2 of Slytherin: Equilibrium

2 of Slytherin: Equilibrium

Meaning of the card facing you: indecision, choices, truce, stalemate, blocked emotions
Meaning of the card facing away from you: indecision, confusion, information overload

Draco Malfoy is a very very interesting character that has a lot of depth, if you bother to look closely. A lot of people look over Draco and just see him as the boy who became a Death Eater and was evil, but there is so much more to him.

Draco was raised by Lucius and Narcissa, both very capable rich Purebloods with more power and gold than you can imagine. He was brought up to think a certain way, talk a certain way, walk a certain way, act a certain way, etc. He was told from the start that Muggles and Muggleborns were horrible and below him. He was spoon-fed classism, muggle-ism, etc. from before he could think for himself. He always looked up to his father and tried to be like him, bullying people and becoming a Death Eater for him. It's important to remember that he never knew any other way of life.

In Draco's sixth year, he was given a task- a very dangerous, horrible, murderous task that I will go more into with another card- because his father was in Azkaban. This was the book where we kind of begin to see that Draco is an actual person- Harry especially. It is a year for him that it fraught with indecision, choices and blocked emotions. Draco pulls away from his friends and the people he cares about because of the task that he must do. He stops confiding and asking for help from Snape. He stops talking to his friends, starts going off on his own to places, and looks more and more pale and withdrawn as the year goes on. Someone he actually begins to confide in is Moaning Myrtle, he talks and cries to her, until Harry misunderstands things and messes it up.

Draco Malfoy can represent choices. He can be indecision because it took him a very long time to realize that he was on the wrong side and even longer to get out of it. But also, making choices. In the seventh book, he had a very big choice to make that decided Harry's fate. Harry, Ron, and Hermione get captured and taken to the Malfoy Manor. Hermione charmed Harry's face so it was disfigured, but could be recognizable. It was up to Draco to declare whether he was Harry or not because he knew what he looked like the best since he went to school with him. It was pretty obvious that it was Harry, Ron, and Hermione but Draco chose not say that it was. Without Draco's choice to not turn them in, they could have met a very gruesome ending with the Malfoy's summoning Voldemort and the war most likely ending with the Dark side winning.

Draco is confusion because up until the time he was eleven, he was taught one way of life, but from the moment he met Harry, he found that people were a lot different then what he expected. I think a lot of the time that he and Harry got into arguments, he was just struggling to hold onto what he knew, to please his father- or at least do what he thinks what his father would want, he's used to getting his way and lashes out when he doesn't. It's hard for him in school because most people don't like Slytherin and he has to be the example for the house as a rich, upstanding, Pureblood, but he is constantly made fun of by and in some ways loses to Harry/Gryffindor. It's a constant stream of anger, disappointment, and humiliation which leads to him resenting Harry and many people and choisng to be a Death Eater instead of asking for help, only to find how horrible it is (a lot like Snape). Personally, I think that if someone had reached out to him or if Harry had made their rivalry a bit more friendly, Draco would not have become a Death Eater and gotten himself into the mess he was in.

Truce and stalemate can be represented by Draco mostly during the seventh book and mostly just when he makes the decision not to turn Harry in. Also, even though I really hated the Epilogue, there was a moment when Harry and Draco nod to each other at King's Cross. This is really significant because it  shows that Harry has forgiven him for all the horrible things that happened to them during school. Another big thing is during the final battle, Draco goes looking for Harry in the Room of Requirement. He keeps telling Crabbe and Goyle to keep Harry alive. Harry goes back into the room even the the Fiendfire is tearing it up and saves Draco.  Later he saves him from a Death Eater who  was yelling at him. This shows that Harry realized what was going on with Draco and made an unspoken agreement with him.

Major Arcana: X Fortune, Wheel of

 
Major Arcana: X Fortune, Wheel of

Meaning of the card facing you: good luck, karma, life cycles, destiny, turning point
Meaning of the card facing away from you: bad luck, negative external forces, out of control

So when I did this, I had to cut out the drawing that I made so that I could make sure that I got it exactly the way I wanted it (as I have done for about 1/2 of my cards so far). The cut out made a beautiful negative space shape thing in the white paper. I don't have a picture of it right now, but I'll post it as soon as I get it because wow it's really awesome.

