As you probably know by now, I have a Thing for Harry Potter . Reading the books as an adult was the most liberating experience of my life, and I credit them with helping me to come out also to pursue my dreams of becoming a writer. Autostraddle dot com Headmistress Riese Bernard had never read Harry Potter at all, not even a little bit, hadn’t even heard any spoilers (including the one about Snape!) until a few months ago. It was a real treat watching her learn to love the series too, and so when she was all finished, I called her up on the phone and talked to her about her magical journey. Here are the things that she said.
*Oh first: SPOILER ALERT. This interview contains spoilers for every major and important thing that happens in the entire series.*
So you’ve only just now...
this is delightful. and yes, someone definitely should’ve warned you that 5-7 are a totally different ballgame than 1-4. it goes from “the wonders of the wizarding world” to “let’s talk about the death of everyone you love and your childhood” in the blink of an eye and it is JARRING. also those patronus picks are spot ON!
I did not come into this expecting to cry! But here we are!
same
ugh thank you it’s not just me. *throws a pile of papers into the air.*
Not expecting to cry or to decide that maybe I do want to read this series after all.
SAME
RIESE AS DUMBLEDORE. AUTOSTRADDLE AS HOGWARTS. THIS ANALOGY IS SO PERFECT OH MY GOD.
And Riese, that Boggart is just a Boggart. We love you. Welcome to the world of understanding Harry Potter references!
OotP isn’t too long, it just FEELS too long because it is undoubtedly the worst of the 7 books. Because Angsty Teenage Harry Potter is unbearable. I understand the plot/characterization necessity of giving Harry that angsty phase, but my god it was/is hard to read.
aw thank you so much!
I forgave a lot of the angst in my re reads of that book because to be honest Harry has a LOT OF SHIT thrown at him in that book.
Like when you get enrolled in a tournament that can kill you and you can’t say no and your whole school hates you for it ? Yeah you’re entitled to get angsty
Ron in the other hand is a little shit in the first part of the book.
Ugh, Ron.
OotP is my favourite book of the series! But I seem to be in the minority here..
Petition for Autostraddle Sorting Hat as A+ feature?
Have not read interview yet; this is amazing and probably best part of my weekend.
hey! Awesome that you loved the books Riese, they mean the world to me. Can I ask you what your thoughts on Snape were? (Book/Movie).
hahaha i hear this is a very contentious topic and so far heather is the only person who agrees with me that i’ve talked to about it — but no i am not a huge fan of Snape. YES what i learned in the last book did redeem his character for me from being “horrible person” to “person,” and he clearly suffered for most of his life and i feel sad for him. but it did not elevate him in my eyes to any level of heroism or greatness. and listen — i am a huge sucker for characters who are sort of rotten but then decide to step into the light and go good and i tend to root for them with nihilism and get frustrated when they’re held accountable for past mistakes after clearly deciding to redeem themselves. like i’m always worried if they don’t get enough support for their redemption song, they’ll go back to evil, and i root for them. i root for Spike, for Caprica Six, Jesse Pinkman, etc.
but. regardless of what happened to snape when he was young and how he was treated by harry’s father — he bullied harry and ron and hermione and neville constantly in a way that i find totally gross and unacceptable. being bullied gives you a pass to seek revenge on your bullies, but it does not give you a pass to bully children who had no part in that. and also they don’t deserve to be treated as students any differently than any other student or be penalized academically for snape’s own personal demons. that’s just me having strong feelings about following the rules at school, though, so.
i did finish reading the books in february (this interview happened a while back!) so i’m not 100% on top of remembering everything, but there was other shit he did that i couldn’t write off either, though the details escape me now.
I remember I HATED the way Snape behaved towards Harry, Hermione, Neville throughout the books while reading them as a kid that had some horrible teachers But later on, his character gave me some insight and empathy on the toll it took on him and his soul to spy and work as a teacher, a job he clearly hates and how everyone around him is miserable because of it (made me rethink my career ). I loved how Alan Rickman played him dripping with sarcasm but also quite protective in the prisoner of Askaban. Thanks for answering!
Also his “love for Lily” is extremely creepy.
THANK YOU! He’s flat out abusive to Harry + friends. I am glad his character was developed and that there’s a reason behind the vehemence, and I cry my eyes out during his chapter in Deathly Hallows because his life was a lot of shit. but that doesn’t turn him into some great hero after being horrible to children for years.
Yeah, I found it hard to forgive the abuse of his authority as a teacher to harass his students. but then again, maybe part or even a lot of that could have been desperation to keep his cover? IDK, but I do love and miss Alan Rickman.
