Chapter 21: The Problem of Beauty, Shame, and Slughorn

Today we really explore the character of Slughorn and what his character bring into the story (both good and bad). We also discuss some of the potions that Slughorn introduces us to and some of the implications that they have even for our modern culture. We even talk about how shame could point to the presence of God.

Enjoy the read!

- V. B.

Percy doesn’t go through middle adolescence (separating himself from his family) until after graduating Hogwarts; his rebellion comes through as treachery to his family.
Older adults who are not your parents are a very important part of growing up.
The Hogwarts students don't expect Dumbledore to play Quidditch, but it is very important for him to be there just the same.

Slughorn

Slughorn is an expert potion master, and he whips up the most difficult concoctions, but at the same time, he’s not very good in a tight situation, and he’s not good on his feet. When Ron was choking on the poisoned mead, Slughorn was frozen solid with shock, unable to do anything to help Ron. He lacks backbone and will power.
Slughorn isn’t a man of action. However, he knows his trade inside and out, and he knows what’s of value to potions. When it comes to value, he’s absolutely entranced with all that Hagrid has strewn around his hut.
When Slughorn sees all that Hagrid has acquired as groundskeeper, he sees galleons. Hagrid, on the other hand, sees tools for helping his creatures.
Slughorn’s value system is very mercantile/materialistic; what is it worth in terms of translating it into goods for himself? How much oak-matured mead or crystalized pineapple will this get him. (In 18th century English architecture, pineapple boasted that the owner was a hospitable person. The fruit wasn’t native to England, so it was very expensive, very exotic, and very hard to import.) Slughorn isn’t satisfied with mere chocolate. Crystalized fruit is the most expensive sort of candy you can have, and it’s only the best for old Sluggy.
Hagrid sees things in terms of its use, which contrasts Hagrid’s and Slughorn’s value system.
We start to see the parts of Slughorn’s character that are his flaws. We know he has a strong intellect, but we also know he has a failure of will (he is smart enough to act, but he just can’t).
Slughorn is driven by emotions more than anything else. His driving motives are fear and lust, but his fear is what controls him most. We often see certain emotions as the dominant aspect of who a certain person is. For example, for Hermione, her defining point is intellect, and with Harry, it’s his will power that defines him. He doesn’t have time to worry about what he’s feeling, he acts and then thinks about it later.
But these traits in Hermione, Harry, and the rest of the cast of characters aren't always good. Sin happens in the heart, in the human spirit. Jesus said the problem is what’s inside a person, not outside a person; we see this going on with different characters. We can now go back and think through the different characters and see sin operating uniquely through them all and how it effects them, and the story.
Lust is Slughorn’s modus operandi when it comes to the small things. He lusts after recognition, which is a self-esteem issue dealt with in early adolescence. If Percy didn’t get through middle adolescence, then Slughorn hasn’t gotten through early adolescence. One of the major differences between Percy and Slughorn though is that Slughorn does not desire power at all, he just wants recognition. 
Slughorn is almost childish. He’s not innocent, yet he still deals with self-esteem issues. Hagrid is child-like (but he is not without sin) which gives him an air of innocence, but he deals with a great many hardships throughout the series (loosing creatures he cares about, caring for his brother, recruiting the giants, etc) and yet he takes responsibility for his actions and behaves like a man. Slughorn on the other hand runs from danger, gives into fear, and has no desire to deal with consequences. This is the difference between being child–like and child–ish.
The crowning moment for Slughorn happens in the seventh book when he puts his fear aside and decides to battle the forces of evil alongside the rest of Hogwarts. Professor McGonogall confronts him, and he feels ashamed. He sort of disappears with the Slytherins, but his great moment is when he comes back to fight with the others. The apostle Peter failed, but also he came back; like Slughorn, he slinks away, but most importantly, they both return.

