"E: Education" Neville Rules Hogwarts!--and it turns out I went there....

What education conjures up for most of us is a picture of our school, usually the one where we had either the worst or the best experiences. School was always a good place for me. I love to read, and learning comes easily. It was my place to excel. My first date with my husband was to see the movie "School of Rock."

There is also the adage that our real education starts when we graduate from school. My basic religion tells us that God is not confined to the church on Sunday. I remember fussing because my husband and I had to push up our wedding to a month after my mother's death. Any, but the most demure, celebration was inappropriate. So we opted for the Justice of the Peace. I got to the ceremony, noticed that we had a Hindu, a Muslim, a Jew, and two Christians of disparate disciplines in the middle of Montana--that had to be an act of God! Then upon reflection, I decided that God probably spent more time at the courthouse, more prayers from there, more often.

The school were I would love to go is Hogwarts---wouldn't we all? We see ourselves as Harry Potter--the humble boy who one day will save the world. The little sister winds up with the hero, and the smart woman picks the man who doesn't have to be a hero--no one has asked him to do what he does. He does it for friendship, for love, for the love of mankind. He does it even when we don't think he's going to have the strength because we know he has weaknesses. As a blogger I follow noted, Ron Weasley is the real "everyman." And Hermione is the modern woman.

Everything I ever needed I learned from fantasy and sci fi novels. Seriously, when it comes to who to be, and how to be a curious, courageous, and compassionate person, read fantasy and science fiction. Because we don't associate the environment with any that we really know, then we can choose whom we like. AND who ever chooses to be Voldemort? We do---every single day.

We choose to split off our souls, and put on an inhuman mask. We are taught not to show emotion, not to be who we really are. We tell ourselves that we know the Secret of the Universe---that we are a loving person and we are acting out of love. Only God really knows how to love, and only God can give unconditional love. We just need to keep trying to love--because somewhere along the way we find that fantasy doesn't cut it. We must face who we are as best we can, ask God's forgiveness for the shortcomings, and acquiesce to his plan for us.

That is when our real education begins--that is the moment that we leave behind our fantasies, our childhood, and we start to make progress. We may have learned an awful lot about life before this happens, and we'll make good use of that when it does.

The first great lesson is how to really deal with the schoolyard bullies. What happens to Dudley? He accepts the reality of Harry after he faces soulessness (the most awful possibility) and starts to mend fences. What happens to Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon? They must accept the reality of that which they have denied or face the same fate--even then they have trouble believing it. Yet they all chose LIFE WITH a soul. What about Peter Pettigrew? He chooses not to see the reality of Voldemort and he dies--yet that death is better than continuing to live without compassion--ie soulessness. It is his moment of caring that gets him out of Voldemort's clutches. The real "everyman" in this story lies in Voldemort's Death Eaters, or those living in fantasy. The real messages are to give up on fantasy, embrace trying as hard as you can to love, and that is when the real struggle begins. Harry, in the end, goes on to be a father and husband--that is the real goal. This is where the real meaning of life is for wizards and Muggles alike--raising children and everyday work for the common good, not the greater good.

Actually, as I write this, I find an even deeper message in my second favorite character, Neville Longbottom. He grows the most in the books, and becomes a professor in his favorite field at Hogwarts. All the recognition he gets for actually being the one to allow the Chosen One to kill the Bad Guy is having the peaceful life of his dreams. Neville is the real winner in the whole story and Neville is the best man in the end. His only reward is the love of his friends.

So who is the wisest of them all? He who has friends who really love him for who he is--Neville. And he definitely appears to get the least boring, most exciting, most-grateful-for-love-and-friendship, guaranteed-unpredictable, and always-challenging-your-paradigm wife. Hence although on the surface Neville's life may seem dull, underneath it is full of magic. That is the final lesson of Hogwarts. So who is my favorite character? Luna, of course, the one who knows that there is more to life than the accepted paradigm and loves without ever questioning why.

Humm-it seems I went to Hogwarts after all. Earlier today I said that my favorite Bowdoin memorabilia was my self esteem. It was the place where I was first fully accepted: toads, buckteeth, and clumsiness; my passions were nurtured; and my fight against the demons started--And yes, many would take me for Ginnie or Hermione, possibly even Bellatrix, but I really strive to be Luna. Does anyone have some dirigible plum earrings?