The Sorting Hat is a had the sorts the incoming first years into their Hogwarts Houses, Ravenclaw, Hufflypuff, Gryffindor, and Slytherin. It kind of reads the minds of the children that it sorts and places them based on who they are (and possibly bloodline). It has been around since Hogwarts was founded and has never failed to sort students.

I'm not sure how much the Sorting Hat represents good luck or bad luck, though it does sing about the bad things that it thinks is going to happen and gives good advice, though interHouse unity is not really something that Hogwarts students practice (which honestly makes me very sad. If someone what just been there for all those poor Slytherins, the wizarding world would probably not be in such a mess). It can be karma because it can look inside your head and places you based on what you've done/ have inside you so there might be some karma going around over there.

In Harry's case, the Sorting Hat has a lot to do with his destiny. Harry finds a home in Gryffindor House and becomes who he is because of it. Also, the Hat shows Harry that he had two possibilities: Gryffindor or Slytherin and he sealed whatever destiny he had when he chose Gryffindor. My personal opinion is that he would have thrived in Slytherin and managed not to become a dark lord, he might have picked up some really good qualities along the way as well. In general, for most people, the Sorting isn't that big a deal aside from the fact that you get placed with a bunch of people for the next seven years of your life. But for Harry, it was a very significant part of his life and impacted his outlook on life and the way he dealt with things.

During times of "negative external forces" and things are "out of control", the Sorting Hat can be very useful to a Gryffindor student, Harry and Neville being the examples for this. For Harry, the Sorting Hat came to help him defeat the Basilisk in the second book. Harry got the Hat from Fawkes and managed to pull the Sword of Gryffindor out of it which he used to slay the Basilisk. The snake, the memory of Tom Riddle, the diary, the Chamber of Secrets, and every thing in that place made it negative and out of control and without the Hat, it would have gotten worse. Actually Neville's story is very similar though the snake he was killing was Nagini in order to defeat Voldemort- this time in a more solid form.

Like most things in these books, the important things kind of creep up on you. They've kind of always been there, we just didn't know it until it was made clear for us. The Sorting Hat is a lot like that. It became a constant familiar thing that was kind of cool but not really because Harry needed it once and all that, but then Neville used it and we saw how much it was worth, how important it was.

6 of Slytherin: Knowledge

6 of Slytherin: Knowledge

Meaning of the card facing you: regretful but necessary transition, rite of passage

Meaning of the card facing away from you: cannot move on, carrying baggage

original sketch

So I finally messed up on a card. And by finally I mean, it was bound to happen at some time and I'm glad it happened on a card that I thoroughly enjoyed drawing. I actually had a lot of trouble with the first one. If you look at it, you can see at the small mess ups on Myrtle that I made, mostly with the cloak because I was really unsure of how to do it at first and started out with blue/grey instead of silver which did not turn out well at all as you can see. Also, I drew her upside down based on the back of the card so even if I had drawn her right the first time, I would have either had to restick the back or do it again anyway.

Now onto the meanings of this card (which is actually one of my favorites so far)

Myrtle is like the definition of not moving on. She is a ghost who spends her life? death? whatever haunting a girls' bathroom that no one uses. She died there because Tom Riddle (Mr. Lord Voldemort himself) set Salazar Slytherin's basilisk on her. She can move around the castle because we saw her at Nick's Death Day party in the second book, but she chooses to stay in her cold tiled fortress.

She can also represent regretful but necessary transition and rite of passage and I can prove it with two different books. In the second book, we meet Myrtle for the first time and we get to know her when the Golden Trio spend their extra time creating an unpleasant potion in her bathroom. They did not have to make this potion (polyjuice potion) but they felt it necessary in order to find out if Malfoy was the heir of Slytherin. In the end, he was not and the mission was all for naught, the month of potion mixing gone to waste and it all happened while Moaning Myrtle was there. Not only this but Hermione's transformation was necessary and regretful when she turned into a cat instead of Millicent Bulstrode. Myrtle laughed at Hermione's predicament.

(I guess I should make it clear that when I say Myrtle represents these things, I mean her presence or something she is attached to was present in what was happening. That's probably a bit like cheating since it's all just circumstances and consequences that have nothing to do with her but they happen around her and affect her.)

