Tuesday, May 26, 2009

WWDD

This past weekend at LeakyCon I went to a talk by John Granger, an excellent scholar and author (if you haven't read his books, I highly recommend them), and while he was talking about Deathly Hallows he said something that really spoke to me. He was talking about what Dumbledore left Hermione ("Tales of Beedle the Bard"), and the specific task he had in mind for her, and he summed it up as follows: "Read a kid's book, interpret its meaning, save the world." Well, as you can imagine, that made me sit up and pay attention.

"Read a kid's book, interpret its meaning, save the world."

Isn't that what the HP Alliance is about? Reading Harry Potter (the "kid's book" part is arguable, I grant you). Interpreting its meanings. Using what we learn and discover to change our world for the better.

In fact, that's what this new initiative What Would Dumbledore Do? really boils down to. WWDD gives us the opportunity to not just read about Dumbledore, but to examine him in more detail and to pull out lessons and examples from his life that have taught us something important or that could in some way benefit our world.

So, whether you were at LeakyCon or whether you're just following us online, I hope you'll get excited about this project and this amazing opportunity we have. Seriously, just think about it: What would Dumbledore do? And as you ponder, share your ideas with the rest of us. Let's celebrate this amazing wizard and all the things he has to teach us.

We've read the books, now let's interpret their meaning. Better yet, let's save the world!

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