The Deviation of a Typical Hero in Harry Potter

Harry Potter, unlike his other fellow Young Adult heroes like Ragged Dick and Jo March, shows a disinclination and hesitation in his abilities even from the beginning of the series. Whereas his other heroes show themselves to headstrong and sure in their own abilities, Harry Potter deviates from such traits through mainly his characterization as a new wizard. The other heroes begin and end the series with a deep awareness of their own identity and what they must have to do, in turn, to overcome the trials that accompany their identities; Ragged Dick must overcome his poverty as an orphan without anyone to rely on, Jo March must overcome the stereotypes and sexism that accompanies a woman, and even Katniss Everdeen understands her low place in society as a member of District 12 in the Hunger Games. Harry, on the other hand, begins his role in the novel with the newfound awareness of his identity as a wizard, and furthermore, the wizard who defeated Voldemort as a baby. The discovery subsequently forces him to realign his understanding of himself in ways that he never had to do before, as his fellow students and even adults treat him with respect and veneration that he had previously never received as an orphan.

His discovery of a previously hidden identity imbues Harry with a sense of hesitation and lack of self-confidence that not many of his fellow heroes in the same genre suffer. Even when Harry is about to confront Voldemort, he shows little confidence in his ability to defeat him. Rowling writes, "Well--I was lucky once, wasn't I?' said Harry, pointing to his scar. 'I might get lucky again'" (208). He displays his hesitation and low confidence in his stumbling words, like "might" and "get lucky." He additionally attributes his defeat of Voldemort to not his own abilities, but rather a physical trait embodied by a wound long-healed over. He understands that, like his scar, his victory over Voldemort was a reflection of other people's actions, namely his mother's love and self-sacrifice. He further goes on to claim that he "isn't as good as [Hermione]" and feels embarrassed when she claims that he is a great wizard, further proving his hesitation as a hero. While his low self-confidence and uncertainty may be attributed to his young age--perhaps more comparable to a YA hero like Percy Jackson, who nonetheless shows confidence dissimilar to Harry--Harry still shows the same reluctance to lead and display confidence in his power even at the end of the series. His doubt in himself and unwillingness to lead others in battle is what characterizes him as a hero, and what even leads Dumbledore to make a larger thematic point about how some of the best heroes lie in those who take up the mantle of responsibility in spite their reluctance.

Harry Potter's Popularity

Harry Potter is widely renowned for its beautiful writing and incredible world building. However, there is that question that reverberates in everyone’s head: What makes Harry Potter so special? It comes down to a couple concepts, one of which is the fact that we’re exploring the wizarding world at the same time that Harry is. Everyone feels the excitement when Hagrid tells Harry the truth, “Harry—Yer a wizard” (Rowling, 1997). Rowling does a great job incorporating small details that helps the reader understand the ins and outs of the wizard world. This new universe has centaurs, broomsticks, and most importantly, magic. In a way, it feels like the reader is part of this new adventure to this amazing life. 

Another reason for its massive success is that Harry goes through the same kinds of problems as ordinary human beings with a twist of the unordinary. There’s a large workload from class, evil teachers, and the problem of socializing with new people. However, there’s also a mix of magical classes, a scar that originated from one of the most evil men in the wizarding world and flying sports. Also, Hogwarts is treated like an ordinary boarding school that has a few kinks in it; there’s a mysterious third floor and a forest full of dangerous beasts. There’s just enough relatability and the unknown to allure so many readers to enjoy this parallel world.r

Finally, one of the best parts of this book is the interesting yet familiar characters. Most of the characters in the book are archetypes that we’ve seen before: the bookworm, the bully, and even the mean teacher. They’re all well developed and they make for interesting interactions:  Professor Dumbledore. Can I ask you something?...What do you see when you look in the mirror?" "I? I see myself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks” (Rowling, 1997). Rowling’s amazing writing makes the audience truly care for Harry and his friends, so it’s like the audience has invested emotions into the book. The reasons for why Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is so popular is endless: however, most of it boils down to the immersive writing and the relateable aspect of the book.

Yer a Wizard, [insert name here]

The Harry Potter series debuted over two decades ago and has yet to fade from pop culture entirely. From the books we’ve seen movies, and from those movies we’ve seen spin-off movies, and from the epilogue of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows we’ve seen a Tony award winning Broadway play. There’s also, unofficially of course, the thousands of pieces of fanfiction, fanart, Etsy stores, online forums, original theatrical pieces, and a wide variety of other works to remind us that, despite the original series concluding in 2007, Harry Potter has yet to leave our minds and will likely continue to have a home there for years to come. All of this raises the question: why is this series so popular?

