Week 10 Microfiction: Harry Potter, Book Five

[Warning: Spoilers below if you haven't read Harry Potter.]

The Veil

The fall gave Sirius a tranquility unlike any he had felt before. His life flashed before his eyes, but only the good bits: meeting James, smiling at Remus, playing Quidditch, laughing with Lily, hugging Regulus, successfully sneaking out of the castle, visiting the Potters at Christmas, holding Harry, meeting Harry all over again... He faintly heard screams and wanted to respond but the lack of air in his lungs wouldn't allow it. Don't worry. Sirius thought. All is well now. I will see you again someday. A feeling like light filled his entire body and he finally understood complete peace.

Loss

No matter how many objects Harry threw and broke, he could not relieve the incomprehensible pain of loss. How many more loved ones would he have to lose before his heart shattered completely?

_____

Bibliography: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling.

Author's Note: 

The Veil: I decided to write a 100-word story on Sirius falling through the veil. He was hit with the killing curse right before that so this takes place sometime in the instant before death. This heartbreaking moment is something that pains me every time I think of the fifth book, and I wanted to write something that made it a little easier to comprehend. I do not deal with death of loved ones well, but thinking of it in a way where the person feels complete peace really helps me. I wanted to write a 100 word story because it felt like the exact right amount of words to give justice to the last moments of a person's life.

Loss: For my second story, I wrote a dribble (no more than 50 words) about my absolute favorite scene in the entire series--when Harry is breaking objects in Dumbledore's office and screaming because he's in so much pain from losing his godfather. That whole scene is so emotional to me and just physically describes the pain of loss so well. I wanted to write a dribble about the actual emotions Harry experienced. Rowling definitely did a better job but I tried! Here is a beautiful and sad comic illustrating the scene (from one of my favorite artists).

Image information: The Veil from Harry Potter Fandom Wiki.

Week 9 Microfiction: Harry Potter, Book Four

The Perils of War Show No Mercy: Cedric Diggory

A flick, a flash; an innocent, pure heart stopped. A pointless murder, but a necessary one all the same. 

Book Four

The beginning of a darker time. 

______

Author's Note:

My two sentence microfiction is about Cedric Diggory, who was murdered on Voldemort's orders. Diggory is one of my favorite characters, and it took me two re-reads to finally accept his death. At first, I was completely distraught because it felt pointless. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Diggory's death was a pivotal moment in the books. It was the evidence many people needed to realize that Voldemort was back, and that he was going to do whatever horrible things he had to to achieve power. Killing Diggory was one of the biggest mistakes Voldemort made for so many reasons, but the biggest was that it brought people together. Anyways! I wanted to make it a six-word story but in the end I realized a short two-sentence story was more meaningful. Also, I really like the idea of creating a long title for such a short story. It feels kind of silly but also important. It forces the reader to take in every single word and gives them more to analyze.

My six-word story is about the book in general. The ending of The Goblet of Fire is a turning point in the series that introduces some very intense and unsettling content. I wanted to convey this in a succinct way, and I think a six-word story does it well.

Bibliography: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

Image information: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire poster from Flickr. I haven't seen this before and I thought it was so good!

Week 8 Microfiction: Harry Potter, Book Three

Lupin's Decision

Remus held the Hogwarts letter in his hand, wondering what possibly qualified him to be a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. He wondered how Professor Dumbledore would justify and explain the werewolf issue to parents. His main concern, though, was the memories. He didn't know if his heart could take being back in the only place he had ever been truly happy, surrounded by the ghosts of his past adventures. He thought of James, Lily, and Peter, and how they would have told him to take the job. He thought of Harry. Then, he replied with: Yes, I accept.  

Sirius in Azkaban

He was innocent. Dementors don't care.

________

Author's Note:

In continuing with my Harry Potter microfiction, I wrote some about book three. For my first story, I wrote a 100-word story about what I imagine it was like for Remus to get the request from Dumbledore that he teach at Hogwarts. It was extremely brave of him to say yes, especially with all the PTSD he definitely had... I'm not sure I captured the amount of immense anguish and indecision he probably felt in that moment, but I did what I could with 100 words.

For my second story, I wrote a six-word story about Sirius' time in Azkaban and how brutal dementors can be. I chose to write a six-word story for this one because there really isn't much more to say than that (if you understand the context)--he didn't deserve the pain he endured. I had difficulty with tenses, though. I wanted to say "the dementors didn't care" but that would be a seven-word story, which defeats the purpose... I think it works this way, too, though.

Bibliography: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

Image Information: "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" by mcgenabdgma is licensed under CC CC0 1.0

Week 7 Microfiction: Harry Potter, Year Two

Riddle's Diary

Ginny felt lonely; the diary knew. 

Tom Riddle's Diary by James_Seattle on Flickr

The Voice

Isolated his whole life by differences, Harry found that even in the world in which he belonged, he was an outcast. This didn't bother him much, but the voice in the walls that only he could distinguish did.

__________

Author's Note:

For the first story, I did a six-word microfiction about how Tom Riddle's (Voldemort) diary was possessing Ginny. I had trouble deciding if "the diary knew" should have been first, but I think this order packs a punch a bit more. I'm doing six-word stories every week to get better at them (I need a lot of practice...it's definitely not my forte), so that's why I decided on that length. 

For the second story, I wrote about Harry hearing the basilisk in the pipes that was causing paralysis  in Hogwarts. I wanted to depict Harry's differences, but when reading the series I noticed that Harry had much bigger things that he focused on than "woe is me." He had Ron and Hermione, which helped him get through any feelings of isolation, and he listened to his instinct in the second book, telling him that the noise was definitely something concerning. I decided on a two-sentence story because I wanted to point out two different things, and I felt like that necessitated two sentences. 

Bibliography: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling

Week 6 Microfiction: Harry Potter, Year One

Story 1: The Train Station

Platform 9¾ was only the beginning.

Story 2: The Philosopher's Stone

The stone did not tempt Harry, for even he knew there were more important things than immortality.

_____________

Author's Note:

For my first microfiction, I did a six-word story on the famous Platform 9¾, where it kind of all started for Harry. It was the entrance to a world that introduced him to the realization that he was loved. It's where he met the Weasleys, and it's where he got on his first train to Hogwarts. I wrote a six word story for this one because I wanted to see how much I could tell of Harry's story in six words.

For the second story, I wrote a <100 word story on the Philosopher's Stone. It's based off of the part where Harry is able to obtain the stone because he has no desire to use it. I feel like this shows his character so well because it emphasizes what he values and what he doesn't--which inevitably leads to later successes for him. I had a hard time writing this one, too, and I definitely had to cut it down to be less than 100 words because I have so much more to say about it.

Image information: "Headed to Hogwarts" by Daniel Incandela is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

Bibliography: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling.