Wednesday, 11 March 2020

Connecting With Harry.

I just watched Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone again, and again I was reminded of the similarities between going to Hogwarts and going to the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, as I did at the tender age of seventeen.

Those familiar with the movie might recall that the students arrived by train and were then ferried in darkness across the lake with a view of Hogwarts standing on a hill above them. We, too, arrived by train at Kingswear station and were then ferried across the River Dart with a view of BRNC standing proud and aloof on a hill above the town. Being late on a day in early January, it was dark at the time.

And when we made our first entrance into the grand old building there was a wide staircase, down which an officer came to greet us. Hogwarts had its houses, we had our divisions. The Hogwarts students had robes, while we had uniforms. They competed for the House Cup, while we competed in sailing races, sports events, and personal leadership exercises. My division was St Vincent, and we nearly always won.

I suppose that makes me somewhat akin to an alumnus of Gryffindor. I’m fine with that.

Not quite Hogwarts, but grand enough

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