In the sixth book Moaning Myrtle can represent rite of passage. During the sixth book, Harry struggles with his obsession with Draco Malfoy and the oncoming Dark War. I think that Harry's rejection of Draco's friendship and Myrtle's offering to share her toilet seat lead the two sorry souls to each other and Draco was able to find a friend while carrying out a task that is isolating and dangerous. He found that he could talk to Myrtle about things (or at least that was what was implied). Anyway, Harry finds Draco crying in Myrtle's bathroom and pulls out his wand. In the past we had seen Harry able to perform very difficult magic, but during this incident he performs powerful dark magic that he does not know or understand until the spell hits Draco. I think this is a rite of passage for Harry. It is when he finally his recognizes the power that he and magic in general has- how scary it can be. I don't think J. K. Rowling really goes into it in the book but, after this happens, we do see a difference in Harry.

During the seventh book, Ron and Hermione go to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom to get into the Chamber of Secrets. This can also be seen as a rite of passage because it really shows that Ron and Hermione are capable of extraordinary things without Harry's help- not that that hasn't been proven before, but it's important to mention especially when we're talking about Myrtle.

ugh I feel like I'm missing important things about her but I guess I'm just not sure how to put it.

Myrtle helps Harry figure out what he needs to do for the Second Task in the Triwizard Tournament in  the fourth book. Without her, he probably would have had a very very difficult time and would have probably lost.

3 of Gryffindor: Exploration

3 of Gryffindor: Exploration

 <-- sketches


Meaning of the card when it's facing you: preparation, foresight, expansion, enterprise
Meaning of the card when it's facing away from you: delays, lack of foresight

The Pensieve is a something that gives the user access to his or her memories  by watching them happen in real time. It can represent expansion because it gives you more room in your head. It allows you to take a memory out of your brain and store it away from later. That way, you don't lose any of your thoughts and you make room for new ones. It can also help you expand your knowledge because sometimes even if you remember something, you might not remember it exactly and miss details that are important. with the Pensieve, that isn't a problem. It can be an enterprise because it is a successful in the things that it is supposed to do (which in this case would be storing peoples' memories and allowing them to view them when desired).

I'm not sure how foresight-y it is. You could probably make predictions and assumptions about the future from looking over your memories enough to find patterns or something. You could record moments of foresight, like Dumbledore did with Trelawney's prophecy. You could also have the foresight to save the memories in the Pensieve to view at a time when they are important.

Because the Pensieve lets you look at your memories, it can help you prepare for the reason that you can see what has happened and figure out might be happening. Harry was able to view memories that Dumbledore collected about horcruxes. Without this arsenal of information, Harry would not have been able to hunt down the horcruxes, or even have any idea what they might be. And without that, he would not have been able to defeat Voldemort.

Ghost of Gryffindor

Ghost of Gryffindor

  <-- sketches


Meaning of card when it's facing you: enthusiasm, exploration, discovery, free spirit
Meaning of card when it's facing away from you: setbacks to new ideas, pessimism, lack of direction

Nearly Headless Nick is the beloved Gryffindor ghost. He's proud and kind. He talks to the students at meals and in the hallways, waving, talking, story-telling enthusiastically about the school and people and things that he has heard and seen over the years. He is eager to share his knowledge with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and anyone else to asks. I think in general, he is one of the most liked ghosts in the school- or by the Gryffindors anyway. They great him in the hallways and sit with him at dinner.

Going along with that, Nick can represent discovery and exploration because he helps the Golden Trio come to understand things and know things that they might not have. He tells them about the Sorting Hat, and the House Elves which makes Hermione upset and leads her to starting SPEW in support of Elvish rights. He invites them to his death-day party and they get a full experience of how ghosts party and taste things and their goals in death- Nick's being joining the Headless Hunt. They also learn more about Peeves and Myrtle which turns out to be helpful later on. Nick tells Harry about the after life in the fifth book and explains how some people become ghosts though others don't and that Sirius won't be coming back. He helps Harry again in the seventh book by pointing out the Grey Lady to him. Without that, Harry might not have known important things about the diadem and might not have been able to find it.

He could be a set back of new ideas because Harry thought that Sirius could become a ghost and Nick told him that he couldn't. Lack of direction because his only goal really is to be part of the Headless Hunt which is futile because he isn't even headless and they have already rejected him a few times. He has a few setbacks and people might not respect him as much as he deserves, mostly because he's a ghost, but he helps Harry out a lot from getting out of a run in with Filch to giving him information that he needed during the war.

Head of Gryffindor

Head of Gryffindor

 <-- sketches


Meaning of the card when it's facing you: natural born leader, vision, entrepreneur, honor
Meaning of the card when it's facing away from you: impulsiveness, haste, ruthlessness, high expectations

Minerva McGonagall is my favorite teacher in the books, Remus being the second, and Crouch-Moody being the third tied with Trelawney.

