Potter or Not? Conclusion

How appropriate that I should finish reading the 7th and last Harry Potter novel just days before the new movie, Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince, is released. It's all Harry, all the time!
I am so glad I chose to wait until I finished the series before giving any kind of opinion. In fact, I wavered in my opinion throughout the first 6 books, seeing good messages, but not liking some other aspects of the books. The 7th book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, brings the story to a final, exhilarating climax, and cemented my opinion for me.
Years ago, I was part of an apostolate in which I learned much about deliverance, evil spirits, and the occult. From all the negativity surrounding the Harry Potter books, I assumed I knew what to expect from them. True evil is subtle, insidious; sneaking its way inside your mind before you become aware of the need to protect yourself from it. This is what I was expecting; books that made real magic look attractive, fun, and innocent, thus luring unsuspecting innocents into a dangerous attraction to the occult.
The Harry Potter books are nothing like that. Truly, they are NOT what I expected at all. They are not evil, and the magic is certainly not occult magic. In fact, as I closed the cover after finishing the first book, all I could think was, "THAT's what all the fuss was about?!"
I think there was a lot of fear surrounding these books (and we should ALWAYS be cautious about magic and the occult; there is a real danger there) but the fear surrounding Harry Potter was fear of the unknown, since most of the sources which warned me against the books had never read them!!
Before I continue, I want to say that I do see a danger in the books. First of all, they are scary! People die and there are gruesome monsters and images which would be scary to young children.
It is unfortunate that J.K. Rowling decided to use magic and wizards and witches as the means by which she tells her tale, because if she had used, say, princes and princesses and fairy godmothers, there would have been no controversy. It bothers me to call witches and wizards "good". Even though the magic is not occult magic I think there is a danger in allowing young children or unprepared children to read the books. By "unprepared" I mean, children who do not understand the difference between the evil in true black magic and Harry Potter's fantasy magic.

As a child, I loved the TV shows, "Bewitched" and "I Dream of Jeannie". I did not go to church or have any connection with the spiritual world. I believe, even as a young girl, I was drawn to spirituality. I remember asking my mother why we didn't go to church, and envying my friends when they talked about going to catechism and Mass. Something was missing in my life, and without a positive connection to the spiritual realm, I became strongly attracted to magic. I can remember in 3rd, 4th and 5th grades having a friend who was also attracted to magic. We pretended, perhaps harmlessly, to be Samantha or Tabitha or Serena, from "Bewitched". We also played, perhaps harmfully, with Ouija boards and tried to hold seances. I did not understand the evil in those things back then; it was my only connection to the spiritual world.
I believe Harry Potter could hold the same danger for a young, "unprepared", or spiritually empty young person. In fact, even though he has been well catechized, I would not allow my 10 year old to read the books, as I don't think he has a good grasp of what real black magic is all about and how it differs from Harry's magic. There is a big difference between the two, but a young child will struggle with the subtleties of it. Even if my 16 year old were to decide to read Harry Potter, I would keep checking in with him to make sure his understanding was clear and correct. Parental support, guidance and discussion are key and make all the difference.
With that said, assuming the child in questions is well-"prepared" and spiritually mature, and also assuming an appropriate level of parental involvement, the Harry Potter books are wonderful stories of the eternal struggle between good and evil, and provide excellent examples for children of the virtues of selflessness, courage, and humility. I am so glad I undertook the challenge to read them all. I would even be so bold to say that the final scenes in the final book rival the courage, virtue and nobility of character seen in my favorite, Tolkein's Return of the King. And that is saying something!

I'd like to address a few different aspects of the series that struck me. First of all is the magic. As I have previously stated, I expected something subtle, dark, and insidious. Harry's magic is cartoon magic, fairy tale magic. I was surprised to see that instead of being hidden and dark, the magic was blatant and very stereotypical...they wear robes and pointed hats, use wands and have owls as pets and messengers. It was quite comical, actually... a caricature of magic. There were no satanic symbols or references of any kind. The magic in Harry Potter is pure fantasy. Critics have stated that there is danger in using magic (evil) for good, that it turns the moral order upside down to think of magic in a positive light. I can see their point and am quite vigilant about books, movies or TV shows that blur the lines between good and evil. This, actually, was my main concern about the Potter books before I read them. Making evil look good is what the occult does. But, as I have stated, the magic in Harry Potter is fairy tale magic, not occult, and no one thinks Cinderella needs to return the beautiful ball gown or her glass slippers and stay home from the ball because they were procured with magic.

