It feels like I’ve been talking about Harry Potter forever. Do I get tired of it? Yes? Do I think that there are some seriously problematic aspects of the entire universe (not the least of which is the original author herself)? Of course. But I find Harry Potter, and the phenomenon attached to it, incredibly valuable for study. In the texts, Rowling offers, much like many of authors of great literature in the past, some significant universal themes and social critique, and studying the texts in an academic setting can yield some pretty rich dialogue. But in addition to that, the popularity of Harry Potter tells us something about ourselves as a human society. I hope that this set of blogs, written by students in my Harry Potter course, help enrich your understanding of Harry Potter, of the society we currently inhabit, and of the human condition as a whole.

I start with Snape in particular, because he is a controversial figure. I, for one, love him. It helps that Alan Rickman played him so beautifully in the films. But I believe as a character, he sets up one of the more complex arguments in the texts regarding the nature of good and evil. Rowling uses Snape to show us that one can be good and evil at the same time. And that all human beings have the capacity for both at any given time. So whether you love Snape, hate him, think he doesn’t deserve a redemption arc, or love that he ends up a hero, he represents human fallibility and how it exists simultaneously with human nobility. He is really all of us, at our weakest and our strongest moments.