Posted July 4th, 2003 by Michelle

I think I’ve figured it out. Umbridge is Bush. It’s suddenly so clear to me why I had to finish the book, beyond just not being able to put it down.

If you haven’t read the latest Harry Potter, you won’t know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t finished it, do not read the fourth paragraph of this blog. It’s not a big spoiler, but it mentions something that happens near the end of the book.

Umbridge is the quintessential bad authority figure. She never leads by example, she punishes those she dislikes and rewards her favorites. And- get this- every time an existing policy thwarts her plans, she immediately signs a new one into law, a.k.a. Animal Farm or, on a more pressing note, our administration. Strange what the Senate and House allowed Bush to pass right after 9/11… laws and powers that a more rational and thinking group of people would never have considered.

Anyway, back to Professor Umbridge. She knows less than her students, punishes the kids who point it out even if inadvertently. She is mean and conniving, and sees the possibility of her own advancement as the supreme goal of her every day. I’ve never hated a character in a book more, and now I realize why. J.K. Rowling is hitting a little close to home. At the end, when Umbridge is chased away from the school with one of the ghosts spanking her with a broom, well. ‘Tis a lovely fantasy, one that may not be played out until 2008. But… someday.

Happy Dippy 4th of July, cyber-world. I hope today you will think of the over 200 Americans who have been killed in Iraq for a war based on lies. Geeze. I know I’m probably preaching to the choir on this blog, but it makes me feel better to write it.