A few answers to this come to mind. To begin, Rowling has created a world where you can easily see yourself being inserted into the fantasy of it all, and more so you want to be. From the offset of the first novel, she creates divisions and factions that one can identify with. Are you a muggle or a wizard? Are you a Gryffindor or a Slytherin? Ravenclaw? Hufflepuff? It also helps that she spends all of page 118 explaining the differences between the houses so that you can more easily align yourself with one of them. As a second grader reading Sorcerer’s Stone for the first time, I was always partial to Ravenclaw and was proud to tell anyone who asked. Of course, that’s also another part of this self-insertion: I’ve found that whenever someone chooses to have a casual conversation about the Harry Potter series they focus not on the plot itself but instead on asking questions like ‘what house are you in’ or ‘what would your patronus be’ or ‘which pet would you choose to take with you?’ The general reader is entranced by the magic and world-building of it all but less so by the plot. 

This leads me to my second explanation for why this franchise is so popular: the intricacy and fantasy of the world that has been created. I’ve found personally that fantasy novels have to toe a very fine line between not being descriptive enough (even magic needs to have a bit of believability for the audience to buy into it) and being too overloaded with details (Tolkein’s novels are beautiful but sometimes there’s simply too much information in Lord of the Rings to take in at once). What Rowling does well is create a setting that has clearly set restrictions but also enough room to play that you can imagine your own ideas about it without them immediately being disputed. She has also created a world and series that matures with the reader as they progress through the novels, inviting an older audience to partake. There seems to be a sort of stigma that the older you get, the less acceptable it is to read fantasy books, so the Harry Potter novels seem to be an exception to this rule and allow people of all ages to enjoy a little magic. After all, just because you mature doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy some of the more fanciful things in life. 

As a second-through-fourth grader, the Harry Potter novels were a constant staple in my backpack, keeping me company on the playground, in the classroom, and at home during my free-time. I rediscovered them as an eighth grader, and now again I’m being enticed to read the entire series upon the conclusion of the first novel. There’s something timeless about the whimsy and fantasy of these books, but more importantly about how one can imagine themselves flicking through spells and boarding the Hogwarts Express. Sure, a part of me was disappointed when I didn’t receive my Hogwarts letter as I was getting ready to start middle school. However, these novels remind us that while their contents may not be real, there’s nothing wrong with a little imagination of what it would be like if they were. 

Found Family

As a novel geared towards young adults, the Harry Potter series acts to provide an escape for its readers. Young adulthood is often full of many emotions and insecurities tied to friends, love, and appearance. One of the primary issues that young Harry deals with before moving to Hogwarts, is his lack of family. Although he does technically live with a family, he grew up with no love or compassion. A childhood like the one Harry had deeply affects a child, leaving them yearning for a sense of belonging. Because of Harry’s identity as a wizard, he finds a new family in the wizarding world who help him find happiness.

In the town where Harry lived with the Dursley’s, he is alone. In this household, he is forced to live under the stairs and cook and clean for his aunt and uncle. Even when he went to school, “everybody knew that Dudley’s gang hated that odd Harry Potter” and so he lived his life in solitude (Rowling, 30).  As Harry’s life with the Dursley’s was so horrific, the choice to run away with Hagrid was a simple one.

When Harry arrives at Hogwarts he finally sees and connects with people like him. He gets to sit on the train with Ron and share his snacks and not be bullied. Harry is sorted into Gryffindor where he meets Hermione and Neville, people who will be in his life for much longer than he realizes at this point. When it becomes time for Harry to face evil for the first time at Hogwarts, he is surprised to hear his new best friends say “come off it, you don't think we’d let you go alone?” (Rowling, 271). With the help of his new friends, Harry is able to conquer evil once again, because he was aided by the love of his found family.

The search for a sense of belonging is common of all humans, wizards or not. Love and friendship do not come easily for Harry in this novel, as he has grown up in an unloving home. While Harry is lucky to have found a family, this novel shows that blood relatives are not always loving and kind. Over the course of the series, Harry forms bonds with many new people, who all help him to fulfill his destiny.