Harry's Thoughts on Slughorn
After Harry and Dumbledore come to recruit Slughorn into teaching at Hogwarts, Dumbledore asks what  Harry’s impression of Slughorn was. Both Harry's thoughts and feelings are important.
Harry has a building impression of Slughorn throughout the book, but his initial impression was important.
Slughorn offends Harry in the way in which he talks about muggle borns; Harry is quick to defend them by example with Hermione’s superior intelligence.
Slughorn also collects people, which puts Harry off. He hasn’t quite recognized it or thought through it yet, but Harry has a feeling about Slughorn and then gains reasons for his dislike later. Sometimes we have feelings about people but we can’t always trust our feelings because “the heart is deceitful above all things.” Thus, we might have the wrong feels about a certain person just like Harry had a feeling about Snape too, but he was wrong in the end. You receive immediate conclusions from your feelings, and then your intellect needs to analyze these thoughts.
Harry doesn’t want to get too close to Slughorn, but he will do so at Dumbledore’s request.

Potions

One of the intriguing parts of book six are some of the potions that Slughorn whips up.

• Felix Felicis "Liquid Luck" - This is the grandest potion mentioned in Half-blood Prince, and it was very important to Harry and Dumbledore. Slughorn can make the Felix Felicis potion, one of the most complicated of all potions, yet he has only taken it twice in his life. Up to this point, we’ve seen his flaws (ruled by his belly, lustfulness, etc.) yet he has a set of pretty high values when it comes to the uses Felix. He tells the class you can’t use the potion in sports competitions.
• Love Potion - This potion plays a very important role at different points throughout this book. This potion has different fragrances unique to the smeller. Hermione smells fresh parchment and freshly mown grass. Harry smells flowers and broom handles. These sorts of scents are smells you can’t put your finger on, but they invoke the loveliest of emotions. We smell the pleasantest fragrances that we associate with the one we’re in love with.
  To Harry and Hermione, this is a barometer for their feelings. It gives them information, but they’re the ones who have to interpret it. They realize they love whoever it is that they love; in this case, it’s Ginny and Ron.

The Problem of Beauty

We have these love potions in our culture as well. Perfumes and cosmetics have a scent; what is this fragrance deal all about? Fragrance is the experience of the beautiful through our nostrils.

The problem of beauty, the very presence of beauty in the world – why is it there? Why do we experience it? It’s a driving thing for us; beauty is also one of the things that’s going on with Slughorn and his diet. We are the only living things on this planet that have such a wide-ranging diet. Humans, as a general rule, have this huge range of things we all eat. It has to taste good, which is a way of experiencing beauty. Sometimes the way food looks will determine whether or not we choose to eat it. Likewise, sometimes the way food smells either makes or breaks it for us.

 We experience beauty in a wide variety of ways, sound included. Harry thought Nick’s deathday music was ghastly, while I’m sure the ghosts enjoyed it. Some sounds are quite beautiful to us.

The human body, with all its senses and different ways of discovering things, is just as complex as the spirit. Our spirit is constantly interpreting things through our different senses, and we’re constantly experiencing the beautiful. We can’t have the experience of the ugly unless we also have the one of the beautiful to compare it to; without that comparison, the experience is just meaningless.

Humans all have a preference of beauty, yet there’s also the individual experience of the beautiful. This sometimes depends on culture. We started wearing blue jeans to be different; so, naturally, now everyone is wearing blue jeans. The universal experience of what is beautiful occurs even while we are infants. We as individuals have preferences of what is good to us that are not dictated by our particular culture.

The Matter Of Shame

He feels incredibly guilty having told young Tom Riddle about the horcruxes; he feels terrible and ashamed.

What causes people to feel shamed? It's simple, it is the Holy Spirit. Jesus told us, when the Holy Spirit comes, He will convince the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment.

Slughorn is morbidly ashamed of what he told Tom Riddle, and that is a good thing; imagine if he hadn’t been ashamed. This is one of the arguments to the moral existence of God. You see, where does shame come from if not from God? Shame is not a universal trait of human nature. Bellatrix is not ashamed. Voldemort isn’t ashamed. Shame can't be chalked up to humans being naturally "good people". Any brief overview of history, or even a quick glance around your neighborhood will bare that out. There has to be something else going on in order to make people feel a sense of guilt.

Slughorn's Racism

Slughorn is really most of us. Most of us are nice people, and therefore, we think of racism as something only the KKK, the Nazis, or the Death Eaters do. Since we’re all these good people, we never deal with things like racism in our culture. The truth of the matter is that we are all racists, but we must recognize it first. Until then, it’s only something “bad people” do; we stereotype racism into what only bad people do.

Slughorn doesn’t feel like he’s a prejudiced man.