I was also surprised that on Halloween, there were no pranks, trick or treating or evil-doing. They had a big feast at Hogwarts, just as they did at Christmas and other celebrations. One would think that if Rowling was writing a satanic book, she would have made great use of the Halloween celebration,which is the Satanist's feast day and the day on which there is more occult activity than any other day of the year. But there was nothing. In fact, while the Christmas celebration is mentioned in each book, Halloween is only mentioned in a few.

Also, when we think of witches and evil, we think of them preferring the bad, dark, and the ugly things in life over the true, the good and the beautiful to which humankind, made in the image and likeness of God, is naturally drawn. In Harry Potter, the "good" human beings, who may or may not be magical, demonstrate true, good and beautiful qualities and are drawn to those things. They do not prefer darkness to light, ugliness to beauty, or filth to purity.

There is a reference to the occult, though. Harry and his classmates have to take Divination, a class which requires them to read tea leaves, crystal balls and palms. I was actually quite impressed that the books ridicule this practice. We find out that Dumbledore, the headmaster, would rather Hogwarts not teach Divination at all. Professor McGonagall, a steadfast defender of the true, the good and the beautiful, expresses her disdain for divination. Professor Trelawney, the Divination teacher, is portrayed as a fraud. Hermoine, Harry's friend, drops the class as so much rubbish. This class, the only reference to the occult in the books, is ridiculed and considered a sham. Another surprise for me.

Another area I would like to address is Harry's Character. I was surprised to find Harry a humble, likeable fellow. Raised by verbally and emotionally abusive relatives after the death of his parents, Harry does not slip into the hard, crusty bully character as do so many abused children. He retains in his character an innate goodness, humility and hope. It is quickly apparent that his formation is incomplete, as he is very prone to rule breaking. Honestly, this drove me crazy!! Even though I did not find the books evil, I was quite distressed after reading the first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. There is a scene where they are learning to fly on broomsticks and are warned that they will be expelled if they fly while the teacher leaves the vicinity. In his earnest desire to help a friend, Harry ends up flying. Another teacher notices his natural skill and Harry ends up being rewarded for breaking the rules. This really, really burned me up. I mean, really. But I decided to keep reading the books because there were too many good points to ignore. I was still skeptical of Harry Potter.
Harry and Ron continue to break the rules, with Hermoine, most times, acting as their Jiminy Cricket consciences, reproving and correcting (um...nagging) them. As the novels continued and Harry matured and received the instruction and wisdom of the revered Professor Dumbledore, his rule breaking was met, more and more often with punishment. Harry spent a lot of time in detention. He began to display a nobility of character, willing to suffer for the sake of what was right. He became strong, brave and virtuous.
His inability to trust adults with his problems (leading him to break more rules to deal with situations himself) could be explained by the fact that his aunt and uncle were so cruel to him that trusting an adult to actually help him was just not something he was accustomed to. But, still the rule breaking bothered me, a lot.

The messages or themes that occur in the books can only be described as Christian. Believe it or not, I found the books to be pro-life and pro-family. I will try to outline below some of the messages I found in the book:

*Harry is attacked by Lord Voldemort when he is one year old. Harry's parents die in the struggle, but before she died, Lily Potter, Harry's mother, sacrificed herself to save Harry. Her sacrificial love was what saved Harry from death. In fact, Lord Voldemort's curse glanced off of Harry, leaving a lightning shaped scar on his forehead, and rebounded onto Voldemort himself, nearly destroying the evil wizard. Love is the greatest power and it is a power that Voldemort knows nothing about. This power of the sacrificial love of a mother for her son is the main theme in the book. Harry is saved repeatedly by his mother's sacrifice of love.

