An expectation by definition is a strong belief that something will happen or be the case in the future. This certainly happens throughout Harry Potter. In the first book many of the characters are not what they seem, case in point the villain in the story. It is led to believe that Professor Snape is the one trying to steal the sorcerer's stone. This is done by the way that the character behaves in the book. He is a mean and horrible person having the reader believe that he is indeed the one trying to steal the stone. It is not revealed until the climax of the story that in fact Professor Quirrell the nervous stuttering cowardly character who seems harmless. I find it easy to believe that Snape is the villain because of the way it is written. Even the main characters Harry, Ron, and Hermione believe it to be Snape and I find it easy to agree with them since we are sort of reading the story through their perspectives. If the story was through Dumbledore’s perspective who knows which character would be seen as the so called villain. This same sort of character development is seen in the next book as well. It is made to believe that Gilderoy Lockhart is a great and powerful wizard and it is only revealed in the end that he is a liar. I believe what Rowling is trying to do is make the read understand that things are not always what they appear. Being as how this is a book about witchcraft and wizardry its easy to see why she wants the reader to keep an open mind about what is going on because in this make believe world anything and everything is possible. It is also great to have expectations raised and then crushed because one it makes for a great story. Predictability is boring and unimaginative. The novels are very good at having the reader on the edge of their seat. With these plot twists and characters revealed it makes it so that we understand how people can lie and even if you are a wizard or a witch you still are susceptible to this basic human behavior.
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