's this interplay of all the Harry Potter characters that make it feel so "right".
They seem to be "in sync" as it were, and you get the feeling you're on the journey with them as soon as the lights go down in the cinema and long after you've returned home.
There's something very satisfying thinking about them for days afterwards.
It's a whole lot more fun discussing them AND writing about them too! :))
Looking at it from another angle, Christopher Columbus (the director for the first two Harry Potter films) had trouble getting the three child actors into character.
He said it was "part filming, part acting lessons" as he tried to whip them into shape.
But luckily they came through spectacularly. He even mentioned their lack of acting experience and ability bonded them together and they fed off a power of three, as it were, to get through.
I suppose the pressure must have been great because the Harry Potter characters are iconic in a worldwide sense and fans of the books would easily "sniff out" a poor performance or an irregular characterization.
Children have a knack for keeping adults on the "short and narrow".
I know as a school teacher if I mention something that is slightly wrong they jump on it straight away to correct me.
Think how much more pressure then for poor old Chris Columbus and David Heyman who had the "weight of the Harry Potter world" on their shoulders!
See the other side of the Harry Potter characters here...
See a full list of the H.P. Characters here...
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