I present to you…the Quotes chapter! With a detailed analysis of each quote and the character and meaning behind it, I loved writing this and I hope you love reading it.

"I hope you're pleased with yourselves. We could all have been killed — or worse, expelled. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to bed." ― Hermione Granger

This quote is something I find really interesting. A lot of people take it as a joke, but I just want to expand on how this showcases Hermione’s character - it really highlights how she’s less afraid of death rather than something that could screw up her entire future as she’s alive. It’s treated as a joke, but we need to remember that as a muggle and as a perfectionist, Hermione must be terrified of expulsion. So would I! Hogwarts is one of the most prestigious schools. Plus, knowing how much Hermione probably loves this new world of Magic she is being exposed to, she must be worried sick of losing it. She really seems disgusted here – but it’s probably less with Ron and Harry rather than with herself. She sounds disappointed in herself because she believes that she has just almost jeopardised her entire future in the world of magic.

"Fame is a fickle friend, Harry. Celebrity is as celebrity does. Remember that." — Gilderoy Lockhart

For once, Gilderoy Lockhard actually spoke sense. While he’s viewed as a massive narcissist (which he is) we should probably analyse a little deeper. He’s completely right in this quote. Fame is fickle - and in Lockhart’s case, it is a mountain of lies that grows deeper and deeper in his eventually futile quest to remain relevant and famous within the Wizarding World. He is probably incredibly alone, knowing deep inside that all his fans see is the glamorous, skilled, and charming persona he presents to the world. He likely also has Imposter Syndrome, knowing that deep within all his lies he’s just an ordinary person who stole other people’s accomplishments. Even after his memory loss and he’s rehabilitated, he only knows he’s famous and don’t you remember how vividly joyful he was? A far cry from the meek man Harry and Ron confronted in his office, when his lies grew too big for himself to handle. I like to think that here, he genuinely was trying to help Harry so that he didn’t become just like Lockhart himself: a pitiful charlatan.

"It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be." ― Albus Dumbledore

Now, I’m a firm believer in the theory (basically canon at this point) that Albus Dumbledore lost sight of emotion and pretty much used people around him for his goals in justification of the “Greater Good”. However, here, he imparts some wisdom on us. If we match up this quote against a Harry Potter example, like Voldemort, we can actually see how it’s applied. Voldemort was born a Riddle and treated with hate and disgust from the moment he entered the world. A dead mother and an absent father, an orphanage of hate. He resorted to thievery and bullying. But my main focus here is that he could’ve stopped. He had every opportunity to turn over a new leaf once going to Hogwarts - no one knew him, he had magic, et cetera. Instead, he chose to submit to his dark side. Same thing with Peter Pettigrew. The poor lad grew up loved by his parents, part of the most memorable friend group at Hogwarts. Still, he allowed his insecurities to overcome him and despite it all, turned over to the dark side (though he did still have some humanity, like when he saved Harry). Wise words, aren’t they?

"Your devotion is nothing more than cowardice. You would not be here if you had anywhere else to go." — Voldemort

I love this quote as well, because it truly shows that Voldemort is very aware of his followers, his closest allies. He doesn’t want to pretend everything is well and good, he knows full well that if he was gone, his followers would abandon every single ideal he stood for. But that was what made him such a cutthroat villain - why his backstory didn’t turn him into a snivelling wart who wanted to avenge his parents, or some nonsense. No, Voldemort was pure evil and he didn’t beat around the bush. He knows everything in his Death Eaters’ lives. Still, he accepts their help because at the end of the day he isn’t petty. Everything he does has a motive. He’s a genius. And the way he speaks in this quote shows his emotional intellect, because imagine if someone says this to you. I don’t know how you’d feel, but I’d certainly feel belittled, small, ashamed of myself. I’d deny it and keep the lie in my heart but the shame and the guilt would hold steady. He humiliates them into staying with him and it’s really rather a genius move. For someone with no heart, he has quite a good knowledge of how to manipulate.

"Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike." — Albus Dumbledore

Again with the wisdom from Dumbledore. From someone who sentenced Harry Potter to a gloomy fate in the abusive Dursley household (I will die on that hill, yes, they were very abusive) he seems to know quite a bit about abuse. He’s so right about this, because the thing is - when someone outright hates you, it bothers you a bit, but let’s be real - you’ll get on with your life. It won’t be the cause of your end, making you spiral inwards into insanity. But neglect? Indifference? Hot-and-cold? Withdrawals? Those are straight manipulation and gaslighting tactics which probably completely ravaged young Harry’s perspective of life. He grew up thinking that alright, his childhood wasn’t normal exactly, but surely it wasn’t insane? Surely it wasn’t straight up abuse? Yet it was. Harry wasn’t able to form that protective shell, that own indifference against the Dursleys, and it wasn’t just because he lived with them but it was because his fragile mind was unravelling and trying to make sense of the treatment he received.

