Harry Potter and the Issue of Magic
The world has gone potty over Potter, but some, admittedly, are not so enchanted. Harry Potter books have been banned in some schools. In Pennsylvania, USA, they were burned by Pentecostal church leaders in the spirit of Acts 19:19.1 Emails have circulated wildly on the Internet, urging Christians parents to say no to their children's Potter cravings. Potter has been accused of everything—from promoting Satanism to blaspheming God; from influencing children to practise witchcraft to being the very Antichrist himself.2
Having read and liked the books, it's easy for me to dismiss these claims as the paranoid delusions of some rather unpleasant Muggles3 closely resembling the Dursleys4 (especially because they seem like Muggles who haven't read the books and therefore have no idea what they're talking about). However, I must remind myself that these Muggles are also my brothers and sisters in Christ and perhaps their point is a valid one. After all, doesn't it say in Deuteronomy 18:18, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” (KJV)? We are commanded in Leviticus 19:26 not to practise divination or sorcery for those who practice “magic arts” will be cast into the fiery lake of burning sulfur (Revelation 21:8) and shut outside the gates of God's heavenly city (Revelation 22:15). If we love God, we should obey his commands and stop others like us from going astray.
But should Harry be lumped into that smouldering lake with the likes of Elymas the Sorceror (Acts 13:8) and Simon the Magician (Acts 8:9)? Is he any different to his ancient counterparts? What is the Bible really saying about witchcraft and how should we be thinking about magic anyway? I'm not sure I can adequately address these questions, however I do think that part of the way forward is to examine what exactly J.K. Rowling means when she writes about “magic”, “witchcraft” and “wizardry”.
Supernatural
The world of Harry Potter is firmly divided between the magical and the non-magical. In the non-magical world of the Muggles (the world that you and I know), photographs stay still, cars are used for transportation and the postal system is run by mailmen and machines. However, in the world of witches and wizards, photographs move, transportation is done through Apparating or brooms, and the postal system is run by owls. Everything in this world is magical: the technology (Floo powder, Rememberalls, Pensieves), the flora (mandrakes, gillyweed, mimbulus mimbletonia), the fauna (unicorns, Thestrals, Boggarts) and even the residents (werewolves, giants, Dementors). In other words, magic is not extraordinary in Harry Potter's world; it is quite the opposite. To be non-magical is to be unnatural and abnormal.
Conjuring Tricks
It shouldn't be surprising, then, that the things little wizards and witches learn at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry are the things that will help them to understand and cope with their world. In this respect, the nature of an education in magic is really not that much different to the nature of an education in Muggle-ness. Dr. Kirsten Birkett has pointed out that much of the magic that Harry is learning is quite “scientific”—ie. it involves the “investigation of nature, in a highly organized and thorough way.”5 Herbology is the study of the care and nature of different magical plants; History of Magic recounts the past events of the wizarding world; Potions deals with the magical properties of herbs and fungi, especially in combination with one another (think Chemistry with cauldrons); and Arithmancy sounds suspiciously like maths (taught by Professor “Vector”). Astronomy, Muggle Studies, Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures are also conducted along the same sort of lines.
The subjects that depart from this model are Charms, Transfiguration, Defence Against the Dark Arts and Divination. Charms, Transfiguration and Defence Against the Dark Arts6 are more spell-based, and utilise the technology of wands in conjunction with an incantation and, sometimes, mental intention, to achieve desired results. Swishing, flicking and muttering, “Wingardium leviosa!” only works in this context; a wizard without his wand is considered to be “unarmed”. Divination, which is specifically condemned in Deuteronomy 18:10, is also taught at Hogwarts but it is considered to be “one of the most imprecise branches of magic” and it isn't taken seriously by most the members of Harry's class.
Unlike most education in the Muggle world, these lessons in magic prove themselves to be very useful. When Harry and his friends end up facing twelve-foot trolls, Devil's Snare, Dementors, Death-Eaters and even the Dark Lord Voldemort, they put into practice the things they have learnt in order to survive and to do good. For them, learning magic is not about gaining power but gaining knowledge and skills. It is the intention behind the spell that separates Hogwarts magic from the Dark Arts.
Unexpected Enchantments
However, Rowling's definition of magic is not confined simply to the wizarding world and its various academic disciplines. Music is also included in this class. So is loyalty, the saving of a life and self-sacrifice on behalf of someone else (Harry's mother dying in the effort to save her little boy). Rowling seems to be saying that these beautiful and noble things of life are truly “magical” and they are much more powerful than all the curricula of Hogwarts put together.
In the end, the Harry Potter books aren't really about magic. They're about teamwork, friendship, faithfulness, courage and coming of age. Harry's character is considered to be much more important than Harry's skill with a wand. As Dumbledore reminds him, “It is our choices ... that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”
Notes
1 Jeremy Halcrow and Grant Maple, “Church leader backs Harry Potter and condemns book burnings”, http://www.anglicanmediasydney.asn.au/nmr/2001_15.htm, April 6 2001. Accessed 14 December 2001.
2 Luis Galtres, “Huse Story Re-ignites Old Debate: Harry Potter—Friend or Foe?”, http://www.thespellbinder.com/news/082401-1.html. August 24 2001. Accessed 14 December 2001.
3 Muggles are “non-magic” people.
4 The Dursleys are Harry Potter's Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and cousin Dudley—all of whom detest him as much as he detests them.
5 Kirsten Birkett, Unnatural Enemies, Matthias Media, 1997, p. 22.
6 Note that it's Defence Against the Dark Arts, not the actual Dark Arts. Though Mad-Eye Moody goes through all the Unforgivable Curses, he doesn't actually teach them how to do them; there are clear lines in wizarding education of what's good and what's not.
Karen Beilharz
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