*Voldemort, like Hitler, wants to preserve a pure race, and once he regains his human body and full power (book 7) he begins his plan to exterminate those with mixed blood. One wizard who is working with the underground in opposing Voldemort says, "We're all human, aren't we? Every human life is worth the same, and worth saving." I'd say that is a pretty pro-life statement.

* In several instances, Harry longs for his family. Standing before a mirror that shows you your deepest desires, Harry sees his parents standing beside him. At one point, as he enters adolescence, he expresses the desire to have a father to talk things over with. The Weasley family is portrayed as a loving, if chaotic, circle of love and belonging. The most powerful pro-family statement in my opinion was in book 7. A newly-married friend of Harry's late father, whose wife is now expecting their first child, comes to see Harry and asks if he can accompany Harry on his mission. Harry speaks very bluntly to him. "I'm pretty sure my father would have wanted to know why you aren't sticking with your own kid, actually...My father died trying to protect my mother and me, and you reckon he'd tell you to abandon your kid to go on an adventure with us?...Parents shouldn't leave their kids unless--unless they've got to." Wow. I don't know of too many books, movies, or TV shows that make such pro-family statements as this. Powerful.

* As I mentioned before, the sacrificial love of Harry's mother saved him. This theme runs throughout all 7 books, most powerfully in the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. In the end, the evil wizard cannot kill Harry because of Lily Potter's sacrifice. But Lily's is not the only sacrifice. Harry learns he must offer himself to Voldemort in order to save his friends. It brings to mind the scripture, "No greater love than this...." As the climax builds in the end, the power of love, above all, conquers evil. Harry discovers that love usually involves sacrifice, and he has become strong and brave enough to offer the sacrifice. It was an amazingly powerful ending (I sobbed through the last 30 pages). Courage, loyalty, justice, righteousness, humility and sacrifice all collided into one big explosion of love to conquer evil. It was a thoroughly Christian message.

* Professor Snape, Harry's thorn-in-the-side, is trying to teach him to close his mind in order to protect Harry from Voldemort. Snape tells Harry to shut down all emotions. Harry struggles with this (partly because he has such strong negative emotions for Professor Snape) and Snape becomes impatient. He tells Harry if he can't master himself, how can he hope to conquer Voldemort. In a different context, the words of Professor Snape could be instruction in the spiritual life. If we cannot master ourselves and our emotions, we cannot hope to conquer evil in our lives. One little crack and evil can come in. I was so surprised by Snape's words that I read them aloud to my husband. (Alas, I do not have that book in front of me, so I cannot quote his words exactly--I have paraphrased)

*At one point, Voldemort tries to take possession of Harry's mind, but at that moment Harry is consumed with grief at the death of his godfather. Voldemort experiences the greatest pain he has ever felt and cannot possess Harry. Dumbledore explains that Voldemort cannot touch Harry because Harry's greatest weapon is his heart. Harry's love is more powerful than any curse Voldemort can produce.

* A poignant moment occurs near the end of the last book. Dumbledore is explaining many things to Harry and points out the noble character Harry has developed. At this point, Harry is in possession of 3 powerful but potentially dangerous magical objects. Dumbledore, the wisest and most honorable of wizards, tells Harry that he discovered that he, himself, did not handle great power well. But Harry, on the other hand, was not tempted by great power and used these objects to strengthen his resolve to sacrifice himself for his friends. Very powerful, indeed. In the end, he destroys the power that these 3 objects contain.

* Harry, although being continually attacked, never kills anyone. Voldemort is destroyed, but Harry does not kill him. In fact, Harry shows mercy to a fellow student who has tormented Harry from book 1. He befriends the "nerdy" kids, saves his cousin's life (the cousin who has treated Harry so cruelly), and TWICE gives up the glory of winning an important contest to "do the right thing".

I will not say that the Potter books are without their concerns, as I have outlined above. But the good in them greatly overshadows any questionable content. I would be happy to discuss the Potter series with anyone who has questions or concerns. Please share your insights, both positive and negative, with me in the comment section, if you wish.