I totally agree with this read, that just because he wasn’t evil didn’t make him an awesome person. The way he treated the Gryffindor students was awful and the thing with Lily always read a bit to me like ‘why don’t girls ever choose the NICE guys, LIKE ME??’.
???
Heather IS a human patronus! Riese may be late to the party but she’s leading it now :-)
I went to the midnight release for Half Blood Prince that awful last year I lived with my mother, plowing through the first five and then not sleeping til I finished it was how I made it, pretty much. The books really are what you need for a hard time.
Heather, don’t be silly, you basically patronus’d for Carol on that flight that one time!
this interview is gorgeous and is so much of both of you <3
I do not have time to read this right now but I had to comment immediately to express how excited I am for this interview. I have been waiting for this for YEARS I think.
So Harry Potter was (and remains) a huge part of my life, yet I’m surrounded by people who somehow missed that boat and want to kind of write it off. I really appreciate that you took the time and energy to give these books a shot and I’m so glad they resonated with you. This is such a lovely interview!
This was a beautiful gift on a bad day. Which is how I feel about Harry Potter, so
THIS IS THE BEST THING
Also you did not ask this question in the interview, but are we to assume from the feature image that Riese is a Gryffindor?
Gryffenclaw, apparently! The test came out equal parts ravenclaw and griffyndor
which test? I got sorted Hufflepuff on the old Pottermore and Ravenclaw on the new one, which seems more accurate but I could use a second opinion. :p
Riese! Same! And I always feel so torn about identifying with either house because of this!
Yer a wizard, Riese!
This is so beautiful and you have a true gift (by that I mean figuring out people’s patronuses. Patroni?)
I read The Prisoner of Azkaban when I was a kid. I remember liking it, but not enough to read the rest (I’ve also never been a fantasy fan) but man, is this making me want to just get it over with and read them already.
I would try them from the start. I don’t think I’d have enjoyed Prisoner of Azkaban if I hadn’t read the proceeding ones.
Sometimes, you just appreciate things when it’s the right moment. I read 2.5ish of the books and then never got around to it for years. Forgot I’d read them at all and then realized when I watched the movies that I knew every storyline already…
A few years later I had a month between jobs and read all of them and wished I had another month to re-read them all. So much love.
I realised last night I can get them for free on the Kindle lending library, so guess who’s reading the Philisopher’s Stone right now?!
It feels weird because, like you say, I know a fair bit of the plot already, but it’s so different to see it written down?
… Of course I meant Philosopher’s. I can’t let that typo slide, haha.
“I could not believe how much the mythology of the world kept growing with each book, and it’s obvious she imagined it all beforehand.”
THIS. It’s absolutely insane. I think every book introduces something new, and not just little details, either, though those are plentiful. There’s always something big, something fundamental. It all feels natural because, as you said, she had it all in her head from the start. Every few books there’s a genuine paradigm shift but it never feels like it’s out of left field. As far as Rowling and the characters are concerned, the world is the same as it always was. It’s just our perspective that changes.
She did beautiful work of world building.
oh wow, this is such a flattering compliment! probably one of the nicest ones I’ve received! thank you so much. i definitely don’t feel like Professor McGonagall 100 percent of the time so I’ll be sure to harness her powers always. <3
this interview was delightful, thank you for bringing magic to all of our lives, you two!
After reading this article I then watched JK Rowling interviews for at least three hours. It has been the best day.
You couldn’t go wrong with a day filled with JKR interviews. I remember an interview she did with Dan Rad where they were trying to sort everyone out into hogwarts houses and they came to the conclusion that no matter the result, “the world would be a better place if everyone in it tried to be hufflepuff”. That made me tear up SO MUCH.
My question for Riese: how did you feel about the Hermione/Ron relationship? I personally didn’t like it, because Hermione was always far too good for Ron. But I didn’t want her to hook up with Harry. I just really loved their gang of three and didn’t think it needed any sort of romance?? Which brings me to…the 19 Years Later bit at the end. Thoughts??
Oh man, I love this interview!
:) Warming my heart, and now putting a smile on my face; you’re slaying me today, Autostraddle.
I have the same kind of glowing, fuzzy feelings as if I was sitting in the room with two wonderful friends, watching and listening to them talk and laugh, and I have nothing to say or do, but feel good in the company of their comfort and affection for each other. You two have a really lovely friendship, and I’m glad Harry Potter was around to be another conduit of it.
I was hesitant to begin the series too, but after book 1, I was totally hooked!! Harry Potter was so wonderfully detailed and rich in every way! I, too, was shocked how dark books 5 – 7 grew. I think my patronus would be a swan!