Harry Potter's Invitation to the World
by Vickie Ewell
Chapter 50 – Christmas Dinner (HP Chapter 12)
At that moment, the Weasley twins flung open the door and came rushing into the room. This symbolized that the invisibility cloak will open a door for Harry. Harry quickly hide the cloak, so the twins didn’t see it. He was not ready yet to share what he had learned with others.
Fred and George were wearing sweaters too. Theirs were blue with the first initial of their name on them. Blue is a water element and deals with the emotions, imagination and sensitivity, but water is also associated with the thyroid gland and throat chakra, so the twins were also smooth and persuasive talkers.
Blue in alchemical drawings often denotes outward matter that covered the real gold that lies underneath. The idea was that we already are gold but need to flip that inner gold to the outside. Blue denoted a higher state of consciousness than typical man experiences, which was why Harry and the twins got along so well, but John Dee placed blue at level two. The twins demonstrated those of us who have recently experienced a true change of heart.
The twins noticed that Harry had received a sweater similar to theirs, but told us that Harry’s sweater was better than theirs was. They believe this was because mom made more of an effort to impress if you were not family. In reality, the sweaters symbolize the spiritual state of the wearer, so Harry’s sweater at level six looks far better than theirs does at level two. The twins also noticed that Ron wasn’t wearing his sweater. “I hate maroon,” Ron told them, but he submited to their request that he put it on.
The consistency of the color maroon, and Ron’s boredom with it, tells us that Ron had been stuck at this level of progression for quite some time now. He wanted mom to make him a different color sweater, but he didn’t realize what he had to do to make that happen.
At that moment, Percy stuck his head through the door. As always, his look was disapproving, but he was showing potential of following after the twins. He saw most individuals, including his brothers, as being beneath him, even though it was actually the other way around at the moment.
Percy carried a lumpy sweater over his arm, which Fred seized. Percy’s sweater had the first letter of his name on it too (Ron’s and Harry’s did not). The twins believed the letter “P” stood for Prefect, rather than Percy, and made fun of him. But Percy didn’t want to wear his sweater either. He didn’t want to take upon himself something different.
With Fred and George around, that wasn’t happening. Fred forced the sweater over the top of Percy’s head, knocking Percy’s glasses askew. The inference here was that Percy’s perspective was faulty. He saw life diagonally. We don’t know what color Percy’s sweater was. I’m guessing that since it had a letter attached to the front, it’s blue like the twins, so mom could tell the sweaters apart. That would also fit with Percy’s current personality.
Percy didn’t want to wear the sweater. He didn’t want to ascend to a higher level of consciousness. He liked being a Prefect. He liked wearing his vanity and pride. He liked ruling over others. He liked how the physical, material world mades him feel. George told Percy, however, that he was not sitting with the other Prefects today. Christmas was for family. Surprisingly, Percy didn’t argue with Fred. The twins marched Percy from the room with his arms pinned to his side by his blue sweater.
The twins actually frog-marched Percy out of the room. The frog motion cautions us that wearing the sweater of a higher consciousness doesn’t really make any difference to Percy’s inner condition. He was still functioning at the physical level. That was what he desired. We can pretend to be something we are not, but it won’t change who we really are. We cannot fool a Master of Compassion. They come to help us only when we are ready to ascend.
Percy was a slave to his carnal nature and vanities because that was what he wanted to be. Change won’t come for him until he desires something different.
Christmas dinner was the best Harry had ever seen. Tons of food and Wizard crackers filled the table. Harry told us the crackers didn’t compare to the paper and plastic party favors the Dursleys usually bought. Wizard crackers didn’t pop. They shot off like a canon. When Harry tried one, it wrapped him and Fred in blue smoke and exploded from the inside into an admiral’s hat and several live, white mice.
Jo is again pointing out that the color blue signifies something more precious underneath: Fred and Harry. But the Wizard’s cracker also released an admiral’s hat and some mice from inside of it. This again brought to mind the idea that what we are looking for, or waiting for, is actually ourselves.
An admiral was the highest officer in the Navy, and the live mice reminded me of how small the spark in our hearts actually is. Like a mouse, it goes around doing its work without being seen. It’s almost like the admiral’s hat and mice represent the two extremes: the beginning and the end. The mice are also white, which symbolize purity.
Dumbledore had switched his Wizard’s hat for a flowered bonnet. The white phase is about discovering and perfecting the female aspect of ourselves.
Dessert was flaming Christmas puddings, so the Alchemical burnings were continuing, but Percy almost broke his teeth on a silver sickle embedded in his slice. This infers that Percy will almost fail to overcome his blindness and pride.
Harry watched Hagrid’s face turn red as he called for more wine and kissed Professor McGonagall on the cheek. McGonagall giggled and blushed, her top hat a bit lopsided. This scene confused Harry because they were all acting the opposite of what they generally portray themselves to be. Alcohol tends to bring out our hearts. It dissolves many of our inhibitions and strictness and allows others to see who we really are, but this also brings to mind how the white phase involves us seeking out and becoming acquainted with the softer side of ourselves. The side that’s less severe. In addition, the Christmas Spirit itself can soften hearts.
When Harry left the table, he carried with him all of the things he received from the Wizard crackers. Some of those things were a pack of luminous balloons, a Grow-Your-Own-Warts kit, and a Wizard’s Chess set. The balloons are not full of hot air yet, so their luminous quality represented potential to me. What we have the opportunity to become. Similarly, growing your own warts reflects how our choices determine our present state. We can choose to remain in our unsaved condition of slavery, or we can use our Wizard’s Chess game to our best advantage and fight back strategically.
The mice had disappeared, so Harry thought they were going to end up as Mrs. Norris’ Christmas Dinner. This reflected the attempt Harry will soon make with the aid of his invisibility cloak to acquire information about Nicolas Flamel from the Restricted Section of the library. It again emphasized the quietness and invisibility of our inner spark.
Harry and the Weasleys spent the afternoon having snowball fights. Ron beat Harry at Wizard’s chess, and they enjoyed turkey sandwiches and cake for dinner. We see here that Harry was a good-hearted loser, but since Percy kept trying to tell him what to do, he did blame Percy for the extent of his losing. Overall, it was the best Christmas Harry had ever had. So, Draco’s taunting about Harry not being wanted at the Dursleys doesn’t mean much to Harry