The Witch-Hunt's Verdict

My Hogwarts letter came when I was 25 years old.

In part one of my “Coming out of the cupboard” story, I explained my background, and why I never read the Harry Potter books as a kid. In part two, I detailed my feelings reading through the books last year, one at a time. It was my journey from outside critic to new fan.

In today’s Musings Monday, I’m finishing the story by answering the ultimate questions—Is Harry Potter evil? What can be learned from the Harry Potter saga? And, most importantly, how do I reconcile my newfound fan-hood with my long-held Christian convictions? Also, as a side-note, should children be allowed to read the Harry Potter novels?

The witch-hunt is over, but the trial begins now.

Is Harry Potter evil?

The short answer: no.

Considering the intensity to which many hold their anti-Potter beliefs, I am obligated to bring you the longer, more nuanced answer. If you remember from part one, by the end of middle school I’d developed an entire apologetic as to why I wasn’t allowed to read Harry Potter. I’d talked about it with my parents, and we’d even watched a documentary.

One of those reasons said that through these books Rowling promotes witchcraft and is purposefully leading children into witchcraft…

The books were far too realistic.

The spells either quoted or were based upon real spells. There were horror stories of children innocently searching for more information on Harry Potter and stumbling their way onto real Wiccan websites and finding books with real spells. There were real stories of these kids becoming witches and warlocks because Harry Potter piqued their curiosity.

Now, I’m not going to outright deny this claim. Though I can’t recall ever seeing documented cases of kids learning real witchcraft at the influence of the books, I don’t want to make the blanket statement that it never happened. I heard much of this danger and there seemed to be anecdotal evidence abounding, but looking back I wonder how much of it was real and how much of it was misinformed gossip circulated in fear. But I can tell you what I experienced, and my contention is this:

Harry Potter is not realistic.

The magic does not feel real. The magic in Hogwarts is wondrous and imaginative and mysterious and even whimsical at times, but never throughout the series did it seem realistic to me. If a child seeks out the occult after reading a book like Harry Potter, I think that child likely has other issues likely going on in his or her life. The lesson, I’d say, has more to do with parenting.

The book series is very escapist, in the sense that a reader can feel like they’ve transported to this fantastic school and get a break from reality. But, do you know what I found funny about Hogwarts? I wouldn’t actually want to live there. The school is actually kind of dangerous and all sorts of frightening things happen to the children, yet Harry still sees it as the best home he’s ever had.

Why would he think that? The Dursleys.

His uncle, aunt, and cousin whom Harry grows up living with are emotionally abusive. As bad as things get at Hogwarts, pretty much every reader would agree with Harry that it’s better than living at home. My guess is that the kids most at risk to take this escapism to the extreme are the ones with backgrounds similar to Harry’s.

But would those kids actually try to learn witchcraft?

I don’t know. But my feeling is, from reading the books myself, is that if these readers are interested in witchcraft, banning Harry Potter probably isn’t going to fix it. They’re probably being influenced more strongly by other things. If your kid becomes a warlock, I think Harry Potter is the least of your problems.

Another contention about Harry Potter is that it glorifies evil.

Lord of the Rings is good-versus-evil. Harry Potter is evil-versus-evil. How could I ever be supportive of a problematic book series that teaches children dangerous lessons? We don’t want kids to be rebellious!

While reading through a particular scene in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, I had to smile. This was a specific textual example of where Harry breaks the rules. In the scene, all of the students are outside with their broomsticks. The teacher has to step away for a minute and instructs the students to not start flying without her present. Harry ends up flying around, gets caught, but isn’t punished. Instead, he’s offered a cherished spot on the Quidditch team!

Not only does he break the rules, he’s rewarded for breaking the rules. Evil is rewarded! (Cue Mermaid Man screaming “EVIL!”)

The scene in the book plays out a little differently than it was described to me. Yes, Harry did fly with his broomstick and break the rules. But he did so to stand up to a bully who had been taunting one of the less popular students after stealing from that student. Harry not only stood up to the bully but he retrieved the item for his new house-mate.

I was told that over and over again Harry and his friends are rewarded for breaking rules.

No matter how well-intentioned these documentarians were, I have to admit: I was lied to. Either these people were unintentionally proof-texting for preconceived theories and not looking at the text on its own terms OR they were intentionally stretching the truth to galvanize the anti-Potter viewers.

Either way, I realized the deep importance of searching the truth out for oneself and not believing every piece of secondhand information, no matter how well-meaning.

