All of us are tied to the "Harry Potter" saga in one way or another. It was a pulse that beat for the entire world throughout the early and mid-2000s. We were enthralled with attending midnight book and movie releases.Throughout all of this the layers of Miss Rowling's universe were put on display and each of us were free to examine and conclude as we so pleased. But this piece is about what Ginny Weasley taught us as she lay lifelessly on the floor of the Chamber of Secrets all those years ago.
In Chapter 17 of the second installment of the Harry Potter series, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," Harry rushes to the rescue as he finds Ginny laying lifelessly and haplessly on the ground in the Chamber of Secrets on the verge of death. Unbeknown to the reader at this point, Harry Potter would go on to be Ginny's lover and the father of her three children. Also unbeknownst to the reader was that the diary that had sucked the life out of her was one of Lord Voldemort's seven horcruxes that possessed a piece of his soul seeking to vengefully return to life.
All we had in that instance was Ginny on the verge of death, a Harry Potter who was clueless about the diary and the preserved piece of Tom Riddle's soul and it's true intentions. Yet what we all took from this fateful chapter is a valuable lesson.
We are all Ginny. We have been Ginny, and we all at one point fallen victim to the same evils of mistrust and misplacing our faith. Poor Ginny, a mere first year student struggling to find herself in her first year away from home at Hogwarts, alone without new friends and a secret crush on the boy who lived. What does Ginny stumble upon at this time of stress and crisis?
Tom Riddle's diary. Through this diary Ginny found safety, security and a sense of belonging. In difficult times we appreciate these things so much more and desperately crave them as opposed to when our lives are stable. In this difficult the piece of Tom Riddle's soul in the diary comforted Ginny and because of that she continued to confide and rely on it. As Ginny blindly confided in this diary and it continued to take her over, Ginny only experienced the good and safety that it brought her and she was unable to see the true evil it possessed.
That was until it was too late. 16-year-old Tom Marvolo Riddle has taken Ginny's trust and backlashed her. As Ginny confided in him she lost herself entirely and as Ginny grew weaker and weaker Voldemort grew stronger and stronger. The same way all of us have felt at one point or another. We put our trust in people, we put faith in those we love. But if we put this faith in blindly it can take us over and feed off of us and suck the life out of us before we lose ourselves completely, and as those who betrayed us grow stronger we grow weaker.
The final chapter in the second installment of the series is far more than a sword fight with a giant snake. It is an ideological battle for young Ginny's soul fought by two wizards. Both half-bloods, both orphaned children, both cunning, resourceful and with a certain disregard for the rules. But each with different intentions only due to the fact that one can love (Harry) and one cannot (Voldemort).
As we approach election season and as we live our lives with friends, loved ones and colleagues, my point in all of this is to be careful with your trust and faith and to be very careful where you place it in times of unsettlement and discomfort. Because you never know where people's true loyalties may lie.
