Try and Enter a World of Play
Albus Dumbledore was at the head of a world that shattered the safe little universe of Privet Drive. A world of “wild-looking old” women “dressed all in green,” (SS 30) tiny men in violet hats that vanished into thin air, half-giants with “hands the size of trash can lids” (SS 14) who “looked simply too big to be allowed” (SS 14), little creatures with “large, bat-like ears and bulging green eyes the size of tennis balls” (CS 12), invisible buses that drove at ridiculous speeds, , owls that delivered letters, people that traveled through fire places, friendly ghosts who enjoyed friendship with young adults while peering enviously at their massive portions of “roast beef, roast chicken…sausages, bacon and steak,” (SS 123) staircases that led to nowhere, school songs with anarchic melodies, people who could turn into animals, corporeal creatures that shot out of wands, talking portraits that expressed everything from a megalomaniac sense of chivalry to hangovers from drinking too much wine the night before, Bertie Botts every flavored beans, Canary Creams, Exploding Snaps, Wizard Chess, secret passageways, suits of armor that sang Christmas carols, classroom desks and gargoyles that fight against invaders, three headed dogs, dark creatures in Forbidden Forests, dragons, merpeople with “grayish skin and long, wild, dark green hair” (GoF 497) yellow eyes and broken teeth, who “wore thick ropes of pebbles around their necks” (GoF 497), Christmas trees “bedecked with everything from luminous holly berries to real, hooting, golden owls” (GoF 395), flying steeds that “drink only single-malt whiskey” (GoF 245), garden gnomes with irritable personalities, and wam, loving speeches that make no logical sense.
“Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.
“’Welcome!’ he said. ‘Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!
‘Thank you!’” (SS 123).
In short, Privet Drive with its fences that guarded outsiders from its petty little plots of well trimmed lawns could not understand the head of a world so playful, so luscious, so utterly delicious that it has no boundaries.
How can we walk with a little pep in our step and a sense of playful outrageous silliness so that is imaginative and fun and goes beyond the rigid boundaries set forth by the Muggle Mindset?
I’m totally like that. Because I’m a little older, people think i should grow up. But why? It’s possible to get good grades, a good job stuff like that, and still be childish. I skip to class and hum all day long. I have a childish imagination. I’ll keep my childhood for a long time, and I hope i can get people to see the bright side of things.
You’re only as old as you feel! Laughter is good for the soul and health – why not having a heaping dose daily?! You can do serious and responsible things without being a fuddy duddy!
Ha, ha, I totally get this! I am completely childish and am in no hurry to grow up, despite what society tells me to do. I want to hold on to my childhood -but we serious when I have to be- for as long as possible because once it’s gone, it’s gone for good. Like Dumbledore said, “Nitwit, Oddment, Blubber, Tweak”.
Fully growing up, or at least society’s interpretation of it, is letting go of your childishness. It may sound all noble, but when you think about it, it’s not. It’s asking us to let go of what was our identity in our early years. It’s asking us to let go of what shaped us into the people we are today! It’s asking us to let go of the base of our entire life at the start! Can anyone explain this to me? I’m drawing a blank.
And what’s so wrong with childishness that we must exterminate it to be accepted? All I can think of is the connotation with inexperience and lack of knowledge. And yet skipping or dancing are frowned upon as well, and you’re told to act serious. Completing a task is much more fun when you’re not obligated to be serious about it. There are times when you need to be serious, but when it doesn’t do you any good, why should you be?
Being childish and uninhibited makes me happy. Not being required to have a straight face or a stiff walk is fun. So I must ask: Society, why are you trying to discourage happiness?
I absolutely love this. It reminds us that we need to have fun in life! I think it really resonates with the whole Wizard Rock Community as well. While a large number of us take the Wrock genre and community quite seriously, we never seem to forget that Wrock is about having fun, being silly, being outselves, and just having a generally good time!
We’re all breaking out of the Muggle Mindset by encouraging our (and others’) creativity. I freaking love it.
A few months ago I was in Ireland visiting Blarney Castle. On the grounds of the castle there is a little rock close, complete with a set of “wishing steps,” a staircase carved out of rock and slick with water from a nearby stream. You’re supposed to walk up them and back down without opening your eyes while thinking about a wish, and then it will be granted to you.
At first I just walked up them and laughed at the legend, but as I explored the rest of the close I thought about my childhood and regretted my hasty climb. I walked back to the stairs, descended, and shut my eyes for the climb. I went back up and down, my mind focused on my wish. That wish?
I wished I still believed in wishes.
I haven’t done anything that felt that good in a long time. It’s a memory that will stick with me forever… and I am pretty sure those wishing steps worked.
It’s so important to hang on to that stuff, to remember we are never too old for play and wonder, for simple joy.