Let's all get Sirius for a moment....

One thing P.L. and I share is a love for J.K. Rowling's novels.

What starts out as a fun kid's story, a kind of magical "Leave It to Beaver Goes to Boarding School," turns into something more. More intricate. More compelling. More heartrending. With each successive year at the fantastical castle, it becomes more apparent that it may not end, "and they lived happily ever after."

The characters become our family. We adore both Ron and Hermione. And Harry is part of us, our soul and our spirit. We see the world through his eyes.

Likewise, we suffer their emotional ups and downs. The last three books have sent P.L. into rounds of ecstactic joy and grief. I will try not to spoil the story plots for anyone who has not read them.



"Rosebud."


Sorry -- I couldn't resist. (See the movie "Citizen Kane" for clarification.)

One of P.L.'s favorite characters is the lovable Sirius Black. The black sheep in a family steeped in Pureblood tradition, Sirius was Harry's father's best friend from childhood. At school, he became a Gryffindor instead of a Slytherin, a fact which disturbed his parents, but delights the reader.

As an adult, Sirius was falsely blamed for horrible crimes he did not commit. Without granting him his right to a trial, a Ministry of Magic official banished him to Azkaban, the wizarding prison. For twelve years, he lived stranded somewhere on a rock in the North Sea, imprisoned in a cell with bars, by the creatures who kept watch, the spectral Dementors.

After an amazing escape, he was finally reunited with his godson, Harry, but was forced to remain in hiding. The only way he could hide was by using his Animagus talents to transform into a huge black dog.

Though Harry's Patronus is a silver stag (his Animagus father's animal alter-ego), our guardian protector is a great black dog with intelligent eyes. Loyal, brave, loving, he will be there for us at all costs.


(Does this big fella deserve a hug, or what?)

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