Harry Potter fans use mobile phones to photograph the Palace Theatre in London. Andy Rain / EPA
Harry Potter fans use mobile phones to photograph the Palace Theatre in London. Andy Rain / EPA
Harry Potter fans use mobile phones to photograph the Palace Theatre in London. Andy Rain / EPA
Harry Potter fans use mobile phones to photograph the Palace Theatre in London. Andy Rain / EPA

Not even Harry Potter has a magic formula for families


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Do you ever have the feeling that other families – other parents – are doing it better than you are?

I never think that, of course. My lovely children, a tween and a teen, never yell at each other about whose turn it is to dump the rubbish. My husband and I have never experienced a difference of opinion about anything.

But if a person were inclined to compare her family to other families, she might, hypothetically, imagine that other families take magical trips together, idyllic adventures through beautiful landscapes. In the magazines, these ideal families try new food, wander museums and explore local culture. It looks like a holiday.

Don’t be fooled. A family trip and holiday are same-same but different. And one prime difference is the presence of children in the travel plans. You might think that it’s harder to travel with toddlers than with older kids, but at least with young children there is the chance of them falling asleep in the stroller, soggy biscuits clenched in podgy fists. Older children stay awake and whinge.

Well, other children whinge. My family travels in a whinge-free zone. No bickering here, nothing to see, move along.

With the thought of that ideal family dancing in my head, I set off over Eid with my family, headed for London, which to many people in Abu Dhabi isn't a trip but going home. To us Yanks, however, it's a trip. In a fit of generous insanity, my husband had scored tickets for us to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, so we cashed in some airline miles and off we went. London and Harry Potter (oh, and an Arsenal game for some of us, while for others – me – a trip to the Tate Modern). Culture, theatre, sports. How ideal, right?

It wasn’t ideal to spend so much time shopping at Jack Wills and it wasn’t ideal to keep a steady IV drip of sweets going, butI dragged one child through the Victoria & Albert (he perked up at the exhibit about underwear) and we explored the War Museum. Never under­estimate the power of tragedy to brings history alive.

And of course, there was Harry. I can’t tell you anything about the two-part play because we are sworn to a kind of Potter-omerta, but you could consider reading the script that was published last summer. I will say only that Harry’s problems seem pretty familiar, particularly if you’ve ever, you know, been a part of a family.

Harry has hit 40, and has discovered, as we all do, that dashing about having adventures is more fun than adulthood. Harry’s friend Ron even jokes that the reason Harry’s scar aches has to do with age: everything aches.

In addition to aches and pains, Harry has children, who, when we first see them, are bickering with each other on Platform 9¾. Can I tell you how comforting it is to see the magical Harry reduced to hissed commands to “behave!” as his sons torment each other?

Harry’s son Albus pushes Harry’s buttons with an expertise that can only come from being kin, and Harry responds appallingly: he explodes, saying awful things that can’t ever be unsaid.

That’s never happened to me.

Harry is just trying to keep Albus safe, but in so doing, he has put Albus in a kind of lockdown, trying to wall him off from everything. That’s the dilemma, isn’t it? To what lengths should we go to keep our children (and ourselves) safe? Do we hide all the bad things, keep secrets, stop travelling?

True, I did briefly contemplate wrapping my children in bubble wrap when they were toddlers, to protect against bumps. And sometimes I wish that I could wrap them in emotional bubble wrap, to buffer them against life’s inevitable difficulties. But as Harry learns, lockdown won’t work (ditto bubble wrap). Life’s pain always finds a way in – and families help us to heal.

Neither Harry nor his children are perfect, but they don’t have to be to be loved. That’s always been the source of the magic.

Deborah Lindsay Williams is a professor of literature at NYU Abu Dhabi

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Moon Music

Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5

Our legal columnist

Name: Yousef Al Bahar

Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994

Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers

MATCH INFO

Manchester City 2 (Mahrez 04', Ake 84')

Leicester City 5 (Vardy 37' pen, 54', 58' pen, Maddison 77', Tielemans 88' pen)

Man of the match: Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES

SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities

Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails

Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies

Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments

RESULTS
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The biog

Favourite book: You Are the Placebo – Making your mind matter, by Dr Joe Dispenza

Hobby: Running and watching Welsh rugby

Travel destination: Cyprus in the summer

Life goals: To be an aspirational and passionate University educator, enjoy life, be healthy and be the best dad possible.

It Was Just an Accident

Director: Jafar Panahi

Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr

Rating: 4/5

Milestones on the road to union

1970

October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar. 

December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.

1971

March 1:  Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.

July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.

July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.

August 6:  The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.

August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.

September 3: Qatar becomes independent.

November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.

November 29:  At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.

November 30: Despite  a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa. 

November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties

December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.

December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.

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PROVISIONAL FIXTURE LIST

Premier League

Wednesday, June 17 (Kick-offs uae times) Aston Villa v Sheffield United 9pm; Manchester City v Arsenal 11pm 

Friday, June 19 Norwich v Southampton 9pm; Tottenham v Manchester United 11pm  

Saturday, June 20 Watford v Leicester 3.30pm; Brighton v Arsenal 6pm; West Ham v Wolves 8.30pm; Bournemouth v Crystal Palace 10.45pm 

Sunday, June 21 Newcastle v Sheffield United 2pm; Aston Villa v Chelsea 7.30pm; Everton v Liverpool 10pm 

Monday, June 22 Manchester City v Burnley 11pm (Sky)

Tuesday, June 23 Southampton v Arsenal 9pm; Tottenham v West Ham 11.15pm 

Wednesday, June 24 Manchester United v Sheffield United 9pm; Newcastle v Aston Villa 9pm; Norwich v Everton 9pm; Liverpool v Crystal Palace 11.15pm

Thursday, June 25 Burnley v Watford 9pm; Leicester v Brighton 9pm; Chelsea v Manchester City 11.15pm; Wolves v Bournemouth 11.15pm

Sunday June 28 Aston Villa vs Wolves 3pm; Watford vs Southampton 7.30pm 

Monday June 29 Crystal Palace vs Burnley 11pm

Tuesday June 30 Brighton vs Manchester United 9pm; Sheffield United vs Tottenham 11.15pm 

Wednesday July 1 Bournemouth vs Newcastle 9pm; Everton vs Leicester 9pm; West Ham vs Chelsea 11.15pm

Thursday July 2 Arsenal vs Norwich 9pm; Manchester City vs Liverpool 11.15pm

 

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