In this month's lesson we looked at Voldemort as a projection of Harry's Shadow. Remember, the Shadow contains the parts of us that we won't accept. When one begins to hate a person who appears to have these denied traits, this person takes on the projection of the Shadow.

But what about the other characters in the series? There's Ron and Hermione of course who we know so well as readers that we can probably identify the pieces of their Shadow and even the person they project these pieces onto. There's probably even a good deal of minor characters we could look at.

But remember, the projection of the Shadow is HATED. This doesn't mean that the professors or Molly Weasley are the posessors of the projected shadow of the Fred and George Weasley. Those relationships aren't quite the strength needed.

For example, one could say that Dumbledore is the posessor of Minister Fudge's projected Shadow. The hate Fudge feels for the Headmaster goes beyond Dumbledore's higher approval. Perhaps, Fudge doesn't want to admit that there's a part of him that takes risks, and therefore the side of him that wants to play by the books represses risk-taking. Dumbledore, however, follows his own morality rather than simply following Ministry rules and regulations. Therefore, by seeking to destroy Dumbledore, Fudge is unconsciously trying to rid himself of the idea that he may have to act outside the rules.

So, this month's discussion is: Which other characters in the Harry Potter series can you see as having a shadow projection like Harry or Fudge? What piece of themselves are they seeking to destroy?

Ron and Draco -> Ron hates Draco for a thousand reasons. He's an elitest who only spends time with people like him and ridicules people who are not. He tries to make it sound as though he's the best at everything and thinks that everyone else is beneath him, even those who are getting higher grades and are more popular or talented. He also hides behind his friends and prides himself on who his family are. What Ron doesn't realise is that he has all these same traits, even if some of them seem a bit reversed. Ron only hangs out with the other Gryffindors and makes fun of the Draco's band of Slytherins. Ron was the first to laugh at Draco, after all, when they first met and Ron laughed at his name. While Ron realises when he has a weakness, like in quidditch, he finds other ways of raising his self esteem, like by making fun of the opposite quidditch team late in the common room. And even if he does worry about the other members of his family oversahdowing him, he prides himself on being a Weasley, and loves being related to Fred, George, and even Ginny, just as Draco prides himself on having a father with conections.

Sirius and Snape -> Sirius grew up in a house full of dark magic and dark wizards. His house was full of horrible magical objects and his parents tried to raise him to be the same of themselves; hateful and proud. Snape is Sirius' shadow because he represents the past that, despite concealment, will always be a part of Sirius, and Sirius seeks to destroy Snape to destroy the memory of his family.

~mia

The character that comes up in my mind is Professor Snape. He seems to have many people that he hates, Sirius, James, and Harry.

From what we know of Professor Snape, he had an abusive childhood and was constantly bullied and teased at school by Sirius and James. The bullying that Snape had to endure in school by James and Sirius was probably a constant reminder of his childhood. He probably seeks to destroy Sirius because he represents his past with his abusive father, a past he wishes to forget. Sirius also grew up in a family of Dark Wizards and Snape became a Death Eater in adulthood. Sirius managed to avoid following the Dark Arts and Snape fell into the trap, although later came out of it to support Dumbledore. However, Snape probably has jealous feelings towards Sirius because of this as well. Sirius is Snape's shadow because in many ways, Sirius is a reminder of Snape's past. Snape is trying to forget the fact that he couldn't step away from the Dark Arts at first and still has to live a lie, while Sirius is free of that.

Since James is dead, Snape takes out his hatred of James on his only son Harry. Again, James reminds Snape of his abusive father. Since Harry looks so much like James it is logical that Snape would hate Harry as well. Again, James and Harry were able to fight the Dark Lord while Snape had to live the lie of being a follower of Lord Voldemort. In all cases, Snape is trying to destroy his past.