A Very Harry Potter Summer

This summer has been characterized by three things: work, nagging myself to study Japanese in anticipation of study abroad this fall, and another brilliant children’s series from Britain (must be something in the water over there; they write the best!) Harry Potter, which I just read for the first time. Here are my thoughts on the latter:

The Reading Experience

I read the first two books a few years ago, lost interest, and never thought I’d pick them up again. They were too formulaic: Harry finds secret about Hogwarts. Pursues secret using sneaking, spying, and friends. Gets in trouble for breaking school rules. Revelation of secret saves lives/Hogwarts. Harry now hero, end of story, or until the next book when the same thing happens all over again. But after glowing recommendations from a dear friend (thanks Rachel!) I picked up book 3, where the story deepens, and was hooked. You know how Pixar movies create a beautifully detailed world you’ve never seen before, but is totally believable? That’s how Rowling writes. You can almost believe, secret from us non-magic folks, that a Ministry of Magic exists, that wizards experience all the normal problems of human life, like misplacing invisible books and having issues with house-elves. I now have a new appreciation for the fans who waited a year or so between each book! I would peddle my bike down to the library, unashamedly clutching the book I’d just finished to return it and check out the next one. These books were perfect for this summer: working a split shift gave me useless hours in the day, one or two only to rest and try to be productive before the next shift. I escaped into the Harry Potter books! Rowling’s writing style was good enough that I didn’t get caught up in serious flaws, and modern enough to be a breeze to read—the pages flew by with little mental effort, a guilty pleasure after so carefully deciphering each sentence of the older classics I’m used to reading. And at work it gave me things to think about. “What is Hagrid hiding this time?” “Whose side is Snape on anyway?” “Is Harry really a loving person?” On the whole, the books were a welcome diversion.

Magic

The reason I hadn’t read these books until now is that my family decided when they came out that, due to the emphasis the books have on magic (and learning magic, especially), they had no place in a Christian family. In that case, some children's literature by authors we cherish (C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, Roald Dahl) isn’t wholesome fare either. Magic in Harry Potter is portrayed in the way typical of fantasy literature—as a neutral force that can be used for good or evil, ethically or unethically, and the lines are drawn fairly clearly. The good characters use magic to protect, heal, and as a labor-saving device (I wish I could cook with magic like Mrs. Weasley, or dry wet clothes like Hermione, or tidy a room with a sweep of a wand like Dumbledore!). The bad characters use it to harm and rule over others and for personal gain. There is some freaky dark magic associated with the baddies (Harry’s ignorant use of the Sectumsempra curse on Draco was one of the most horrifying moments in the story for me) but it is definitely labeled evil. That doesn’t always stop “good” characters from dabbling in it, however, or from using normal magic to annoy or bully each other. In any case, if you are a Christian, and reading a story that presents magic (erroneously, of course, but very typically) as a neutral thing prickles your conscience, you will probably not enjoy these books.
But contrary to all the hysteria in the Christian community when they came out, reading them will not inspire you to become a Satan-worshiper who dissects cats or dances around a fire under the full moon in hippie clothes. The magic in these books isn’t realistic. Even in its darkness it doesn’t bring to mind real demonic powers, judging from the little I know of that. It never disturbed me for that reason.

Love

A motif of the series is love—it is what protects Harry from the evil Voldemort, what binds him to his friends and family, what gives him courage in the face of danger, and ultimately what allows evil to be defeated and good to conquer in the end. I liked the “love” in the books in that it is expressed in different ways in Harry—in affection, romance, respect, pity, grief, and most importantly, action rather than just feelings. But I had to wonder what Rowling’s definition of love was. For much of the series Harry and his friends, while remaining fairly loving to each other (though shouting and the silent treatment were not uncommon), see no problem with and even gloat about bullying, teasing, and making life miserable for their “enemies.” Maybe as a home-schooled student I have little appreciation for life in a “school”, where the only rules are stay loyal to your clique and bully or be bullied. For the most part, Harry’s “love” for others is very secular in that it doesn’t often extend beyond himself to those who wrong or annoy him. It is what bugged me most about the books, and it is for that, rather than the magic, that I would think twice before letting my youngest siblings read the series. There are some wrong ideas about friendship and love, and some squabbling/teasing techniques that they really don’t need to add to their repertoire, haha.

Characters

Anyone who wants to write realistic characters should learn from J.K. Rowling, after they have finished kissing her feet in unworthiness! The good characters are never truly and wholly “good”—even the wise and kind Dumbledore shows streaks of selfishness and lust for power. Each has flaws, mistakes, and stray thoughts they are ashamed of that make them leap off the page and even become convicting at times. It is a mistake to love and to hate blindly, and even the best motives are fraught with self-interest. Every conversation and bit of dialogue sparkles with life, with the unsaid. Death comes to many of the characters, and it is final and heart-wrenching. Everyone has a friend like Luna Lovegood or Neville Longbottom, or can recognize in themselves bits of Mrs. Weasley, Harry, Sirius Black, Ron or Hermione (her attitude about academics hit me, haha!). Sirius irked me at first. I could just tell Rowling wanted us all to adore him, but some of his childish moods put me off. In the end I decided he is someone we would all want, not as a role model, but maybe as a cousin—the one you go to for adventure and companionship, though not for counsel or understanding. Hagrid was very sweet, sensitive, and never one to judge when doling out his ample affections—I always felt safe when he entered the narrative! My favorite characters are Luna, Lupin, and maybe Snape. Luna is refreshingly odd, very wise, insightful and calm, and just adorable! Remus Lupin is one of the kindest and most mature characters, if a bit gloomy in his uprightness (ha, Twilight fans, there is a were-wolf worth falling for!) And the mysterious Severus Snape, though unsavory, bitter and suffering and taking it out on others, is dear and heroic in the end.

But of course, most of all there’s Harry Potter. Harry is very real, and such a boy—bratty, self-pitying, self-centered, inquisitive, intelligent, loyal, generous, and kind—but I didn’t really like him until the last few books, when his virtues finally began to eclipse his faults. Harry’s growth that makes him a gentler and wiser person as he confronts his different flaws and failings, culminating in his amazing act of self-sacrifice, makes him true to life and loveable, a friend. Maybe we can all learn like Harry to gradually “put away childish things” and become that quiet hero with the lightning scar by choosing the right path even when it is darkest and most difficult.