The Ordinary World In Harry Potter's Ordinary World

Ordinary World Harry Potter’s ordinary world is his home of number four Privet Drive with the Dursleys. When he crosses the threshold into the wizarding world, the contrasts between the two realms are drastic. “It’s a good idea for writers to make the Ordinary World as different as possible from the Special World, so audience and hero will experience a dramatic change when the threshold is finally crossed”, and it is (Vogler 87). Privet Drive was a dull and miserable existence for Harry. He was without friends, was shown no love, was given little to eat, and he experienced very little happiness throughout his time there. Once he crossed the threshold, however, his life was forever changed; it was brighter and fuller than it ever could’ve …show more content…
Vogler states that the herald’s function is to break the hero out of his/her denial regarding the unpleasant state of existence they are in prior to the call. However, unlike the heroes Vogler is referring to, Harry is not “unaware there is anything wrong with [his] Ordinary World” (101). In fact, he answers the call to adventure with little to no hesitation. Refusal of the Call Harry skips this stage of the hero’s journey. He is what Vogler calls the “willing hero” who accepts or seeks out the change adventure brings (110). As mentioned above, he was excited and ready for the adventure Hagrid brought before him. He did have many questions, reasonably so, but he outright refused the call. The closest he came to doing so was when he told Hagrid, “I think you must have made a mistake. I don’t think I can be a wizard”; this doubt which was quickly snuffed out when Hagrid responded by asking, “Never made things happen when you was scared or angry?”, which prompted the epiphany of Harry’s magic power (Rowling