Harry Potter's Invitation to the World
by Vickie Ewell
Chapter 68 – Initiation Begins (HP Chapter 16)
As the days went by, Harry’s fictionalized scenario about what he believed Snape was up to never materialized. Fluffy remained behind the locked door on the third floor and continued to guard the way that led to the Philosopher’s Stone.
Jo tells us that in later years, Harry would not clearly remember how he got through that first year’s finals. He was extremely fearful that Voldemort was going to come and kill him during that time. Fear of death and one’s personal safety is mortal man’s greatest fear. Our mechanical reactions are connected to a fear of death or our drive for comfort. Jo’s point, I think, is that as Harry matured, he didn’t clearly remember what it was like to be back at the beginning of the Path.
The classrooms were hot and uncomfortable, reflective of the image that many have of what Hell is like, but the mortal world is just as uncomfortable and painful. It is Hell that Fluffy prevents us from leaving.
The school finals are on the physical plane, but they teach us many of the principles involved in the first half of the Path of Liberation. They give us a glimpse, or overview, of what we can expect when the kids go through the trapdoor. The kids first received anti-cheating pens. This alerts us to there being no way to side step the Alchemical process. We can’t cheat and climb up another way. To reach the Stone, we must go through Fluffy. There is no other Path of Salvation.
Professor Flitwick tested each of them individually to see if they could make a pineapple dance across the desk. Although we dance, help, and interact with each other along the way, we go through testing alone. However, these tests aren’t about worthiness. They are about overcoming our fears, insecurities, and pride.
We will see this principle surface again as Dumbledore and the kids face pieces of Voldemort that attempt to use their fears or greed against them. Harry was not the only one who had to find, fight, and destroy the horcruxes. A different story character eventually destroyed each horcrux. Harry only faced and destroyed the diary. Others deactivated the remaining horcruxes.
Professor McGonagall had them turn a mouse into a snuffbox. Undoubtedly, this represented our final transformation because she awarded points for how beautiful the snuffbox was, and deducted points if it still had whiskers. Our transformation must be totally complete. Not even a single whisker of what we used to be can be left.
Snape then had the kids make a Forgetfulness potion, suggesting that as we travel from lifetime to lifetime, we don’t remember what we have gone through before. We are reborn with a veil of forgetfulness. Although some individuals have the power to see through a portion of the veil, the basic idea of Alchemy is to wake up to the presence of Voldemort and learn how to release our karma and other impurities, not cling to them. In addition, much of the Path is remembering, not learning.
Harry was experiencing intermittent pain from his scar, wasn’t sleeping well, and having the same nightmare he had always had – except now he was also seeing a hooded figure dripping blood. That seemed to reinforce the ugliness of the mortal world that’s magnified just before we choose to enter the Path. Neville believed Harry was having a bad case of exam nerves, but he didn’t know about the dreams or the pain.
Scientifically, experts say the subconscious mind attempts to work out our mortal problems and fears within our dreams, but spiritual communication through dreams and visions was common in Biblical texts. They are often thought of as communication with or from an outside entity, spiritual force, or power we call an angel, the Holy Spirit, or God. I assume the dream that kept repeating for Harry was the dream we were introduced to when he first came to Hogwarts. But Jo doesn’t say.
In that first dream, Harry was wearing Quirrell’s turban, which kept telling him he needed to transfer to Slitherin. It was his destiny. Harry’s turban (or karmic debt) was very heavy. Harry tried to pull it off, but it simply tightened around his head and created more pain.
Our mortal conditioning and karma are not things we can simply take off like a jacket. The transformative power, sometimes referred to as a violet flame, doesn’t engulf and erase what we are. It transforms the darkness and negative energy of our animal nature into the light and spiritual power of the Divine. Base metal changes into gold. Fear becomes courage. Anxiety finds peace. Hatred turns into love.
Draco stood nearby laughing at Harry as he struggled. Draco obviously represented everything that Harry didn’t want to become, but he also demonstrated the mindset of those who haven’t entered the Path. They don’t understand a Seeker’s inner struggle because they can’t see past the outer material world. However, I’m not convinced that the Path is supposed to be as large of a struggle as we sometimes make it. Christ’s burden was easy and light.
Harry was afraid of Slytherin. He associated Slytherin house with turning into a bad person. Therefore, Harry’s faulty perception labeled Snape bad too, which was probably why Harry saw Draco turn into Snape. Harry hadn’t learned that we become who and what we choose to be. Destiny isn’t real. Were Harry to release his fear and judgment of Slytherin and Snape, much of his dream and many of his struggles would disappear.
Jo didn’t tell us what part the hooded figure played in Harry’s dreams now. We only know that Voldemort’s presence was there. Although we tend to look upon the concept of evil as something to be avoided or eliminated, we would not be able to transform without that power in our lives.
Ron and Hermione were not as worried about the Philosopher’s Stone as Harry was. They were too busy studying to worry about what Snape might be doing. That mirrored most of the mortal world. We are too busy living our outward lives to care about what might be going on inside of us, but avoidance holds us back from returning to our original state of Deity – although improved from going through this experience.
The final exam was the History of Magic. The kids spent an hour answering questions such as who invented self-stirring cauldrons. When a Seeker is reborn, a self-stirring cauldron can begin the Alchemical process without the Seeker remembering or understanding what is going on. The Alchemical process began for the kids without them making any conscious choices.
I know of quite a few Seekers who are in that condition. They know nothing about Alchemy, but the way they live their lives, their degree of love, their struggles, and attitude about life, as well as the condition of their hearts reveals them to be Seekers. On the other hand, I also know many people who are stuck at one of the lower levels. Some enjoy playing at the Astral level, but others are unable to lay down their Will and Knowing, their need to be right.
A self-stirring cauldron demonstrates that the inner process of transformation isn’t necessarily something we have much control over. It reflects our desire to be something different. Although we need to overcome or resolve our tendency to allow Voldemort to control us, we must surrender to the Deity within. Otherwise, we become like so many others who simply recycle from lifetime to lifetime and remain stuck within the grasp of organized religion, science, and governments – playing within the physical, spiritual, and astral worlds.
It seems that the choice to fight our personal Voldemort isn’t made until we reach the mid-point of our journey: our own personal maze and graveyard experience. Up to that point, we are simply learning about the existence of something more. However, that mid-point appears to be crucial to the ultimate outcome.
In the graveyard, Harry’s mother told him that he was now ready, but his parents’ command was to LET GO! Cedric’s request of Harry was to take his body back to his Father. Harry couldn’t do that without laying down his own Will and allowing events to unfold