Fan-Lit: Review of Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies

Review of “Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies”

by J.K. Rowling

This book is a collection of stories based on characters from the books. If you were curious about some of the backstory and past of certain characters, this is a good read. It expands the Harry Potter wizarding world by providing more details about growing up in the wizarding world. The book focuses on Minerva McGonagall, Remus Lupin, Sybill Trelawney, and Silvanus Kettleburn.

Professor McGonagall is one of my favorite teachers at Hogwarts, and I had always wondered what her life story was. How did she end up at Hogwarts? Was she ever married? These questions are answered in this book. Minerva's mother was a witch, but her father was a muggle. When she fell in love with a muggle, like her mother, Minerva made the tough decision not to get married and leave her love behind. She pursued a career at the Ministry of Magic, where she caught the attention of an older man. Always gifted in transfiguration, Minerva took the position of professor at Hogwarts to teach transfiguration. There she married the man that had been in love with her; however, their marriage was short-lived. Knowing her tragic love story gives me more empathy for the character in the Harry Potter books and explains her strong friendship with Dumbledore.

Remus Lupin was one of my favorite characters in the books, so I was interested in learning his history. Remus' father worked at the Ministry of Magic and insulted some werewolves, including the notorious Fenrir Greyback. To get revenge on Remus' father, Lyall, Fenrir bites a four-year-old Remus. The book shows that Remus's parents go to great lengths to hide his condition from the wizarding community. It's not until Dumbledore ensures Remus' protection that his parents allow him to attend Hogwarts. We learn how the wolfsbane potion helps the werewolf condition. While the books hint at Remus's tragic life because of his condition, this backstory fills in the gaps and highlights how lonely he was until he met James and Sirius at Hogwarts, and then later Harry and Tonks.

Another character this book explores is the Divination Professor, Sybill Trelawney. I wish that we got more of the other professors like Sprout and Flitwick, so it was nice to learn more about professor Trelawney. She was born to a wizard father and muggle mother and had a sibling. Eventually, she and her father separated from their non-magical family members. Trelawney did marry once, but it didn't work out, and she refused to change her last name. Sybill is a descendant of the great seer Cassandra Trelawney. While most of professor Trelawney's predictions and “sight” are fake, she has genuine moments of prophecy that she cannot control or remember. It's revealed in the fifth book that she is the one that gave the prophecy about Harry and Voldemort.

The last character this book talks about is Silvanus Kettleburn, who was the Care of Magical Creatures teacher before Hagrid. Kettleburn was passionate and enthusiastic about magical creatures, especially dragons. He lost several of his limbs and prosthetic limbs due to his passion and recklessness near dangerous beasts. This book reveals that Kettleburn lives in Hogsmeade, and during the Battle of Hogwarts, he helped the fight by throwing flobberworms out his window onto Death Eaters. The character is barely mentioned in the books when Hagrid takes over the class in book three, so it was fun to learn more about this daring character.

One of the things that I liked about this book is that it expands on the lore and magic in the wizarding world. We learn how wizards become an anamagus. It's a long and precise process that takes months to create a potion to transform into an animal. If any steps are skipped or messed up, the process has to start. The book also explains werewolves in more detail, how the bites work and how the effects affect the person. There is also a practice known as seer naming, where wizards would go to a seer to predict their child's future before they name them. A tradition that is fading away in the culture. This is a fun book if you want to learn more about some of the supporting characters from the Harry Potter series. It gives more backstory and sympathy for McGonnagal, Remus, and Trelawney. If you are a massive fan of the franchise and world, give this a quick read.

Thank you for reading, and be sure to check back every week as I continue to dive into the wizarding world. Next is “Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship, and Dangerous Hobbies.” So stay tuned to the blog for new posts every week until Christmas! Be sure to leave a comment or feedback to help improve the blog. Thanks for reading, and be sure to follow the blog on social media for all the updates.