Don’t Judge a Person Too Quickly

by Wang Yifei (六年级 王怡菲)

Hello everyone, I’m broadcaster Sunny Wang. Glad I’m still standing here to give you all a speech since I had such a nightmare last night and thought I was dead for sure.

Well, everyone has their own favorite book. And one of my favorite is Harry Potter, and of course I have said this many times and so you would probably remember it already. Still, no harm can be done by saying an extra little sentence, right? In Harry Potter, I kept saying that I learned courage and bravery and friendship and so on at my first few broadcasts. But when I reread the whole series this month, I realized that it’s more than that. Something was meant to be when the door of magic opens for Harry, and even he doesn’t want to. He is, and will always be, The Chosen One to destroy Voldemort.

It seems a little too shallow to judge the people in this book series about whether they are good or evil, right or wrong, wanting peace or blood thirsty. They are all much, much more than that. Let’s take a clear view of Hogwarts, the Magical school. So first, there are four school houses, Slytherin, Gryffindor, Reavanclaw and Hufflepuff. If you just look at things briefly, you will probably get these conclusions:“Slytherin people is bad, evil, and self-centered; Gryffindor is very good, and they stand for justice and bravery; Reavanclaw is not bad, and its wit beyond measure is human’s greatest treasure; and at last, in Hufflepuff dwell just some pathetic, dumb students who has no talents at all.

These comments do make some sense, because it seems that the description of the four houses tell us all the answer we need to judge the houses. But as the story goes further and further, some new thoughts begin to strike your head. You soon find that Slytherin people aren’t all bad. There is Severus Snape, who scarified himself and bore so much pain when he was alive. He plays the main role of bringing Voldemort down. Gryffindor soldiers are not always brave and justice, there is still a coward and traitor Peter Pettigrew, who basically murdered Harry Potter’s parents. Ravenclaw’s wits doesn’t seem to be following every one. The useless teacher Gilderoy Lockart is the best proof. And Hufflpuff still gets Cedric Diggory who is brave and true.

Now things are slowly getting up to the surface, and let’s close in again. The main characters, Harry Potter, of course, seems perfect to everyone. This sensitive boy is, parentless but brave, not rich but brilliant. You will find these words are exactly the same to describe Voldemort. “Wait a sec, that’s not true, Harry Potter chose a different path from Voldemort’s and that made a huge difference between them.” That’s what most people’s reaction is when they hear my theory, and then they block my words away. I’m not saying that Harry Potter is not good, it’s just that everyone has two sides. Harry Potter might seem perfect, but he is bad-tempered sometimes, and most of the times, he acts before thinks. And if we continue this way, you will probably take another look at more characters. Ron Weasly is nice for a friend and he is loyal to Harry Potter, but sometimes he left, sometimes he just left Harry alone because of small matters. Severus Snape might look bad, and he acts like he is a true servant of Voldemort, who, however, had ever given it a thought that Snape was actually trying to protect Harry even at his last breath. Draco Malfoy might be full of himself, arrogant and spoiled, but he is not bad. He struggled to break free from Voldemort’s clenches, but failed when his Lord threatened to kill all his families. And he cried to that mirror, in that he is just a boy. Not evil, not arrogant, not full of himself. He just simply wants to keep his family alive.

So, as we can draw our conclusion here: don’t judge a person too quickly. When you take another look at the book, you could even sense Harry’s anger, Ron’s bad temper, Snape’s true deed to this world, and Draco Malfoy’s sorrows. Take a second look before judging someone, in the real world or in a fantasy world. You are always expected to do so.

Now, there must be tons of questions in your head now. Are all the “Bad guys” not so bad? Have we misunderstood their true purpose?Or are all the good guys as good as I thought? Or is it I’m just too simple to understand their tricks?

This seems to be going forever, right? Well, it certainly is. So never fear, my friends, on your way of judging what’s true and fake, what’s right or wrong. Best wishes everyone, thank you.

