Harry Potter's Invitation to the World
by Vickie Ewell
Chapter 56 – Neville Hands Harry Nicolas Flamel (HP Chapter 13)
Neville didn’t miss what Harry was saying. He was worthy of being placed in Gryffindore. He thanked Harry for his kindness, but gave Harry back the card that came inside the frog. He knew that Harry collected them. Neville was the chocolate frog, but Harry was the card. The card symbolized Harry’s path, so Neville unconsciously gave it back.
As Neville walked away, Harry looked at the card. It was a picture of Dumbledore. Dumbledore was the first card Harry had received, but that was also where he’d first read about Alchemy. Dumbledore was famous for his work on Alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel! Neville had just handed Harry the answer that he’d been searching for.
You can’t get a stronger announcement that Harry Potter is an Alchemical work than that. It’s stated plainly here. If Dumbledore seriously studied Alchemy, his character, behavior, attitude, and spoken words – everything he teaches Harry and us – will reflect those Teachings.
At that announcement, Hermione ran to the girls’ dormitories and brought back a book. Frantically, she began thumbing through the pages. Although books can’t save us, they do have their use, especially before we are ready to follow the Christ within. We just have to be careful that we put the information we receive from books in proper perspective. What we read can be fact, ideas, hypothesis, and possibilities, but not necessarily the Truth.
What the kids discovered was that Nicolas Flamel was the only known maker of the Philosopher’s Stone. The book explained that the Stone had powers that would transform any metal into pure gold. It also produced the Elixir of Life that made one immortal when they drank it. The Stone that Nicolas had was the only known Stone in existence. The book also said that Nicolas Flamel was 665 years old (one year shy of being 666), and his wife Perenelle was 668.
What the book gave us was historical facts. The Stone Nicolas had was the only known Stone in existence. The book didn’t say it was the only Stone. With the book’s help, we learn the outward story of the Alchemical process. The Stone has the power to turn all metals into gold and to produce the Elixir of Life that makes one immortal if they drink it. This outward story mirrors the Truth. The Stone holds the power to cleanse our carnal natures, help us grow a spiritual body, and thereby convert a mortal man into an immortal God.
If Harry is the Stone, then he carries within himself the power to influence and raise up everyone he comes into contact with. It’s the same with us. We might not be able to physically see the influence we are having upon others, but seeds are always being planted whether we’re aware of that planting or not.
Hermione interpreted the information to mean that the three-headed dog was guarding the Philosopher’s Stone. She also believed that Nicolas must have asked Dumbledore to remove the Stone from Gringotts and keep it safe for him, because someone was trying to get it. Both Harry and Ron buy Hermione’s hypothesis. It made sense to them. Any hypothesis accepted as fact without checking it out first, will fuel our reactions. In fact, Harry tells us that if the Stone was able to stop you from dying, it’s no wonder that Snape wanted it. “Anyone would want it.”
In reality, the three-headed dog guards the path that leads to the Stone, not the Stone itself. In a way, the dog is the gate you must find and then pass through, but the kids haven’t learned that lesson yet. Jo is setting us up to learn that there are many things far worse than death. What Snape has been assigned by Dumbledore to do is one of them.
The next morning during their Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Harry and Ron became bored with copying down the various ways they could treat a werewolf bite. They didn’t see the value in knowing that information, so they began discussing what they would do with a Philosopher’s Stone if they had one.
The topic of werewolves is setting us up for Book 3, but the focus here is on what to do if one was bitten by a werewolf. Presently, the boys don’t see the significance of werewolf bites. They don’t expect to ever have that problem, so their minds wander elsewhere. Many times, consequences come into our lives because we didn’t pay attention to something that was previously given to us. The whole concept of fixing our unorganized mind requires us to pay attention to what’s going on.
We were not told what Harry would do with such a Stone, but when Ron said he’d buy a Quidditch team, it triggered Harry’s memory about the coming game. Our subconscious mind works through associations. Harry told Ron and Hermione that despite the danger to him, he had decided to play. He didn’t want any Slytherins to think he was afraid to face Snape. Harry appears to have made the choice based on what others might think of him.
To handle his fear, Harry took an assertive approach. He told his friends that the best way to wipe the smile off the Sytherin faces was for Gryffindore to win. That’s a healthy way of handling the problem, but Hermione wasn’t so positive. She continued to struggle with her inability to control Harry and the others. She was sure she knew what others should do. In this case, Hermione wanted Harry to fake breaking his leg, so he didn’t have to play the game. But Harry made a different choice.
Although the troll incident drew Harry, Ron, and Hermione together, Hermione will have to repeat the lessons that didn’t stick during that experience. “Just as long as we’re not wiping you off the field,” she said. She was showing her fear, but it was also one last attempt at trying to manipulate Harry into letting her have her way. What Harry decided to do made her feel uncomfortable, and we always strive to relieve all forms of discomfort.
As the match drew closer, Harry began to lose his nerve. In fact, his imagination started to run away with him. Fear brings out many “what ifs.” To Harry, the thought of winning was great, but he didn’t know if Snape would allow that to happen. Harry felt that Snape was going to be a biased referee. It was Harry’s perspective, which wasn’t accurate, but that faulty viewpoint kept getting reinforced because Harry continuously ran into Snape everywhere he went.
Now, that presented two possibilities: Either Harry’s fear was making him more aware of Snape’s presence, or Snape was keeping a tighter eye on Harry because of Quirrell. Harry began to think that maybe Snape was trying to get him alone. That was how it looked to Harry, because Harry didn’t have all of the facts. Unrighteous judgment (judging without all of the facts) is a main theme within the series. It’s one of fallen man’s major weaknesses due to his conditioning. Dumbledore is a good example of righteous judgment.
Harry saw his potion lessons as torture. He perceived Snape as being horrible to him. That’s the same word he used to describe the Dursleys: horrible. His imagination has continued to invent things. Harry wondered if Snape somehow knew that he, Ron, and Hermione had found out about the Philosopher’s Stone. In fact, Snape made Harry feel so uncomfortable, that Harry began to believe that Snape could read his mind.
This particular fancy made me smile, since Snape indeed can read minds, but as Snape will teach us later on, mind-reading isn’t about thoughts. It’s about discerning the Truth behind the images and emotions we’ve stored in the subconscious mind