I know that a lot of people, reading Joanne Rowling's accounts, get the impression that Harry was the main man at school during his time there. She suggests that his were the only stories to be told, that his circle were the only people of significance and everyone else was just scenery. That's nonsense, of course. There were about three hundred students at the school in any one year and all of us had stories.
They say that everyone is hero of their own story, and I confess that I was disappointed when I read Joanne's accounts, that I had been relegated to a bit part. Still, at least I wasn't scenery.
I wrote these stories partly to make myself my own hero (though it didn't feel like it at times) and partly to fill in some gaps that Joanne wasn't interested in and/or Harry wasn't involved in. The Head Boy and Girl elections spring to mind (and how they failed) and why Gryffindor was not involved in entertaining the Beauxbatons party. They aren't in Harry's stories but they still happened and I think they were important.
One detail that Joanne got completely wrong was the location of the Ravenclaw Common Room. I assume that she never saw it and she put it at the top of a tower. It must have seemed suitably dramatic but it was total rubbish. What sane school would put a Common Room at the top of a steep flight of stairs? Imagine students, running late (because that's what students do) piling out of the door, tripping over and cascading down all those steps. It would be insane and Joanne's accounts, and her reputation, took a severe knock amongst Ravenclaws as a result. To be accurate, the door to the Common Room is in a corridor, just as the other are. The bird's head, however, is spot on.
My dad, who is writing a biography of Michael Porter, says that it's really important to name as many people as possible when you're writing a contemporary biography. They are your core market because every one of the people named in the index will buy a copy to see what you say about them. This means that Joanne missed out on her prime market by only mentioning about thirty students. Mind you, by the time the populace had got hold of it, the magical market was totally sidelined. A few more names in the index wouldn't have made much difference.
But all of those names had stories, and every story would be weird by Muggle populace standards. These are just a few of mine.
Contents
Year 1
1 - Michael Corner and The Really Annoying Bird's Head
Arriving at Hogwarts and coming to terms with the Ravenclaw doorknocker.
2 – Michael Corner and The New School Rule
Hogwarts and technology really don't mix. And I mean really don't, but there was nothing to say you couldn't bring a PC to school, because no-one ever had.
3 – Michael Corner and the Ghost of Christmas's Present
It's Christmas, my first Christmas while at school, and I was given the weirdest present ever. Useful, though.
Year 2
4 – Michael Corner and The Chance to Impress
The Monster is loose! And I had been lumbered with looking after Luna, who identified it as a basilisk. But my attempt to kill it went badly wrong.
Year 3
5 – Michael Corner and The Last Head Boy
As a favour to Penny, I took part in the election process for the next Head Boy and Girl, but the conclave was disrupted by Dementors.
Year 4
6 – Michael Corner and The Entente Cordiale
Mum and I went to The World Cup and I saved some Beauxbatons students from the attention of the Death Eaters.
7 – Michael Corner and the Lady of The Lake
My friends from Beauxbatons arrive and I was one of the students put in charge of looking after them. I took Michelle to the Yule Ball, but she had other ideas. So did the Squid.
Year 5
8 – Michael Corner and The Lost Galleon
It is the era of Umbridge and the first incarnation of Dumbledore's Army, but tensions destroyed my relationship with Ginny.
Year 6
9 – Michael Corner and the Field of Daisies
It is Results Day, and on a visit to Diagon Alley to buy material for the new term, I was forced into a deal with The Ministry that had catastrophic results.
Year 7
10 – Michael Corner and The Dungeon of Doom
The Ministry is in control of Hogwarts and I was part of the subversive Dumbledore's Army. Pranks are one thing, but it is another when innocent firsties suffer as a result of them.
11 – Michael Corner and The Really Helpful Bird's Head
In the aftermath of the battle, I found that not all the Death Eaters had given up.
YOU ARE READING
Michael Corner and The Education of Wizards
FanfictionAnyone reading about Harry Potter would think that he was the only person at Hogwarts. The rest of us were just scenery. That is rubbish. There were hundreds of us, and all of us had stories. These are some of mine.