(816 words)

文：王怡菲 翻译：老爸

大家好，我是广播员王怡菲。昨晚我做了个噩梦，认为死定了呢，哈哈，所以此刻仍能在此和大家分享我的想法，我感到非常开心。

对了，大家都有自己最喜欢的书吧。《哈利波特》是我最喜欢的书中的一套。当然了，这我都说了好多遍了，你们差不多都记住了吧。再这么说一遍也没啥不妥，是吧，同学们？在最初的几次广播中，我还不止一遍的说过，从《哈利波特》中我学到了勇气、勇敢和友谊等等。但是，这个月我重读这套书时，我发现学到的远不止这些。魔法之门在哈利波特面前打开，意味深远，哈利波特本人未必想如此，但他就是，也永远会是，注定要击败伏地魔的那个人。

如果以谁是好人或者谁是坏人，谁对谁错，谁爱好和平或谁嗜血如命这样的方式来评价这套书中人物，似乎过于肤浅。他们要复杂得多得多。我们擦亮眼睛，看看霍格沃兹这座魔法学校吧。它有四个学院：斯莱特林，格兰芬多，拉文克劳, 赫奇帕奇。要是你不仔细想，可能你很容易就得出结论：斯莱特林学院都是坏人，邪恶且自私；格兰芬多学院呢，就很好，代表着公正和勇敢；拉文克劳学院也挺不错，它的绝顶聪明是人类最伟大的财富；最后，呵呵，赫奇帕奇学院里则全是木然、可怜的窝囊废。

这些评论确实有那么点儿意思，这些说法似乎解答了我们心中关于这四个学院的疑问。但是随着故事的展开，你心中会产生不同的看法。你会发现斯莱特林学院并非全是坏人。西弗莱斯•斯内普就不坏，他活着时做出了很多牺牲承受了很大痛苦，是打倒伏地魔的得力悍将。格兰芬多的勇士们也并非总是勇敢和公正，他们也有皮特•鼻涕葛茹那样的胆小鬼和背叛者，哈利波特的父母从根儿里说就是被他谋杀的。拉文克劳学院也并非个个冰雪聪明，窝囊废老师杰拉德瑞•劳卡特就是最好的例证。而赫奇帕奇学院也有勇敢且真诚的赛德力克•狄格瑞。

大家觉得说得有些道理了吧，那我们就再进一步看看。小说的主人公在每个人看来当然是极好的，这个从小就失去父母的孩子懂事、勇敢，没啥钱却很阳光很有才华。但是你会发现这些词拿来形容伏地魔也同样贴切。听我这么说，大多数人的反应会是，“慢着，你说得不对。哈利波特和伏地魔所选的人生道路不通，他们的结果自然也就大相径庭了。”要是这么讲，我就无话可说了。我不是说哈利波特不好，而是说人都有两面性。哈利波特似乎很完美，但他有时会气急败坏，并且许多时候他做事不经脑子。要是这样分析的话，你是不是也想再看看书中其他人物了。罗恩·韦斯莱是个不错的朋友，对哈利波特也很忠诚，但他有时，有时会因为一些小小的不愉快说走就走，留下哈利波特一个人。西弗莱斯·斯内普看上去是个大坏蛋，一直扮演着伏地魔忠实走狗的角色，可实际上仔细一想，他实际上是一直在保护哈利波特，哪怕是一息尚存。德拉科·马尔福心中只有自己，傲慢自大，是个宠坏的孩子，但他其实并不坏，他一直努力想逃出伏地魔的魔爪，但面对伏地魔要杀他全家的威胁，他不得不屈从。他照着镜子失声痛哭，他只是个孩子，没有邪恶，没有傲慢，也不自私，他想做的就是保住家人的性命。

行文至此，我们可以说：不要草率地评判一个人。反复读这套书，你就会读出哈里波特的愤怒、罗恩的小性子、斯内普真正伟大之处以及德拉科•马尔福内心的苦楚。评判一个人，一定要先多了解这个人，虚拟世界如此，现实世界也是如此。

怎么样，同学们，你们脑子里有成堆的问题要问了吧。所有的“坏蛋”都不那么坏吗？我们难道误会他们了吗？所有的好人都不是真的好吗？或者是我太单纯看不透这些“好人”耍的花招？

类似的问题多了去啦，对吧？对，肯定是。同学们，评判人的好与坏，判断事情的对与错，跟着自己的感觉走就没错。好啦，祝大家开心，谢谢大家！

（1462 字）