She is the head of Gryffindor, Deputy Headmistress, and Transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts. She is strict and smart, but kind, caring, and understanding. She is a natural born leader because even if we don't know her from before the years that Harry was in school, it is still clear that she has natural leadership. Her students listen to her and respect her. They worry about the homework that they have to do for her and performing spells right in her class, but they know, especially the Gryffindors, that she is understanding and insightful and cares about them. Dumbledore values her opinion and thinks of her almost as an equal. She challenges him sometimes, which shows how healthy their (platonic) relationship was.

Some students of hers would say she is ruthless and has high expectations. Her classes are hard and full of fancy spell-work that are difficult to perform. Even Hermione struggles in her class. Transfiguration in general is very difficult magic and it takes someone who is a strong wizard of witch to teach it.

McGongall is kind of the opposite of impulsiveness and haste. In the first book, Harry, Ron, and Hermione burst into her room and ask for help. Because there doidn't seem to be any actual evidence or danger, instead of rushing off like the three of them would like her to do, she tells them to calm down. She actually helps calm Harry down a lot over the years. She advises him not be be impulsive around Umbridge so that he didn't get into trouble. He didn't listen to her and suffered the consequences. She is a thin barrier between Umbridge's haste-y negative decisions towards Harry and Harry's impulsive urge to speak the truth when it comes to Umbridge.

There is a lot about McGonagall that we don't really know mostly because she is a teacher and therefore Harry wouldn't know much about her anyway. She is a strong caring leader who can take care of herself in a fight and isn't afraid to assign scary amounts of homework. 

7 of Slytherin: Illusion

Meaning when the card is facing you: fantasy, wishful thinking, choices, imagination
Meaning when the card is facing away from you: temptation, illusion, diversionary tactics

(Apologies for the lopsided pic of the card. the lighting was weird on the other pictures and this was the best even if it's kind of sideways)

(Also this color scheme reminds me of a bakery in Paris that I went to once with my dad...)

The Mirror of Erised is a very interesting and mysterious object in Harry Potter. We only saw it during Harry's first year, but it played a very big part. It is mentioned a few times later, mostly in the seventh book in reference to Dumbledore but I think its very important and I kind of wish it had a bigger part in the story.

The Mirror of Erised can represent fantasy, wishful thinking, temptation, and imagination. It shows whoever looks into it what their deepest desire is. When Harry looks into it when he stumbles upon it for the first time and all the times after that, he sees his family surrounding him. Ron sees himself proving himself to everyone as Quidditch captain, head boy, etc.- everything his brothers have achieved, who he is/will be compared to. Dumbledore says to Harry when asked that he saw himself holding up a pair of socks because he always gets books for Christmas. It's rather obvious that Dumbledore was not telling the truth but Harry never really thinks about what Dumbledore was really seeing until the seventh book. He thinks that Dumbledore saw his family, just like Harry did, especially his sister, Arianna, based on the information he finds out with the help of Ron's great Aunt and Rita Skeeter.

So this mirror shows what your deepest desires are, but it can be a trap. It's cause for wishful thinking, temptation, and longing. People have sat and watched the Mirror- themselves with the things they desire- until they waste away. Harry himself becomes obsessed with the mirror until it gets moved to a different location and Dumbledore tells him not to go searching for it. It's kind of like the Narcissus story in Greek/Roman (I forget which one) mythology. Narcissus was a beautiful man who saw his reflection in water and fell so in love with himself that he died watching his reflection because he didn't eat, drink, or sleep. That's kind of what would happen to people who get too tempted by what the Mirror was showing them.

It can also represent choices because of the choice that Harry subconsciously makes at the end of the first book. The Mirror was moved to where the Philosopher's Stone was being hidden. It was the last obstacle a person had to get through to get the stone. If he/she looked into the mirror with good intentions, not wanting the stone for their own personal selfish gain, then the stone would come to them. Voldemort makes Harry look into the mirror to try to get him to figure out how to get the stone. Harry's "choice" of not wanting the stone for himself, wanting instead to get it as far away from Voldemort as possible, was what the Mirror saw when he looked into it and he was able to get the stone. Because of this choice, Harry was able to keep the stone from Voldemort, saved the day, and escaped Voldemort for the second time in his life.