One thing that children are taught to have when they are young is to have goals. Goals are taught to learn how to achieve things in lives, but Harry Potter doesn't have to many goals. There are some minor goals, but not too many long term goals. And that is what kids in our world today are taught. We are all influenced to have ideas for our futures, and are constantly asked what we want to do. Harry doesn't have any really big goals for his later life--and I could see that as another big problem. The same problem has been coming up in the Twilight series. The main character Bella has no goals for her life, and that angers parents. But one thing that parents need to keep in mind is that this is a book. A fiction book. It is not real, and I think that most children would be able to understand this because the reading level of Harry Potter is geared towards slight older children.

I also agree with you that imagination is a necessary thing for children. How are kids supposed to create their own ideas if they have no imagination? Imagination helps with everything in our daily lives, it's basically a problem solver. Also, I believe that how Ron reacted to the troll almost hurting Hermione could be an analogy to our world. The troll could easily be replaced with a criminal or a car, basically anything that could possibly be a threat. But I did find something significant that Dumbeldore said that could dismiss imagination. On page 157, he says, 'It does not do to dwell on dreams, Harry, and forget to live." I think in this quote he's basically telling Harry that the mirror can not make his parents come alive--dismissing Harry's imagination. He wants Harry to accept what his life is like at the moment and not to dwell on the unreal. Do you think Dumbeldore is right here, Surbhi? I feel like this is a really important quote in the book, and it will make a huge impact on Harry.