Now, I would usually stop this here, but since the issues got combined, guess who receives another quote analysis? It’s your lucky day, dear reader!

"'There are all kinds of courage,’ said Dumbledore, smiling. ‘It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.'"

Again. Usually, a Dumbledore hater, but he did have some very memorable quotes. And this one is indeed so correct and it kills me when people pass on it. It is so, so hard to stand up to the people we care about, family and friends. Enemies are well and good but friends? We care about them. We don’t want them to be wrong, but we still want to believe that we ourselves are right. Standing up to your friends will forever be immensely difficult and scary and that is why it’s such an accomplishment, why it is so hard to do. Neville deserved every bit of those house points, if not more, and I will be fuming and frothing at the mouth if anyone dares to disagree with me…even if it’s my friend!

“Snape was looking as though the first person to ask him for a Love Potion would be force-fed poison.”

This might be an unusual quote, but I wanted to unpack it. I’m sure that JKR intended only for this to show just how sulky and bitter Snape was, but consider that Snape has almost never been shown love. He grew up in an abusive household, in a dangerous and dirty neighbourhood, and had just about one friend in the world. And that friend’s family looked down on him so very badly. He was starved of love and attention and therein lies the root of the problem in so many of the Wizarding World’s villains: their backstory. But we’ll unpack that later and get back to Snape. As I was saying, he was influenced by fake love, the glittering gold glory of approval from his Slytherin buddies who were almost his only friends in the world. And then he screwed up and lost the one person he only ever cared about, mourned for years over his lost love who never even knew it. And then before his death, even by a man who claimed to know absolute justice, Albus Dumbledore was shocked at knowing that Snape could even possess a shred of love still for Lily Evans. Is that not unbearably tragic? No wonder he was bitter and didn’t want any mention of love.

“Why, dear boy, we don't send wizards to Azkaban just for blowing up their aunts!” —Cornelius Fudge

Right, d’you lot remember when I was talking on how Hermione was probably worried sick that she would be expelled and her future would be all screwed up (at least in the magic world)? Harry Potter had that same fear - he just was far less cautious. I hate it when so many people say “Oh, but he wasn’t cautious at all, don’t you remember (insert some incident) he clearly wasn’t scared at all-” Right, shush it. You can be terrified out of your wits, guilty like anything, and still commit murder. Shocker. Harry demonstrates right before this quote just how completely paranoid he is that his act of accidental, UNCONTROLLABLE magic, could send him to Wizard Prison for life. Granted…he did have an incident with Dobby before. But anyway. Cornelius Fudge here probably realises exactly how screwed up poor Harry’s mentality is, being how shocked he is as he makes the statement. Don’t worry, Harry - you’ll be fine. Even if it’s just because you’re the Boy Who Lived.

“Time will not slow down when something unpleasant lies ahead.”

I have absolutely no clue who said this quote but it is so valid. Time doesn’t wait for anybody. As a large procrastinator, I’ve been victim to quite a few lucky incidents. Which makes my understanding of this quote even more profound. When something unpleasant is about to await you, Time won’t hold your hand and help you get through it, rather, it will simply rush at you like a raging tsunami and you will have to hold your head by yourself above the waves. No choice of the matter. It’s a lesson for everyone to remember, to not only savour the good times because you don’t know the future, but also to have CONSTANT VIGILANCE! Mad-Eye Moody, we thank you for your service!

“When you have seen as much of life as I have, you will not underestimate the power of obsessive love.” —Horace Slughorn

Ah, Horace Slughorn. A man of great wisdom who sadly fell prey to the emotional manipulation of Tom Riddle. But he was very, very right about this - obsessive love is the worst kind of love. It can also be called infatuation. You’ll hear one Harry Potter relationship described like this a lot of times, though it did turn out to be healthy in the end: James Potter and Lily Evans. Now, the difference between infatuation and obsessive love is only that obsessive love usually takes a very nasty turn, which obviously our beloved Jily did not. But consider that James pined for about 7 years of his life. That’s a long, long time. Isn’t it? Back to Obsessive Love. Obsessive love usually is being in love with the idea of a person, perhaps not knowing their most intimate details but loving them as who you yourself make them out to be. Classic example: Merope and Tom Riddle. Merope Gaunt acted upon her obsession in a terrifying and dangerous way: the use of Amortentia. More dangerous, she gave up her use on it, which ruined a whole lot more lives than she probably intended. Indeed, Slughorn, Obsessive Love is incredibly dangerous….

And that’s it from me, dearest readers! I hope you enjoyed this precise analysis. I know that I thoroughly enjoyed writing it. Keep waiting for the next issue and we will see you soon! Mwah!

Written by: Sara Rowan