What Should We Think of Harry Potter?

The newest Harry Potter book is now less than a month old, and its once again broken records. Christians and conservatives just don’t seem to know what to do with the Harry Potter phenomenon. We hear round denunciations of Harry and his magic wielding friends, some of which border on the hysterically funny: Rowling is teaching kids to do real magic spells! (like shouting some Latin sounding word and waving a stick is commonly found in the Satanic Bible) If you spell Dumbledore backwards, assigned a number to each letter beginning with the 51^st place of pi, multiply by 2 and divide by 6.5, then look up those letter in the Declaration of Independence, you spell Beelzebub ! Hermione is really a succubus! By playing “A Cauldron full of Hot, Burning Love” (a wizarding world golden oldie mentioned in Half-blood Prince) backwards you can hear the voice of Satan saying “Buy more books! Rowling isn’t rich enough!”

Of course, I made most of those charges up, but I wouldn’t really be surprised to find something like them on the internet. And yet still, thousands of Christians read Harry Potter (behind closed doors, with the covers pulled up over their heads) with a zeal that they theoretically should reserve for the 487th installment of Left Behind. The truth of the matter is that, like most things this world has to offer, there are good and bad aspects about Harry and the gang. Unfortunately, most of the conservative critics I’ve come across (granted I haven’t made a study of it), don’t seem to really get to the heart of the matter.

The truth is that J. K. Rowling isn’t a witch, a Satan worshipper, or even a Death Eater having a good hair day. She is normal British woman with a brilliantly gifted imagination. So, when she went to make up a fantastic story in a mythical world, her mind turned to something that the average European believes to be completely made up: Witches, wizards, and magic. She is not an evangelical Christian, and we cannot expect her to act like one.

This means, of course, that the magic you see at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is no more “real” than anything in science fiction (though Rowling does pull some characters from folklore). Children can no more learn to use “magic” by reading Harry Potter than they can learn to construct a light saber by watching Star Wars. The reason is the same: The magic in Harry Potter no more exists than the technology of Star Wars.

In fact, there are quite a few redeeming qualities that distinguish the series (though I leave the reader to decide whether it outweighs the bad). For instance, it is a clear and total repudiation of the idea of relativism. There is good, there is evil, and that’s that. Not all things are morally equal. That is a message that modern culture desperately needs to hear. Harry’s resourcefulness, his faith in his friends, and his dedication to do what is right, no matter what the cost, are all things that modern culture has forgotten.

At the same time, there are some definite dangers, none of which, by the way, point to any kind of conspiracy on the part of Rowling. Some of the books have slight, unobtrusive liberal bent to them (others actually make points conservative would like), but there are three major issues worth bringing up, which should cause concern:

Over time, Harry and some of his friends become bold faced liars in pursuit of their otherwise good goals. The message that kids will likely walk away from at these points is that lying is ok, so long as you think it’s in the service of a cause or, in some cases, if it can get you out of trouble.

In Harry’s world, the only people presented who have any criticisms or concerns about witchcraft are Harry’s “muggle” relatives, the Dursleys. They harass and persecute Harry whenever he is home with a mindless ferocity so that by book three, you’re basically reading about child abuse. (For Rowling’s purposes as a writer, this is understandable. She established this bad relationship in book one, and had to find a way to outdo herself in each succeeding installment. Eventually, though, it really goes over the top.) But what is the unintentional message that can easily be communicated for use in our world? That people who criticize witchcraft and witches, especially if they think it is wrong and evil, are clearly self-righteous moronic bigots who boarder on being certifiably insane. No “normal” person has a problem with it.

Most importantly, Harry Potter clearly glamorizes magic and witchcraft in the eyes of literally billions of people. Rowling’s brand of magic may not exist, but other, more dangerous kinds do. Star-struck children (and adults) are often inspired to delve into the darker corners of our world, and will eventually find that more than the ghost of Voldemort lurks there.

I think the best way to sum up Harry Potter would be this: Rowling has written an incredibly imaginative, very well written story, but ironically, the books really aren’t for children. People who have developed the moral judgment to recognize the good and the bad in the books can read and enjoy a thrilling ride that ranks up there with (but is not quite equal to) the imagination of the masters, Tolkien and Lewis. But anyone who has not yet developed this sense, someone who is likely to take the books uncritically, would be better served to wait for a few more years maturity before taking the express from Platform 9 ¾.

Dr. Brian Melton is an assistant professor of history at Liberty University.

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