Here’s the truth: Throughout the books, Harry and his friends do break the rules. But evil is not being glorified in that process. Oftentimes, they do face consequences for their decisions. Sometimes, the rule-breaking is due to the characters’ immaturity, and the characters learn through the experience. Sometimes, the extreme circumstances demanded it of them.

Instead of saying, “Wow, there goes Harry breaking another rule!”, I found myself saying, “Wow, that’s a hard decision to make.” Instead of thinking that they need to be expelled, I was proud of the heroes, that they’d risk expulsion—Harry from the only positive home he’s ever known—in order to save the students and faculty from a danger only they knew about.

It’s noble and self-sacrificial. But evil? Not at all. So…

What can be learned from the Harry Potter saga?

In all seven books, you learn about friendship and bravery. Book one shows us the protection of a mother’s love. Throughout the series, the characters learn not to trust everything on face value. As Sirius Black and Severus Snape can attest, the truth is usually more complicated than it seems. Also, Harry learns not to place his trust and identity on his reputation, no matter how much the government and the newspapers distort the facts.

Readers also see the dangers pride. The characters also have to fight against evil ideas, including the magical equivalents to racism and ethnocentrism. We also learn to empathize with a wide range of characters. We see how past experiences can form a person to who they become, for good or bad. The reader sees how the end doesn’t always justify the means. We also see the immaturity of evil.

And most importantly, good triumphs over evil.

So…

How do I reconcile my newfound fan-hood with my long-held Christian convictions?

It’s actually not that hard. I treat it like any other book. I gain whatever wisdom, perspective, and entertainment I can from the story, and I ignore the distasteful parts.

Is Harry perfect? No. But he is a complex, nuanced, and believable character. He makes several mistakes, be he isn’t evil. It’s kind of like life.

Most of us can identify with the characters, whether it’s Harry’s inner turmoil, Dumbledore’s excessive secrecy for Harry’s protection, Snape’s disorienting dissonance between his past and present, or Sirius’s frustration with forced idleness, the list goes on and on.

My point is this: Just like this book series, in life things aren’t what they appear to be. Things are nearly always more complicated than the surface admits, and we can learn from that. In the middle of life’s complexity, my belief in Jesus in grounded and not threatened.

Even if Harry Potter is evil, he can’t threaten my identity, because my identity is secure in Jesus Christ.

Jesus said the most important commandments are to love God and love your neighbors. We’re even supposed to love our enemies. Even if J.K. Rowling was your enemy (for the record, she does claim to be a Christian), you shouldn’t pass judgement on her without also showing her the love and grace of God.

As a Christian, my job is to love. Part of loving others is listening to them on their own terms, not to accept as right anything and everything they say, but to affirm their humanity.

When we demonize people, we also dehumanize them.

It’s hard to treat people in human terms if we’re training ourselves to treat them like literal devil’s advocates.

You don’t have to agree with my analysis of Harry Potter. But, especially if you’re part of American Christianity’s outrage culture, I would implore you to think with nuance and respect. As Christians, we’re called to make disciples, not enemies. It’s hard to authentically share the gospel with someone if we’re treating them like a threat.

All this to say, Harry Potter fans are not enemies of Christianity, and Ms. Rowling is not an emissary for Satan.

My new appreciation for these books doesn’t hurt my Christian beliefs, but the moral lessons within actually reinforced much of what I already held as true and right.

But, last question…

Should children be allowed to read the Harry Potter novels?

I don’t like banning things. As a writer, I have a visceral discomfort to universal boycotts or the blacklisting of books. But, even after reading the books, I do see why parents have some concerns.

My preference: parents should evaluate for themselves on a child-by-child basis if and when the kid is mature enough to handle it.

Because the books get very dark, even the first one, I’m not sure I like how young some kids are reading the stories. They might not be able to handle it yet. But, since I’m not an expert, do your research. I will say that I think most early elementary schoolers might be too young. I kind of like the idea of starting the books at Harry’s current age in the first book: eleven years old.

But, I stress once again, I am not a child-development expert. My conclusion on the matter is this: If you’re not allowing your child to read Harry Potter, it should have to do with the child’s maturity, and not with a fear of the child falling into the occult.

As I said previously: If your child is in danger of falling into the occult, Harry Potter is not the one to blame, and you have bigger problems at hand.

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There you have it! Do you agree with my conclusions? Did I miss something in my analysis? Did you relate to any part of my story? Please leave a comment on Facebook or send me a message. I’d love to hear your take!

Also, if you haven’t read it yet, you can pick up the Harry Potter series here on Amazon [Full disclosure: This is an affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.].