What The Harry Potter Series Gets Right

Every Thanksgiving weekend, my family watches all eight Harry Potter films together. Naturally, we’ve read all seven books multiple times. Yeah, we’re geeky and we know it. But this is a blog about real magic, so why am I even talking about Harry Potter? Unless, of course, I’m going to be ironically disdainful, which would make sense, right?

Well, I’m not going to be ironically disdainful. As I’ve told my PhD friends, you don’t have to turn in your Mensa card if you like the Harry Potter series. By the same token, you don’t have to turn in your Witch card (I should actually print some of those), if you’re inspired by it. There’s a lot about being a magical practitioner that the Harry Potter books and films get right, and those of us on the magical path would do well to take our lessons wherever we find them.

You Really Have To Mean It: One of the most evil characters in the series tells Harry this when, in a fit of grief, he is trying to curse her. While I don’t generally recommend cursing anyone, she is certainly correct about the rest. Magic simply won’t work properly unless you feel strongly about whatever it is you’re trying to accomplish.

What Is Right, and What Is Easy: Choosing between what is right and what is easy is something we all are faced with, whether we are magical practitioners or not. It is so easy to turn a blind eye, to pretend you didn’t hear, to just muddle through. However, the further you are on the magical path, the harder that is to do. The more you realize how interconnected we all are, the more you start to feel the world’s pain, and the more you want to do something about it. Then you have to choose how to act, which “right” is really right. And no, it is not easy.

Use The True Name: As a teenager, the villain of the series created a fancy name for himself in order to deny his parentage, and to fashion an identity based on power, manipulation, and immortality. He became so powerful and so terrible that most people were afraid to even utter that name, even his followers. Those who were serious about fighting this villain learned to get over the fear of saying the name, so that they could master their fear of the villain himself, and that was absolutely necessary. But what finally finished the villain was knowledge of who he truly was, and what really motivated him; symbolized by the name he was born with.

We have all, at one time or another, struggled with how the world sees us, who we are, and who we would like to be. We have all encountered others who seek to manipulate us by presenting themselves, not as they are, or as the best they can be, but as they want us to see them. Cultivating the ability to get past the facade, and having the courage to address such people as they truly are, is one of the most empowering things you can do. It might just change the world.