Evil Develops Character

There are many characters in Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone, by J.K. Rowling, to keep track of. Each character serves a different role in the story and the distinction between heroes and villains is made. Several characters bully or even try to hurt the main protagonists, Harry, Ron and Hermoine.  However, these adversities only help the students’ character growth. Harry, Ron and Hermoine are supposed to be seen as good, but flawed characters, fighting against bad, or “evil”. 

The first introduction to bullies, who may not necessarily fit what people think of as villains, are the Dursleys. They are Harry Potter’s aunt, uncle and cousin. Terrified of Harry’s magic and the fact that he might find out about it, they lock him away in a cupboard and constantly nag him. They want nothing to do with Harry and so he “dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away” (50). Ten years of being hated and bullied by the Dursleys leads to Harry doubting his abilities and place at Hogwarts. However, his doubt also leads him to want to prove that he’s more than just a famous name, that he belongs at Hogwarts.

Once at Hogwarts, not unlike a regular school, Harry and Ron run into Draco Malfoy who ends up bullying them. Draco continuously tries to get them into trouble. At one point, after Neville Longbottom gets hurt learning to use a broomstick, Malfoy takes something of Neville’s and Harry attempts to get it back. Ignoring his teacher’s instructions, he “turned his broomstick sharply to face Malfoy in midair. Malfoy looked stunned” (148). Harry stands up to the bully to help out a friend and in return it actually benefits him. He lands a spot on the Quidditch team, and its playing Quidditch that he finds an activity that solidifies his belonging at Hogwarts. 

Towards the end of the novel, Harry, Ron and Hermoine run into actual evil. They learn about the Sorcerer’s Stone and realize it is in danger, so they go to save it. It is blocked by many guards that some of the professors have set, but they use their bravery and knowledge to get through. Harry is left alone at the end and comes to find that Professor Quirrell is evil, working for Voldemort. Quirrell says to Harry, “There is no good and evil, there is only power and those too weak to seek it” (291). The problem with this statement is that Quirrell is implying that everyone with power wants to use it for bad things. Harry is seeking to protect himself, his friends and Hogwarts using his power, given to him by his mother. Harry is composed of such love from his mother that “it was agony to touch a person marked by something so good” (299). In that battle, the good (Harry and his friends) overcame the strength of evil and realized their own personal strengths in the process. 

The Distinction between Good and Evil

In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, good and evil are clearly defined until the end of the novel.

On the train to Hogwarts, Harry Potter learns that Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Griffindor are filled with good people, while Slytherin members are evil. When he meets Draco Malfoy, a proud wannabe Slytherin who insults Harry Potter and his new friend Ron Weasley, this belief is confirmed. As a result, Harry asks the Sorting hat to be placed in Griffindor over Slytherin, demonstrating his choosing good over evil. This simple distinction between the houses shows how easily good and evil can be distinguished in the novel.

Harry and his friends get along with all of the houses and their professors, except for the Slytherins. Professor Snape is especially cruel to all non-Slytherins and Harry. Because he is the Head of Slytherin House, the golden trio can easily confirm that he is evil. When Harry's broom is bewitched at the Quidditch match, the first person they suspect is Professor Snape, even though Professor Quirrell also stares unblinkingly at Harry. Later, when Harry overhears a conversation between Professor Snape and Professor Quirrell about the stone, Harry immediately assumes that Professor Quirell is in danger. Because they had already characterized Professor Snape as being evil, Professor Quirrell must be good if they were in conflict. The golden trio's insistence that Professor Snape is evil and anyone who does not get along with him is good demonstrates how the line between good and evil is clearly defined.

Rowling sheds doubt that Professor Snape is evil when Hagrid tells the golden trio that Professor Snape is working for Dumbledore, the most certifiable "good guy." As a result, Professor Snape could not be doing anything evil. Instead of treating the line between good and evil as indefinite, the golden trio assumes that Hagrid must be mistaken and continue to suspect Professor Snape.

When Professor Quirrell is revealed to be evil and that Professor Snape was trying to thwart him, the golden trio must decide whether they still believe that the line between good and evil is clearly defined. Although Professor Snape did delay the evil Voldemort's rise to power, he was still not a "good guy" for being so cruel to Harry and the Gryffindors. At this point, the distinction between good and evil is no longer definite but begins to blur, showing that the characters are both good and evil.