ABSTRACT
Readers often have favorite characters in the books they love. They may identity with some characters more than others. The jagged scar on Harry Potter’s forehead marks him as someone who has experienced, and survived, a great loss. Although grieving children and adolescents do not have a scar to identify their loss, they may find that others identify them primarily as people who have lost someone to death. A helpful way to get children and adolescents to talk about themselves and the person who died may be to have them discuss which Hogwarts house they believe they and the person who died would be placed in. As readers enter the world of Harry Potter, they often find themselves identifying with certain characters more than others, or simply liking certain characters more. Many grieving children may feel that, in a sense, their wand is broken. It may seem like nothing has gone well since the person they cared about died.
