Witchcraft in Harry Potter

[jimmyRRpage]

I used to be a fan of Harry Potter, before Half-Baked Plot (better known as Half-Blood Prince, or Book 6) was released.

I once found an essay by a Born Again woman who claimed she used to be a witch before she "was saved by the loving power of Jesus Christ" (:puke:). She said Harry Potter was a manual for teaching witchcraft, and should be banned from "the innocent, curious eyes of children."

For one othing, I don't think it's possible to get a wand with a phoenix-feather or unicorn-tale in it. And if you do somehow manage to get one, I doubt you can wave it, say "Wingardium Leviosa" (or whatever the heck it is), and make something float.

But what are your thoughts on this? Is HP a witchcraft manual? Is it nothing more than an entertaining (albeit not anymore) story? Or is there some hidden meaning in it?

[Thorn]

Fun stories, not much else. Good for teaching kids things like honor, friendship and responsibility. Not so good for teaching them magick!

Rowling has done some occult research and makes use of it to make things "ring true" - for example: Albus and Rubeus (Dumbledore and Hagrid's first names) are the names of geomantic figures. But, in the end, it's just a really fun fiction. (I'm holding out on changing that opinion 'til I've read #7, but I wasn't exactly thrilled with HBP either.)

I've read some of those essays that are downright hi-larious. Some woman going on about how Harry is the anti-Christ... I totally lost it at the phrase "the Angel Malfoy." Most sane Christians who object to the Potter series object to it because it is showing "evil" - witches - as good. Which could encourage curious children to check out Wicca. But if they're looking for a good game of Quidditch, they're going to be sorely disappointed.

[Summer]

How can someone think that a story about magickal people is so evil? It is an absolutely awesome story! Or at least it was. I haven't read book 6 yet, because right after I bought it someone stole it, and I need to buy another one. There is nothing evil about finding the Divine Power in one's self! As a matter of fact, in my opinion, that is what a lot of the worlds religions teach one to do! We all have more power to create our own realities than we know. I feel that JK Rowling's series will get THAT thought out there to the younger generations. And I am soooooo glad that someone thought of a way to do it. We need to become more enlightened as an entire species, as far as I am concerned. And taking the Divine Power that God gave each of us, no matter how we see it or what path we are on, is a part of the evolution of our species. I think that the Harry Potter series helps kids to not forget what they know naturally when they are little, which is that magick is real. I believed in magick when I was little? Did you?

[ophie]

I used to be Potter fan to I have the 5 Books and laz to buy the 6th book. It just doesn't interest me anymore. But lol HP a wizzard book. Lol:)

[Summer]

Ophie, you and I are just going to have to borrow the 6th book from a friend or the library to see why so many people are having a hard time with the direction the story went!

[jimmyRRpage]

debbie said:

Ophie, you and I are just going to have to borrow the 6th book from a friend or the library to see why so many people are having a hard time with the direction the story went!

I could give you my reasonings:

I'd have to start by saying that I am a member of the HP fandom, and in this, I spent most of my time in the (relation)shipping wars. I am a Harmonian. That is, I always thought Harry/Hermione would be the stronger, more powerful couple. I always thought that there was a better, stronger relationship between Harry and Hermione than between any other characters in the series.

But now that you know this, I will tell you that my shipping preferences are a very small reason for my dislike of book 6.

1) Every single character was out-of-character.
2) Some storylines disappeared without a clue as to where they had gone.
3) Voldemort was nowhere to be seen in this one.
4) The romances were trite, cliche, boring, and rather pukeworthy.
5) In this book, all you have to do to "mature" is learn how to snog.
6) A certain event... or death... we all knew was coming... was laughable at best.
7) JKR shoots for what is easy in this book, then what is right (undermining one of her original themes).
8) Dumbledore's Army was nowhere to be found in this book.
9) Grawp was barely there, let alone being "more controlable."
10) Harry has learned absolutely nothing from his stint with Cho.

Those are my top ten reasons why I don't like book 6, and, as you can see, my (relation)shipping preferences are not on there.

Overall, it's hard to believe this is the same author.

[Summer]

I see. I still will need to read it for myself, in order to understand what you are talking about.

[pablo]

I have never read any Harry Potter and can see no reason to do so. I have enjoyed the films in a pretty mindless "Bag of Popcorn" kind of way.

However I read comics and like Hellblazer as John Constantine more closely approximates the modern magician and when the Typhonian members of the OTO would call the teratomas;-)

Pablo

Keanu Reeves was pretty dire in Constantine.

[Thorn]

pablo said:

I have never read any Harry Potter and can see no reason to do so. I have enjoyed the films in a pretty mindless "Bag of Popcorn" kind of way.

However I read comics and like Hellblazer as John Constantine more closely approximates the modern magician and when the Typhonian members of the OTO would call the teratomas;-)

Pablo

Keanu Reeves was pretty dire in Constantine.

I LOVE JC!!!! I used to collect Hellblazer years and years ago. I stopped not long after the cancer thing when Garth Ennis took over. Nothing wrong with Ennis (in fact, I loved his "hat trick" solution to the cancer. It was pure JC) I just ran out of $ for comics.

Is the series still going?

I was SO not happy with Keanu's Constantine. Tilda Swinton made the film worth seeing, however. But then, she would, wouldn't she? Woman's amazingly elegant and creepy at the same time. I want to be her.

The Harry Potter books are very engaging, even for adults. But they've got nothing to do with real magic.

I didn't mind HBP nearly as much as a lot of fans. I could care less about the relationships (as long as she doesn't hook up Hermione and Draco the way some people seem to want... WTH?) and I thought the death in question was handled well enough, and was fairly inevitable.

There was the one plot "twist" that I'm hoping doesn't go the way it seems to be. (Those who have read it will know which one I mean.) It'd invalidate everything she seems to be saying with the series. But I'm willing to wait for #7 before getting pissed off about it.

[Summer]

I started reading Harry Potter because my oldest son was actually into reading it, and it was something that we did together. Now I have found myself more hooked on reading them than he is. He thinks he is too old now. But it got him into reading for awhile, and that was all that I cared about. The books are way better than the movies, but I think it is always like that.