¹ Interview from Scholastic Online, Oct. 6, 2000.

² William Safire, “Besotted with Potter,” the New York Times, Jan. 27, 2000.

³ Stephen King, “Wild about Harry,” Review of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling in The New York Times Book Review, July 23, 2000, pp. 13–14.

⁴ For example, among many others: “Does Harry Potter belong in schools?” Editorial Opinion, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Oct. 5, 1999. “‘Muggles’ seek to muzzle Harry Potter in schools,” Reuters, Oct. 13, 1999. Kimbra Wilder Gish, “Hunting Down Harry Potter: An Exploration of Religious Concerns about Children’s Literature,” Horn Book, May/June 2000, pp. 262-271. First Things Endorses Harry Potter, Online: Harry Potter Culture and Religion, http://www.cesnur.org.

⁵ Lana R. Whited, The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter, University of Missouri Press, Columbia, MO, 2002, p. 11.

⁶ Roni Natov, “Harry Potter and the Extraordinariness of the Ordinary,” in The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter, op. cit. pp. 125–139.

⁷ Karen E. Westman, “Specters of Thatcherism,” in The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter, op. cit. p. 308.

⁸ Steven Weisman, “A Novel that Is a Midsummer Night’s Dream,” the New York Times, July 11, 2000, p. A30.

⁹ Interview on Scholastic.com, Oct. 6, 2000.

¹ The online reference Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Sue_fanfiction) offers this definition of a Mary Sue: “A pejorative expression for a fictional character who is an idealized stand-in for the author, or for a story with such a character. . . . The term originates in fan fiction but is spreading into general use.”

¹ I freely admit that I’m bending myself into rhetorical knots trying to be fair here. Like all people with a strong political orientation, I find it much easier to spot the other side being unreasonable than I do acknowledging similar pushiness among my own. That said, given a choice, I’d much rather err on the side of openness, and trust that young people make better decisions when given both sides of the picture, than only allowing them to be taught what they need to know in order to agree with me all the time.

² A manifestation of Rowling’s great talent for character names, at which she happens to be one of the best since Dickens.

³ And in Great Britain as well. No major democracy has been entirely free of them.

⁴ Remember, please, the memorable image Neville Longbottom employs to cope with his own fear of Professor Snape in Prisoner of Azkaban.

⁵ The one volume still under composition at this writing may not reveal more to her agenda, but this writer can confidently declare that explaining away her actions as those of a mere Voldemort minion would strike him as tremendously cheap.

¹ Matthew Arnold, one of Thomas Arnold’s eleven children (two died in infancy), attended Rugby with Thomas Hughes. He became a noted poet (“Dover Beach”) and scholar, defending the classical education against such innovators as Thomas Huxley, who wanted English universities to include science in their curriculums. Matthew Arnold also wrote “Rugby Chapel” as a defense of his father’s image.

² Kingsley was the author of Westward Ho! and Water Babies. Kingsley and Hughes were prominent Christian Socialists who emphasized the social content of the Christian message. Hughes used his own money to set up a utopian community in Tennessee and spent four years there between 1878 and 1882.

³ John Rowe Townsend, in Written for Children, calls Stalkey and Co. “almost anti-school story, not a typical one.” Indeed, he believes, “its cynicism damaged the genre,” and contributed to its decline.

⁴ He had a favorite pitch–a “double shoot” that curved in and then out.

⁵ Dick tried to acquire his brother’s “double shoot” but was able only to throw a ball that dipped up and then down!

⁶ C. S. Lewis’ Narnia novels, for instance, include one—The Silver Chair—in which Eustace and a schoolmate escape boarding school when summoned by Aslan, and Prince Caspian begins on an abandoned train platform. Both books detail escapes into fantasy from the dreadful realities of school.

⁷ Or at least that’s how it sounds at the end of the first movie. He may, in his British accent, be saying “nerve and courage,” as in the book.

¹ A clarification of the term “Non-Wizard” or “Magically Challenged Person”: In using these rather vague terms, I am of course following the recent message issued by the Ministry, as follows: “Due to recent unpleasant reactions from the public, we have taken steps to make our publications less ‘wizard-centric.’ The use of terms such as ‘M*ggle’ are deemed to be offensive and shall henceforth not be used in reference guides. We shall, instead, transform the term to ‘non-wizard’ to refer to those who are magically challenged. (This will occur automagically for all works already completed, published and bound.) Failure to comply with this request going forward will result in fines and administrative confinement.”

² Source: Booksln Foolscap, Ed.792.

³ From a Reader Owl saved from the publisher’s rubbish bin by a disgruntled former employee: “Dear Mistress Dunning: Your fashion advice was FANTASTIC! My mum was none too pleased when I put on the skin-tight six-inch micro mini skirt and the four-inch heels, but you would simply not believe what a smash I was with the lads. Some of them wanted to give me the funny currency they use in London to take a walk with them–couldn’t make any sense out of it, but it was a laugh and a half. Mum says I’m not allowed out again until I turn thirty-five, when my hips will be too big to wear that sort of thing. Could you please owl her and tell her that it’s all in fun? Sincerely, Bethesda Brightwell.” No record of any response from Mistress Dunning. Not that I particularly blame her.

⁴ Rumors concerning my blackmailing of Mistress Dunning’s agent (whose wife might not appreciate his visit to the giantess-run brothel as much as the pictures indicate he did) for the proper address should be disregarded. Not that I’ve seen any such pictures. Or know of any such establishment.

⁵ Although I can, of course, think of one in particular, who called himself The Doctor. Changeable sort. I suspect he might have been a Metamorphmagus, although he was rather firm on the idea of not wanting anything to do with Ministry affairs.

⁶ From another Reader Owl: “Dear Mistress Dunning: I regret to inform you that although I certainly did my best, my attempt to strike up a conversation in a local public house was less than successful when following your advice. By ‘unsuccessful’ I mean, of course, ‘bloody awful,’ in that I was attacked by all inhabitants of the pub, including the barman, the barmaid, two barristers and a Church of England cleric. I was, of course, able to hold my own against the barristers, the barman and the barmaid, but the C of E cleric fair kicked the shite out of me. I respectfully request you revise this area of your very fine work to avoid such confrontations in the future. Sincerely yours, Caddog Cantington.” Unfortunately, Mistress Dunning seems not to have heeded his advice.

¹ Though the original supply housed at the Ministry is reported to have been destroyed in the fight at the end of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, it is quite likely that more would have been found and relocated between that point and Harry’s final battle with Voldemort.