Christmas is one of those occasions that can be the happiest time of the year for some, and the saddest for others who have no one to share it with. That seems a bit depressing and serious for a Christmas blog post but I do think it's important to remember. For me, one of my favourite Christmas passages in a book is in an extremely well-known children's novel (you've probably guessed it already if my hugely original title is anything to go by...) but it doesn't actually reference Christmas at all. When I first read it, though, I think it was the first time that I, as the particularly naive child that I was, realised that Christmas wasn't necessarily fun for everyone...
“She was a very pretty woman. She had dark red hair and her eyes -- her eyes are just like mine, Harry thought, edging a little closer to the glass. Bright green -- exactly the same shape, but then he noticed that she was crying; smiling, but crying at the same time. The tall, thin, black-haired man standing next to her put his arm around her. He wore glasses, and his hair was very untidy. It stuck up at the back, just like Harry's did.
Harry was so close to the mirror now that his nose was nearly touching that of his reflection.
"Mum?" he whispered. "Dad?"
They just looked at him, smiling. And slowly, Harry looked into the faces of the other people in the mirror and saw other pairs of green eyes like his, other noses like his, even a little old man who looked as though he had Harry's knobbly knees -- Harry was looking at his family, for the first time in his life.
The Potters smiled and waved at Harry and he stared hungrily back at them, his hands pressed flat against the glass as though he was hoping to fall right through it and reach them. He had a powerful kind of ache inside of him, half joy, half terrible sadness.”
~ Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
So that was probably my cheesiest post yet, sorry. That probably should have come with a cheese warning for those of your with literary lactose intolerance, but Christmas is definitely a time for cheese... But it was a bit sad... for which I also apologise, so I think I'll finish with a slightly more cheerful, if brief, quote that comes just a few pages on and a video.
"One can never have enough socks," said Dumbledore. "Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn't get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books."
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