Life After Harry Potter
Life After H P
Home

Luna Lovegood Luna Lovegood

and the Watch of Doom and the Watch of Doom

Page 20

by

James E. Pettis

Chapter Three

Familiar Preparations

Third was choosing a familiar.1  According to the second page of the letter, Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad.*  However, Luna did not own any of these things, and a decent delivery owl was expensive.  Her father could not conceal his concern when he assured her that there would be enough to cover the cost.2  As a result, she told him that she was not interested in owning such a creature, which was at least half true.  Having never owned an owl, she had no particular desire for one, though plainly it could be useful.

Luna was also not especially fond of cats or toads.  She was much more inclined to bring a garden gnome or a hen.  Xenophilius discarded these suggestions as inappropriate.  “A familiar,” he said, “should be of assistance to the witch or wizard who cares for it.  Owls are excellent for communications, as night sentries and for aerial reconnaissance.  A cat is also excellent as a day or night sentry, for silent tracking, climbing and ground reconnaissance.  Toads are less useful, mainly serving as proximity alarms.  Since they are immune to many poisons, they can serve as testers of foods or potions.  Finally, toads’ warts are useful as ingredients for many potions.”

Please leave a critical comment!
Some of my concerns:
  • Do you understand what a familiar is?
  • Are these reasonable arguments for the popularity of owls, cats and toads as familiars?

Luna responded in support of her own choices.  A garden gnome, she said, would make an excellent alarm if someone happened to step on it.  A hen was both loud and excitable when strangers approached, and in addition would provide breakfast.  Xenophilius assured her that the staff at Hogwarts severely undervalued garden gnomes.  Despite the many and wondrous attributes they possessed, Hogwarts viewed them as vermin!  They would never permit one on the grounds.  Indeed, while a student there he had tried to establish a colony of garden gnomes in one of the greenhouses.  A stony look of long-past dread appeared on his face as he was speaking.  In a hollow voice, he declared that they had probably neither forgotten nor forgiven his attempt.3  Shaking himself, he addressed the argument in favor of the chicken.  He assured her that Hogwarts’ staff would provide an excellent hot breakfast daily, ready to eat.  Luna immediately felt a pang of guilt.  Why should she receive such privileged treatment while her father was forced to fend for himself?  He assured her that this was done so that the students could spend more time on their studies.  He reminded her that he had enjoyed the same privilege during his time at Hogwarts.

* The italicized text is taken verbatim from page 67 of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, copyright © 1997 by J. K. Rowling, ISBN 0-590-35340-3, published by Arthur A. Levine Books.  All rights reserved.

Please leave a critical comment!
Some of my concerns:
  • Do you understand why Xenophilius is filled with dread at the memory of his attempt to establish gnomes at Hogwarts?
  • Are a hen and a garden gnome sufficiently goofy suggestions for Luna to make?
If you would like a response to your comments or have questions, please e-mail your questions or comments to me at the address email@life-after-harry-potter.com.
Page 20
Valid XHTML 1.1! Valid CSS! Page design by

HARRY POTTER, characters, names and related indicia are trademarks of and © Warner Bros.  Harry Potter Publishing Rights © J. K. Rowling.  All rights reserved.  All uses of material subject to these copyrights on this site are used without permission.  All material presented here is intended solely for the enjoyment of the reader and is not authorized for copy or resale.  To fully enjoy this story, the reader should be in possession of all of the Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling, but especially the first two, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Any and all copyright priveleges not belonging to the aforementioned, including the entirety of this web site design and content, are copyright © 2007-2008 by James E. Pettis.  This page copyright © 2008 by James E. Pettis. 

About this web site