Life is all about choices—that's what Harry Potter finds out when he ventures down into the Chamber of Secrets. See, Harry secretly fears that maybe he's more like Voldemort than he thought. The Sorting Hat did almost place him in Slytherin, after all. Maybe he's just a bad egg pretending to be good.
But Dumbledore assures him that as long as he chooses to stay on the good path, Harry will be a-okay. At the end of the day, a person is a just a great big pile of choices. Go out and make some good ones.
Questions about Choices
- Compare Harry and Draco in terms of their choices. Why do you think they each make the decisions they make?
- Harry decides to trust Tom Riddle almost right away. Why does he make this choice? Is this a conscious or unconscious decision?
- Do you think Dumbledore is right—our choices make us who we are? Or are we just born a certain way?
Chew on This
Gilderoy Lockhart is constantly making selfish choices, but he was sorted in Ravenclaw house, not Slytherin, showing that witches and wizards can go bad no matter what house they're in.
Cornelius Fudge chooses to take Hagrid to Azkaban for political reasons. He doesn't really believe Hagrid did anything wrong. Fudge just needs to look like he's doing something.