Harry Potter: The Epic

Both the story of Harry Potter and the story of how Harry Potter came into existence are fascinating. Author J.K. Rowling started with almost nothing in 1995 when she finished the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Sorcerer's Stone in the States), and finished writing the final book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows in 2007 as the first person to earn $1 billion for writing books. Over those 12 years, the world fell in love with the boy wizard with the lighting bolt scar on his forehead, and with good reason. Rowling spun a tale of good vs. evil, coming of age, moral choice, and family history. She made it extremely layered, funny when appropriate, and very dark. And best of all, she planned out the entire story from the beginning (or at least the major developments and relationships), so when twists came along in later books, they made total sense in addition to shocking us.

The outermost layer of the story is the age-old tale of good vs. evil. Harry Potter had the misfortune of being born at the height of the reign of Lord Voldemort, an immensely powerful and insanely evil wizard. He is sadistic, racist, and heartless. Sadly, Harry had the even greater misfortune (in one sense) to be the subject of a prophecy that would bind his destiny to that of Voldemort's; believing Harry to be the only person who could defeat him, Voldemort hunted him down, killed his parents, and attempted to kill Harry. But then something happened. Harry's mother and father were willing to die to protect him, and this selfless, unconditional love shielded Harry from Voldemort's curse, causing it to rebound on Voldemort, nearly killing him. For the next 10 years, Harry grew up with his despicable aunt, uncle, and cousin, who despised the fact that Harry possessed magical abilities. But around his 11th birthday, Harry learned of his true heritage, and learned that he would be going to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he was a celebrity. It would be at this school where Harry would learn how to become a wizard so that one day, he could hopefully fulfill his destiny of defeating the dark lord once and for all.

But while Voldemort was evil incarnate, to call Harry a paragon of good would be completely inaccurate. Harry was never tempted by the dark side (which would certainly tempt many people who had been abused and neglected throughout childhood), but he had a lot of growing up to do before he could hope to fight Voldemort. He starts the series off as a wide-eyed prepubescent boy, goes through his angry teenager phase, fueled by mistrust and paranoia, and tries to develop himself into the man he wants to be. It isn't easy for him to be looked to as the last hope for peace, as people expect incredible things from him. But even worse, his celebrity sometimes gets in the way of his friendships and other relationships. Some people are his enemies because they resent him, while even his own friends come to dislike him because they think that he is a black hole of attention. Although his two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, know that he truly is a good person, their relationships are sometimes tested by Harry's unwanted status.

Harry and his two friends represent the three "types" of wizards: purebloods, half-bloods, and muggle-borns. Ron is a pureblood, meaning that all of his ancestors are wizards and witches. Hermione, on the other hand, is muggle-born (muggles are non-magical humans); these are witches or wizards who were born to non-magical parents. Harry is a half-blood, meaning that not all of his ancestors are magical; both of his parents were wizards, but his mother was muggle-born (most other half-bloods in the series have one parent who is magic and one who is not). This distinction among wizards is the basis for the series' major morality issue, that of racism. Voldemort and his followers were of the opinion that only pureblooded wizards were worthy of using magic. Muggles and muggle-borns (or mudbloods as Voldemort and his followers called them) were lower than dirt, while half-bloods were tolerable at best. Any pureblood or half-blood who associated with muggles and muggle-borns were seen as just as bad. The great irony was that Voldemort himself was a half-blood; his mother was an inbred witch (Ron pointed out that if wizards hadn't intermarried with muggles, magical humans would have died out) and an arrogant muggle father who was under the effects of a love potion when Voldemort was conceived. The even bigger twist regarding Voldemort's belief about the worth of purebloods has to do with... no, I can't ruin it.

Hermione, the muggle-born, has to put up with a lot of ignorance from certain kids at school. Hogwarts uses the house system, where the school is divided into 4 houses, each representing different values. One house, Slytherin, represents cunning and ambition. Unfortunately, the members of this house tend to go dark more often than members of the other three houses combined, and many of the students in Slytherin harbor racist feelings. I would like to say that one thing I wish Rowling would have changed would be to have included a few sympathetic Slytherins. A person can be cunning and ambitious without being an asshole or evil. She proved with the character of Horace Slughorn, who I really wish had gotten more stuff to do in the final book. Along those lines, there was a certain character in the Griffindor house that I am still scratching my head over how he made it into that house, which valued bravery (his initials are P.P.). The irony of the fact that Hermione has to put up with so much is that she is far and away the brightest student in her year at Hogwarts. With one exception (broomstick flying), every subject comes naturally to her, and she devours books in an effort to continually improve her abilities. In spite of what some see as a potential handicap (which in some ways is; unlike Ron, she didn't grow up around magic and wasn't prepared to enter that world), there is almost no spell she can't do.

That doesn't mean that she is perfect; she also has growing up to do, as does every character in the book. Along with her intelligence comes an obsession with being the best that alienates many people (including Harry and Ron for the first few months of school). And along with her heritage comes a certain naivety about the magical world. When she learns about the way in which house elves are treated (they are basically slaves), she begins to campaign for their freedom. What she doesn't realize is that, in a way, the elves are not only ok with their servitude, but enjoy it in a sense. They have been slaves of wizards for millennia, and wouldn't know what to do with themselves if they were free. Ron, on the other hand, is a great friend, but he is somewhat immature and doesn't realize that there are times when a more serious attitude is required.

Over the course of the seven books, we watch these characters grow, and we learn that there are shades of grey in absolutely everyone. Even characters who we have nothing but contempt for show some humanity by the end of the series. There is no such thing as a paragon. Even Voldemort, for all of his atrocities, has a tragic past. Granted, he is the closest thing to an absolute in the series, but based on how he came to be the man(?) he is today, there is a reason for that. On the other side, Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, is very often viewed as an agent of absolute good, but he wasn't always that way. He was always a truly good person, but he did some things in his youth that he wasn't proud of, and almost acts out of fear of reverting back to who he used to be. And even in the present, he does a few things with less-than-pure motives. But if there was ever an example of a character who is truly composed of shades of grey, it would be Severus Snape. Like Voldemort and Harry, he is a half-blood with a tragic past. He joined the Death Eaters, Voldemort's followers, as a young man, then supposedly repented. Throughout the series, he tormented Harry and his friends while showing favoratism to the bullies in Slytherin who tormented Harry and his friends. Harry had every reason to hate him, and Snape had every reason to hate Harry. When Snape was in school, Harry's (very popular) father tormented Snape, who was unattractive and unpopular. But Snape's true motives and loyalty come from an entirely different place.

Up next: Family matters...