It seems like all too fitting a time for this to occur; just after the release of Half-Blood Prince, with Dumbledore’s death and message on our minds, one of my own, personal Dumbledores has passed away. It wasn’t a complete surprise; my former teacher and mentor had been battling ALS for a few years now, and slowly loosing everyday functions such as the use of his legs and arms. Once diagnosed with ALS, most people are given no more than 5 years to live. It is a sad and sealed fate.

My Dumbledore didn’t give me a final lesson on how to die or a story of his life the last time I saw him. It was this past Friday, and the visit was on a whim, not planned at all. Over the years I have grown close with the family through my close friendship with my Dumbledore’s neice, and the trip to see him just the day before he died felt like any other visit. He spoke with not a wavering voice or a pained face, though I can image how uncomfortable life in a chair had become for him. He seemed just like the man I had known when I was a frightened ten-year old girl, entering middle school for the first time. He spoke of books and music that he had enjoyed recently, and we watched a YouTube video of a robust Hawaiian man singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Nothing in his demeanor showed he was ready to leave his life now — and I cannot help but feel that he wasn’t.

My Dumbledore was young, and yet he showed incredible wisdom and courage. He was the only teacher I knew who never, ever gave up on a student. We had the wackiest bunch of kids go through that middle school while I was there, and he never treated anyone with any more or less respect. He valued the ideas and creative endeavors of each and every one of us. Only a few years ago, he was hiking and skiing and swimming with us. This Friday, I saw his withered hands, almost like the blackened hand of Albus Dumbledore, a quiet warning of a weakening man. I remembered those days back at school when he seemed to be able to feel a student struggling, her shoulders hunched and tense because she couldn’ t solve a math problem or find the right word for a poem, and he would put his hands on her shoulders like a sturdy, silent cheerleader.

It is sad that you never know when your visit with someone will be your last. I am glad I had that last visit with my Dumbledore, even if I never imagined his health to decline so quickly. It felt like a Magical Act of Kindness…not from me to him, but from the world to me, that I got to see him that last time. After I was informed of his passing, I crawled into my bed, feeling numb. I couldn’t believe it. After my visit on Friday, many people had inquired to me about his health, and I told them, “He seems so cheerful, considering his situation.” I cannot help but hope that the cheerfulness I seemed to experience was due to his inner peace with his situation. A stack of his self-published poetry book sat on the kitchen counter, a proud accomplishment of his final months. The news is still fresh to me and I still have trouble fully realizing what his death means.

As we move into a new phase of What Would Dumbledore Do? with the HPA, I feel energized knowing that my Dumbledore looked smiling into the face of the end, if only for the comfort of his loved ones. He had a well-organized mind. And, “After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.”

If you’ve already registered to vote at a Wizard Rock concert this summer or somewhere else but at this point have not been mailed a card confirming that you’re registered, there is a good chance that for whatever reason your registration never happened. So IF YOU HAVEN’T RECIEVED A CARD in the mail confirming your registration then either call your Secretary of State’s office on Monday morning or to be extra safe, REGISTER ONLINE by going to http://thehpalliance.org/wrockthevote, scroll down just a little, and then click on the icon in the left hand column that says “Wizard Register To Vote Right Here”…if this means that you accidentally registered twice, that’s okay - the system will catch it. But it’s better to be safe than sorry!

Remember, this Monday October 6 voter registration ends in 25 states. If you think you’ve registered but haven’t received the card confirming that in the mail, register again online. If you haven’t registered then by all means register right now online!!!

My recent post deals with racism. The US is a country that is so afraid of racism that it pretends that racism doesn’t exist. Stephen Colbert parodies this by asking African American guests if they’re black. When they tell him they are, he says, “Really? ‘Cause I’m so color blind I don’t see race. I never would have known. The fact is, I don’t even know if I’m black.”

Colbert is skewering us (particularly “Papa” Bill O’Reilly) for pretending that we are a color blind nation. But most of us in the US and from other countries know that all someone needs is a pair of Extendable Ears to listen in on the racist things that families say behind closed doors. So out of curiosity, who else relates to growing up in a family with relatives that bless their hearts, despite their goodness and loving natures, expose their racism behind closed doors? Feel free to be anonymous in answering this question!

According to our fellow Darfur activists: yes. The United States is still the most powerful country in the world, and the next president of this country did not face one question on genocide, global poverty, and AIDS.

This was supposed to be THE debate that focused on foreign policy. It’s more than understandable that due to the current financial crisis, there was a great deal of time devoted to the economy, however, here’s what’s not okay: genocide, poverty, and AIDS are issues that are affecting BILLIONS of people. Well over half the planet are living in life and death situations that should not exist at all were it not for the greed, manipulation, and messed priorities of other people.

So. I think that’s something that should be addressed in one of the next debates. The HPA’s partner groups think so too. If you, my fellow members of the real world Dumbledore’s Army agree, join us in signing this petition.

People deserve better.

I’d like the HPA to address the issue of global warming. Talk about the need for a Dumbledore’s Army to wake the world up! It seems that each day that we don’t see a green revolution global warming grows more powerful.

Our warmest wishes to all Muslims and Jews as the world celebrates Ramadan and the Jewish New Year.

After this post our web designer Acacia let me know that a person’s Patronus is not necessarily an animal reflection of their personality (that would be an animgus).

According to Acacia and her husband Jason, a patronus is about an animal that serves as your protector. Harry identified his father as his protector, so his Patronus was a stag. What do you think of this take on the Patronus? If you agree with it, this takes us back to the question: what would your Patronus be?

Someone asked me this recently and I’m having a really hard time settling on one!

While in the Golden Compass series a person’s daemon keeps changing until they reach adulthood, a person’s Patronus can change too. However, for now, do you know what yours would be?

Check it out. It should be really interesting and goes from now until December 31. Medieval science, magic, and Harry Potter? That rocks!!!

Contrary to popular belief, Gringotts can be broken into. And contrary to popular belief, the banks of our world that were once thought to be unstoppable are collapsing. While I’m not an expert in expert in economics, I hope you and your loved ones are doing okay as the Gringotts of our world collapses.

Those voting in upcoming elections in the US and Canada: try and educate yourselves on which candidates will be best suited to rebuilding the Global Gringotts.