Remember when the Harry Potter book series was a recent phenomenon and adults everywhere were marveling that kids were finally reading? And then adults started reading them, but behind adult-looking magazines and classic novels so as not to be caught reading a kids' book? Since then, I think J. K. Rowling's series has more than proven adequate reading material for any age.
When I first started reading them and fell in love with the series at the age of 10, I just thought it was the most fascinating story taking place in the most incredible fictional world my mind had ever discovered. At age 17, when I read the final novel (and sobbed frantically as I bid my favorite characters farewell after seven years of having adventures with them), it occurred to me that these books - each one increasingly more political and emotionally complex - contained more than their reader expects when they crack open book number one. I reread the series every summer, and each time I read them I'm even more struck at the truth hidden in the words of fictional characters. As we're in the tensest part of election season, they've never been more true. Here are a few HP quotes (mostly from Dumbledore, let's be honest) that hit the nail on the head:
"Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself." - Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. There are no Voldemorts in our world, but there are issues like depression. Anxiety. Alcoholism. And other things we struggle with that are hard to say out loud. Saying their names aloud is the first step to conquering our fears, whatever they are.
"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." - Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Kind of like when gold-medal-winning swimmers lie about being mugged in a foreign country who is hosting them, or other excellent swimmers sexually assault a girl behind a dumpster. Lochte and Turner have undeniably exceptional abilities, but they showed their true character when they made the kind of choices that shouldn't cross anyone's minds.
"Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light." - Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. This is not to minimize depression or mental illness in any way, but there are many moments during otherwise dark times in which we can find glimmers of happiness, such as a moment of laughter recalling a memory with a loved one after a funeral. The key, as Dumbledore - wise man that he is - knew only too well, is to remember that we have this power to recognize those moments and choose to be happy.
" If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals." - Arthur Weasley, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Most of the wizards recognized that Mr. Crouch treated his house-elf as house-elfs are commonly treated in Harry's world: as robotic slaves rather than people with feelings. Most of those wizards weren't bothered by it, because that's "what was done." He was a man generally held in high esteem, but he was not a good man - which Hermione recognized. Similarly, in our world, when bosses treat their peers fairly but their employees unfairly, they should be held accountable, but often are not.
"Indifference and neglect often do more damage than outright dislike." - Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Outright bullying, lying, and physical abuse are all recognized for what they are: injustices to others. But what about giving someone the cold shoulder every time you argue? What about technically telling the truth but leaving something out? What about emotional abuse that so often goes unnoticed by the world? Sometimes it's the more subtle forms of injustice that hurt the most.
"Dumbledore says people find it far easier to forgive others for being wrong than being right." - Hermione, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. How many times have we had a fight with a loved one or friend, only to find that they later pretend nothing ever happened without apologizing? Fewer things can be as frustrating. As Dumbledore rightly pointed out, some, like Percy Weasley, find it harder to swallow their pride and say they are sorry and that they were wrong than to just move on from the subject entirely. The Percys of the world are their own breed, indeed.
"Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and above all those who live without love." - Dumbledore, obviously, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. When we lose someone to death, it hurts. A lot. Often we mourn the life that was lost, the future that will not come to be. But the truth is that the dead are a step ahead of us, hopefully at peace. It's those of us on earth who we actually cry for - for ourselves, for missing our loved ones. Living without love would be a fate worse than death.
