Being thirteen is scary. School gets harder. Friendships become more complicated. And hair pops up in weird places. In Hairy Potter, oops, Harry Potter's case, these three things (which would be scary enough alone) are complicated by magic and mayhem.
Tough school assignments include confronting boggarts, which manifest themselves as your greatest fear. (Our boggart takes the form of a Dunkin employee saying "Sorry, we're all out of Boston Cream.")
Oh—we forgot one more thing: a cold-blooded killer's out for Harry, or so he thinks. Harry's biggest lesson at Hogwarts this year will be confronting his fears.
Questions about Fear
- What does Lupin mean when he says what Harry fears most is "fear itself"? Is this assessment true? What is Harry's greatest fear?
- How is the theme of fear more apparent in this movie than in the two previous installments?
- How does Lupin teach his students to combat fear? How can his lesson be applied to real-life situations?
- How do the bad guys of the story use fear to their advantage?
Chew on This
Fear is more powerful than any magic, and in fact, magic itself can't conquer fear. It's only the attitude of the person facing their fear that can stop it. They must first have the confidence to fight fear before they can cast a spell.
The unknown's scary. Sirius is more frightening the less Harry really knows about him. And the rumors make him seem more fearsome. But once Harry learns who the real Sirius is, he's no longer afraid.