The Harry Potter series recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. For those who don’t know, it is a series of seven fantasy novels written by J. K. Rowling and one of the biggest franchises ever.
The books follow the adventures of Harry Potter, a young wizard, and his companions Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, who are all students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The series’ core character is a young boy who lives with his aunt, uncle, and cousin – the Dursleys– in the fictional town of Little Whinging, Surrey. He finds at the age of eleven that he is a wizard and that there is a parallel world of magic that coexists with the non-magical or “muggle” world.
His magical gift is innate, and children with it are asked to attend private magic schools where they are taught the skills needed to excel in the wizarding world.
He enrolls in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a wizarding academy in Scotland, where he spends the majority of the book’s events.
As Harry grows into adolescence, he learns to overcome the problems that confront him: social and emotional, such as friendships, infatuation, romantic relationships, schoolwork and exams, anxiety, depression, stress, and the greater challenge of preparing himself for the fight against tyranny.
Each year in his life at Hogwarts is chronicled in each novel.
Rowling built a world that is deeply rooted in reality. Incorporating objects and creatures such as magic wands, magical creatures, magic plants, potions, spells, flying broomsticks, etc. among others invented by Rowling, the British magical community of the Harry Potter books are inspired by the European culture, politics, and socio-economic scenario prevalent during the World War alongside European folklore, classical mythology, and alchemy.
Let’s have a detailed look at 7 such aspects of the Wizarding World that are nothing but a reflection of the muggle world!
“READING FICTION DOESN’T HELP US ESCAPE THE WORLD, IT HELPS US LIVE IN IT”
1. Blood Purity And Ethnic Cleansing
The main essence of Harry Potter is the fight between the good and evil forces. It creates a supervillain, the Dark Lord Voldemort who is obsessed with building an empire exclusively consisting of pure-blood wizards.
With the aid of his army of Death Eaters, he carries out an ethnic genocide of all muggles and muggle-borns, exhibiting a nihilistic mentality that’s positively Nietzschean.
This takes us back to Nazi Germany under the autocratic reign of Hitler. It even highlights the racism, fascism, religious bigotry, and communal violence that prevail even today.
2. The Daily Prophet And A Corrupt Media
The Wizarding World’s primary source of information, the Daily Prophet serves as a voice for a corrupt government as the narrative progresses. After being overthrown by Voldemort, the ministry becomes a proxy government for a totalitarian regime with the Daily Prophet acting as an agent of its agenda instead of publishing accurate news.
This situation accurately reflects our current socio-political context, in which the media is controlled by powerful conglomerates and political parties. The series also reflects the growing sensationalism in journalism through one of its characters, Rita Skeeter – a reporter who sensationalized and fabricated news.
3. Inequality And Human Rights Violation
In the magical world, there are many important characters who were compelled to live in a closet simply for being who they are – be it Remus Lupin for being a werewolf or Rubeus Hagrid for being a half-giant.
The fact that the lead character himself was treated as an outcast in his own family for being a wizard is a clear case of discrimination and human rights violation.
Even in the real world we see many groups of people who face all sorts of discrimination and injustice being forced to live in a closet simply because of their identity – be it based upon their gender, sexuality, immigration status, or caste.
4. House Elves And Slavery
Another important lesson taught in the series is about complacency. The magical world of Hogwarts is built up entirely on the slavery of house-elves. When the female lead, Hermione Granger finally starts her activist Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare (SPEW), she receives discouragement and mockery from her fellow wizards.
This is a clear example of how social injustice can become normalized to the extent of the victims themselves accepting their plight – in this case, it comes to the point where the house elves themselves refuse to accept any offer of recompense.
This is not just reminiscent of the illegal slave trade practiced in certain parts of the world but also a reflection of the plight of the people subjected to unpaid labor, manual scavenging, and other forms of disguised slavery based upon their caste, creed, gender, religion, socio-economic status and so on till date, in our own country.
Also Read: The Cuckoo’s Calling- A Masterpiece By J.K. Rowling
5. Love Potion And Rape Culture
Among all the magical substances and potions found in the Wizarding World, there is a particular potion popularly known as the love potion that causes the one consuming it to get amorously attracted towards the one providing it. The person completely loses their autonomy, becoming a mere puppet to the latter.
The usage of this potion has been portrayed time and again in various instances – sometimes childishly, sometimes in a much more grave context. Whatever the context might be, the existence of this very substance (that too in schools) is the full proof of the prevailing rape culture in the wizarding community akin to the prevailing rape culture in our society.
Every day we find at least one instance of sexual abuse by drugging the victim. Also, our society and pop culture majorly consider stalking, groping, whistling, and other inappropriate actions as normal devices to impress girls just as Romilda Vane’s drugging Ron was treated as a common teenage act!
6. Dementors And Depression
In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban we find the mention of dementors for the first time. These dementors are dark creatures inhabiting the wizarding world who guard the prison cell, Azkaban.
Unlike other dark creatures, they never kill their victims but do worse! They suck the soul out of any person in close proximity leaving them in a state of utter depression. The only way to fight them is to cast the Patronus charm by recalling one’s happiest memory.
Dementors are metaphorical for all the negativity around us that sucks our happiness and will to live. We all are prisoners of our own Azkaban who should develop the power to cast our own Patronus charm in order to fight its dementors.
7. SPEW, DA, And Student Movements
The Harry Potter series is largely centered around Hogwarts, the school of witchcraft and wizardry hence, creating a premise where the educated youth plays the central role in causing the nation to break free from the shackles of autocracy and social injustice.
From Hermione starting the SPEW campaign to fight for house-elf rights to Harry starting the Dumbledore’s Army (DA) to fight Lord Voldemort, we find references of students taking active participation in politics and social activism – something that is rampant in educational institutions today.
Which ones do you find most relevant in context to today’s scenario? Let us know and feel free to add on to the list in the comments down below!
Sources: BBC, Bustle, Popular Culture Association, CS Monitor +more
Image Source: Google Images
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This post is tagged under Harry Potter, Wizarding World, J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros, Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuarón, Mike Newell, David Yates, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Ralph Fiennes, Adolf Hitler, Nazism, Racism, facism, social justice, slavery, religious bigotry, pop culture, rape culture, student movements, communal violence, depression, media, sensationalism, corruption
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