Breaking Down the Harry Potter Controversy
I wasn't raised on Harry Potter. I was raised on The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lord of the Rings, Old Yeller and Treasure Island. The first time I read the Harry Potter series was two years ago.
My parents hadn't read the books, and they decided that there was no reason to look too far into the whole controversy, because there were plenty other fantastic children's series around. Up till the summer of 2015, we didn't bother, until some adults we trusted started recommending the books to us. Finally, we gave them a try.
I read them first, and I was fully prepared to hate the first book. Nerd #1 asked cynical me how it was, when I was halfway through the first chapter. I warily replied, "It's alright. Not the best." By the end of the first book, it was more something like this: "OH MY GOSH YOU HAVE TO READ THIS IT'S ADORABLE AND MAGICAL AND THERE'S THIS FAMILY WITH LIKE TWENTY KIDS AND THEY'RE BASICALLY THIS AWESOME HOMESCHOOLED FAMILY AND QUIDDITCH AND FRED AND GEORGE AND AND AND..."
So what's the deal? I firmly believe that the controversy started with someone who has never read Harry Potter. There is not an objectionable theme in this series.
So, what's the controversy?
Witchcraft
Well, Harry goes to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Let's stop right there.
The word "witchcraft" tends to put people off immediately. Images of demonic blood rituals and black magic dance before their eyes as they toss blessed salt on their copy of the novel and promptly set it on fire.
Don't set it on fire; you may rest at ease. Harry Potter is not about witchcraft. The magic in these books is like the magic in most any other fantasy book. They use wands, for goodness sake. What I frequently find myself explaining is that the words "witch" and "wizard" could easily be replaced by "leprechaun" or "fairy".
The witchcraft in Harry Potter is not some weird religion; it's simply a name for their ability to do magic. For boys, it's "wizardry". The term "witch" is used in the books as the female version of a wizard, and we actually see quite a few other good witches in children's literature: Angela from Christopher Paolini's Eragon books, Morwen from Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Liza from Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book--and of course Glinda from The Wizard of Oz. Harry's friend Hermione is a witch--and Harry is a wizard. Just like Gandalf or Cor (The Secret of Platform 13) or any number of other wizards who have slipped my mind.
Mandrakes
I heard a bit about disturbing scenes with these baby-creatures before I read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Something about de-humanizing infants. I was ready to freak out. The freakout never came.
Mandrakes aren't babies. They aren't even animals. They're these ugly plants whose cries are fatal. Cries? Yeah, they scream, and if you hear the mature Mandrakes scream, you die. They also have large teeth and tend to use them.
Instead of roots, a small, muddy, and extremely ugly baby popped out of the earth. The leaves were growing right out of his head. He had pale green, mottled skin, and was clearly bawling at the top of his lungs.
-- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
The students re-pot the Mandrakes in Herbology class, because they can be used in an antidote for curing Petrified people. I found nothing disturbing about this.
Ghosts
The ghosts in Harry Potter are not weird and scary. In fact, some of them are quite comical: Moaning Myrtle lives in a toilet, Peeves the Poltergeist likes to drop water balloons on students' heads and Nearly-Headless Nick is unable to join the Headless Hunt because he was not beheaded properly.
The interesting thing is that the ghosts are not necessarily happier, choosing not to have "gone on" at the time of their death.
"I was afraid of death," said Nick. "I chose to remain behind. I sometimes wonder whether I oughtn't to have... Well, that is neither here nor there... In fact, I am neither here nor there...." He gave a small sad chuckle. "I know nothing of the secrets of death, Harry, for I chose my feeble imitation of life instead."
-- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
The Line
What's the line between good and evil like, throughout the books? Is it definite? Is it blurred? Or is it perhaps nonexistent?
Yes, there's a line, though I think the word "line" is a bit underwhelming. It's more like this huge, roaring river. It's broad and there's no way to mistake which side you're on. There's no way to tiptoe along it without being swept away to one side or the other.
In the first book, Voldemort (we know he's the villain because of his name, first of all) tries to tell Harry that there is no line.
“There is no good and evil, there is only power and those too weak to seek it.”
-- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
This is coming from the darkest wizard of the time, terror of the wizarding world, who murdered Harry's parents, hundreds of others, and would rather like to murder Harry, too. So obviously, Harry does not take these words to heart.
There is dark magic in the Harry Potter series--a torturing curse, a killing curse, a curse to control people like puppets--but never is it used for a good purpose. Never are bad things done to achieve something good. That, I think, is where a lot of books and movies blur the lines between good and evil--and Harry Potter doesn't.
