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Diagon Alley: Being a Stranger

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Diagon Alley: Being a Stranger Harry Potter and the Sacred Text 1.05- Diagon Alley: Being a Stranger Casper: Hi, this is Casper. We recorded this episode before the attacks in Orlando, and wanted to offer our thoughts and love in response to the tragedy. A lot of people will turn to prayer or to their religious communities in such times of despair. We know that, for a whole ton of our listeners, that’s not really an option. What we wanted to suggest was, if there are times of sadness and loss of hope and courage, that this can be a kind of prayer, that turning to this text, and delving into it with attention and love, is a kind of prayer. So we found this one little passage that, for us, really speaks volumes in this time of mourning and of anger, that we hope will speak to you also. Vanessa: This offering is from The Goblet of Fire. It is the speech that Dumbledore makes when ​ ​ Cedric Diggory dies at the hands of Lord Voldemort. And every time I say the name ‘Cedric Diggory,’ I will be thinking of the forty-nine victims in Orlando, and of their families. “It is my belief, and never have I so hoped that I am mistaken, that we are all facing dark and difficult times. Some of you in this hall have already suffered directly. Many of your families have already been torn asunder. A week ago a student, Cedric Diggory, was taken from our midst. Remember Cedric. Remember if the time comes when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good and who was kind and brave, because he strayed across the path of violence. Remember Cedric Diggory.” Casper: May we all choose what is right over what is easy. Now let us turn to our text for today. Chapter Five: Diagon Alley. (intro music) Harry woke early the next morning. Although he could tell it was daylight, he kept his eyes shut tight. It was a dream, he told himself firmly, I dreamed that a giant called Hagrid came and told me I was going to a school for wizards. When I open my eyes, I’ll be at home in my cupboard. Casper: I’m Casper ter Kuile. Vanessa: I’m Vanessa Zoltan Casper: And this is Harry Potter and the Sacred Text. (music fades out) Vanessa: Just a quick announcement before we get started. Thank you so much for those of you who have applied to be our social media volunteer. We are going to keep the application up online at harrypottersacredtext.com for one more week. We are really excited to get more voices in to this conversation, so please go to our website and apply to be our social media volunteer. I went to Peru with my friend Emmy and we decided we were going to do this sort of epic biking and hiking trip in order to get to the peak of Macchu Picchu. And on day three of five maybe, the tire to my bike blew and I flipped my bike so I flipped over my handlebars. And I… what ended up happening, well, there are two ways to read what happened. One version of this story is what actually happened, which is that everybody who I came across over the next twenty four, forty eight hours while I needed medical care was incredibly generous to me. This stranger gave me a ride, and somebody else in my group carried my pack for me, and these strangers let me in the house and cleaned my cut and gave me some sort of Advil or ibuprofen or something and gave me a ton of water, because I clearly had a concussion, I was seeing stars or whatever. So objectively what happened was all these people, all these strangers, came together and were incredibly kind to me and took really good care of me. My experience at the time, as someone who didn’t understand culturally what was happening to me, who, it turns out! was concussed but who was just scared and a stranger, and in a foreign land, was just terrified. I was taken into a van with a stranger, I got separated from my backpack, I was handed pills that I felt socially pressured to take, and like the whole thing. I was just terrified the entire time. And I was just thinking about that story, watching Harry so bravely go through Diagon Alley as a stranger in a strange land for the first time. Whereas I assumed everyone was just out to get me, that everyone was going to take advantage of my vulnerability, Harry on the other hand, is just so excited, about any change, and he is just so accepting of this world with optimism and hope and glee. SO I’m really excited to read this chapter through the theme of being a stranger, and excited to see all the ways that being a stranger in a strange land can impact the way that you walk through the world. Casper: But before we get into the theme, it’s time for our thirty second recap. So Vanessa, last time I went first as the sacrificial lamb, so this time it’s your turn. Get ready! Vanessa: Hang on, wait wait wait. Casper: There is no waiting! Vanessa: Hang on! Casper: This is a thirty second recap! Starting- three, two, one, go! (ticking sound) Vanessa: Hagrid brings Harry to Diagon Alley in order to get all his school supplies for the year and it’s an orientation for Harry into the Wizarding World. And it is very much done through the lens of money- First thing they do is go to Gringotts, to the bank, and Harry figures out what Muggle money is- Nope! What Wizard money is. He finds out that Hogwarts has secrets to it, and then he buys all the things he needs for school, he gets and owl, then he gets sent back to the Dursleys in order to wait out a month before he goes to Hogwarts. (Angry buzzing sound- 106 words in thirty seconds!) Casper: How does she do it? Vanessa: I’m amazing! I mean Casper, you got to cheat and listen to me do it first. Are you ready? Casper: So not ready. Vanessa: Oh come on, it’s only fun if you’re cocky and rude about it. Casper: Okay, I’m amazing! I’m gonna do it great. Vanessa: Ready, steady, go. (ticking sound) Casper: So Hagrid takes Harry in to Diagon Alley through a hidden bar in the London kind of jungle, and there he’s recognized instantly, and he’s returned as a kind of hero, and he meets Professor Quirrell, his future teacher in Defense Against the D-d-d-dark Arts. And he goes to all sorts of shops, and gets money from the little thing, and there’s something hidden in the h-he- Gringotts! And they’re…. not trolls, they’re definitely not trolls- Vanessa: Goblins. Casper: Goblins! And and uh uh- Two seconds one! Aargh! (Angry buzzing sound- 86 words in 30 seconds) Vanessa: You were doing really well, you just lost steam. Casper: I just tried to be funny with d-d-d-dark arts. Vanessa: It was funny. It just… Casper: Didn’t quite work out. (Vanessa laughs) Casper: Let’s dive into chapter five, Diagon Alley. So we’re reading with the theme of being the stranger, and this whole chapter is about discovery. It is about new experiences, it is about engaging with a new world. Through owls, through a new currency, through different species that Harry is meeting. Seeing hidden places in London- he’s never even been to London, so even the non-magical world is a place where Harry is a stranger. And so, what strikes me is that nearly all of these engagements with the new is done through commerce, is done through shopping. Vanessa: Yes, this got pointed out to us by a professor of ours, by Professor Amy Hollywood, that Harry gets oriented into the Wizarding World through capitalism. It’s like ‘Don’t worry Harry, you are rich,’ which gives him agency in this strange world. I think this world would be a lot stranger to him if he just suddenly got there and also couldn’t afford anything. But the first thing Harry odes so he can get oriented into this world, is he’s given just heaps of gold, and he can access it. So this world is incredibly new to him, but it’s also accessible. Casper: Absolutely, and the strange becomes familiar through that act of purchasing. I think it’s interesting how this act of consumption for Harry is one of ownership and of control of the strange. Vanessa: I mean, he has purchase power, but what’s interesting is that it’s not the money which gives value to Harry. There’s a quote in the book: ‘While Hagrid asked the man behind the ​ counter for a set of basic potion ingredients for Harry, Harry himself examined the silver unicorn horns at twenty-one galleons each, and minuscule, black glittery beetle eyes, five knuts a scoop.’ So these two things, which, one is tiny and super-expensive, and the other ​ which you can buy in a whole scoop and is quite cheap, they’re both equally interesting to Harry. It doesn’t matter that it’s a silver unicorn horn or if it’s a beetle eye, just the fact that he is touching these things and is in this different world, is exciting to him.
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