A natural wizard

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: Chapter 8

Hogwarts is definitely no place for me with all those stairways, hallways and doorways. My sense of direction inside a building is ... well, to call it a sense of direction is an overstatement. When I walk out of a store in the mall, Amy goes one way and I go the other. I don't even ask, I just change direction and follow her.

I remember the first days in a new school building. I would think there were more hallways than there were. I couldn't find my locker. I'm sure every corner I would have turned in Hogwarts, there Norris the cat would have been. Gives me the heebie-jeebies just thinking about it.

Snape, Snape, Severus Snape ... . There's a video that you have to watch if you haven't seen it that will explain that little jingle.

Anyway, I have seen a couple of scenes from a couple of the movies, so I know that Alan Rickman plays Snape. He is one of my favorite actors (Diehard, Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, Galaxy Quest), but for a reason I can't remember I started pretending not to know who is. Of course, somebody would begin to explain to me who he is before remembering that I was pulling their leg. Maybe one of my daughters remembers how this all started.

So what is Snape's deal with Harry? I suppose that will unfold over the summer. And what's Hagrid hiding?

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: Chapter 9

I might have had trouble finding homeroom, but I could find gym class. Gym class at Hogwarts, however, is nothing like any gym class I ever took. It would have been fun to fly around on brooms, but it seems like all we ever did with Mr. Howe was play softball.

So Harry is "The Natural" when it comes to broom flying. Something tells me he will get the big hit - or the equivalent of a big hit in Quidditch - when his Gryffindor mates need it the most.

Harry's temper paid off when he took the broom ride, but not when Malfoy challenged him to a duel. He took the bait, but Harry seems smart enough to learn from his mistakes. Good thing I wasn't trying to lead them back to Gryffindor in the dark. We might have been dog food.

Hermione seems to be one to keep her cool under pressure. And whenever the time comes to see what the three-headed dog is guarding I'm sure she'll go along. Curious as a cat, that one.