(Spoilers!) When Voldemort splits his soul so that he is nearly immortal...never is this portrayed as something nifty all wizards should do, as a backup plan. Voldemort splits his soul by committing murder, and in doing so he becomes less and less human. This is the darkest, most repulsive magic encountered throughout the course of the books.
One of my favorite quotes would fit in well, here. It's voiced by Harry's godfather, and while it is not in the books, it's one of the good things the filmmakers added.
“Besides, the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters. We've all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That's who we really are.”
-- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Possibly Objectionable Points
I read the entire Harry Potter series aloud to my younger siblings. There were only a couple of things that I censored.
Language
There are a few "bloody hell"s (they are English, after all). The word "bitch" is used twice, once in reference to an actual female dog. Harry's awful Uncle Vernon uses the word "effing" once.
The only other thing is that Harry's friend Ron makes a rather rude joke about "Uranus" while studying planets in Divination class.
Violence
Harry Potter is growing up in a time of war, so naturally there's violence. As I've said, bad witches and wizards use dark magic to inflict pain and, in some cases, kill people Harry loves. These deaths are often heart-wrenching both for Harry and for readers, but J.K. Rowling never kills off a character for shock value; everyone dies for a reason, usually in a moment of self-sacrifice.
There is one occasion where sixteen-year-old Harry uses a spell he doesn't know on someone he is dueling, resulting in the other boy being marked with terrible gashes and losing a lot of blood. He is totally healed, and Harry is horrified by what he did; he does not use the spell again.
On another occasion, someone Harry loves has just been murdered, and he is pursuing the murderess. In a fit of rage and confusion, Harry attempts to use a torturing curse, but fails because apparently he "has to mean it".
Why read it?
The Story
It's as simple as this: the Harry Potter series is fantastically written. Most always, sequels are a disappointment, but J.K. Rowling did what a lot of writers struggle with: she wrote not two, but SIX sequels just as masterfully crafted as the first. Not only does each story--each chapter, even--have its own story, but the series covers an intricate, far-reaching plot, all the way to its phenomenal ending with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Nothing is left off, like an unnecessary addition to the story. It all comes around full-circle.
The Characters
Harry is one of the bravest, most selfless characters I have ever read about in children's literature. We grow up with him and all the other characters over a span of seven years; it's impossible not to fall in love with them. We've got our pranksters, our bookish ones, the sports enthusiasts, the rather loony but lovable characters, the wise old mentors, the celebrity wizards who think a bit too much of themselves--and best of all, we've got the Weasleys, who are essentially the equivalent of a homeschooled, Catholic family because they've got a bazillion red-headed (and possibly Irish) kids and the first thing they do when they meet someone is say, "We must have a drink!"
Friendship
Harry, Ron and Hermione's friendship is the truest and absolute best. I am ever so thankful that J.K. Rowling didn't turn it into one of those tacky love triangles. Their trio isn't one of those exclusive things, either; they become friends with loony Luna, poor Neville who can't ever seem to do anything right, and several others. They bicker sometimes (with Ron and Hermione, that's a lot of the time) but they always move on and follow one another every step of the way--until the very end.
Selfless Love
It starts when Harry's father tries to single-handedly (and without his wand) keep Voldemort from entering their home. It reaches its first apex when Harry's mother throws herself in front of his crib, begging the villain to kill her instead of her baby. They are both killed, trying to save their son. Many others die, trying to save Harry and the ones they love, over the years. They all die for a reason. (Spoilers!) Harry himself is the epitome of selfless love, willingly sacrificing himself, giving himself up to Voldemort, in order to save the people he loves.
“Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. Love as powerful as your mother's for you leaves it's own mark. To have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever.”
-- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
And (more spoilers!) what about Severus Snape, who gave up everything in the memory of Harry's mother? He risked playing double-agent and being discovered by Voldemort to ensure Harry made it to the end, in memory of Lily Potter.
"After all this time?" "Always," said Snape.
-- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
We love these books. I've read the series three times, and I have no clue as to where they acquired this reputation for being evil and filled with witchcraft.
I didn't even initially pick them up thinking I was going to like them one bit: I thought they were going to be weird and dark. Instead I found adorable, eleven-year-old Harry Potter, sleeping in a cupboard under the stairs because his aunt and uncle don't care for him, and I watched him discover the whimsical wizarding world.