•  I’m sophisticated, I collect muggleborns and purebloods, but I’ll have to qualify that it’s surprising to me that a muggleborn like you is the best in your year; you’re not like us, so it is surprising, but you’ve achieved something and you can earn your way into my group . . . but you’re still a muggleborn, just in case you forgot.

Hermione is always our voice of reason in this. There’s always prejudice against house-evles, giants, and werewolves.

Madam Maxime is ashamed of what she is, and she’s responding to her culture; she wants a different identity. On the other hand, Hagrid is more mature, and he accepts himself for what he is. In every area that matters, the areas of eternal significance, Hagrid is the one you want to be. Madame Maxime is still struggling in a world that isn’t hers. She’s buying into a value system that is not of the Lord’s creation, the value system that every culture develops. Dumbledore is coming out of racism, but he’s still in remission; he’s like an alcoholic that hasn’t had a drink in a long time, but is still an alcoholic; he’s a recovering racist. To recognize that we’re racists is an extremely important part in self-awareness.

And now for a closing quote from Dr. Poe: 

“If you fry it, of course it’s good! I’d eat fried saw dust. Especially if you put some good BBQ sauce on it!” 

Chapter 20: Saints, Sisters, and Slughorn

Now we are entering into the Half-Blood Prince! A very exciting book in which a great deal happens. Join us as we explore how Rowling has set up all the important events of this book throughout the previous ones, what happens when sisters don't get along, why Professor Slughorn is important, and what is the nature of true friendship.


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That is all I have to say for now, so enjoy the read!


-Victor Bennet


The Half-Blood Prince
In the Chamber of Secrets, Harry accidentally ends up in Knockturn Alley, where he winds up in Borgin & Burkes. While he is there, he encounters a few objects that don't seem to be very important at the time, but wind up playing a big role in the 6th book. 

• Vanishing Cabinet
• Cursed Opal Necklace
• Hand of Glory

This gives the reader all the clues; there are no sudden or hidden clues. (This is following one of Sayer's mystery story "rules" of giving the reader all the clues to the solution ahead of time, but Rowling breaks one of her "rules" by having more than two hidden passage ways in Hogwarts. But of course... in a magical castle, she can get away with it.)
Tom Riddle’s first job out of Hogwarts just so happens to be at Borgin & Burkes. This is important because he wouldn’t have been able to collect the objects he later made into his horcruxes without the opportunities he had at the shop.


Also in Half Blood Prince, Draco goes through a great deal of character development and Lupin finally figures out that he was purposefully bitten by Fenrir Greyback. 
Snape takes the post as Defense Against the Dark Arts professor; thus, owing to the supposedly cursed position, we know something will happen to him by the end of the book.
Ginny has always had a crush on Harry, and she finally gets her man. The books don’t reveal that Ginny still likes Harry over the course of the series, but the movies give it away from time to time.  

• Now let us take a break to have a small side note on films. All the different forms of storytelling have both advantages and disadvantages to them. Typically, movies are about 2 hours long. The Harry Potter films were longer than that, and the viewers STILL didn’t think that there was enough of the book in the movie. But we have to realize that books, movies, plays, poems, and such are all mediums. The thing about novels is you can put all the details in, and you can also collaborate with the reader. What does that mean? Well, it means that books can have a greater level of detail without getting extremely boring [readers of Moby Dick, The Count of Monte Cristo, and The Similarion may wish to disagree with me on this point, and I wouldn't blame them, but I mean when compared to films.] "Collaboration with the reader" means that the reader must engage the work and use their imagination to build the world that they are reading about. In film, all the imaginative work has been done by the film makers and all the viewer has to do is watch someone else's interpretation of the book. So with film, you trade the ability of active imagination for the passive viewing of visualized ideas. End of bunny trail...)

In the first book, Quirrel has a part of Voldemort literally physically attached to him. This ties in with Voldemort's ability to possess people. But it also is mirrored later when we find out what a horcrux is and what it does. We also find out what the diary really is, and without that diary, Dumbledore never would’ve been put on Voldemort’s “horcrux” trail.
Aragog, who we meet in the second book, dies in the sixth book; this also plays a critical role in getting Slughorn’s memory and advancing the story.


St. Mungo's
Saint means "Holy One", and the holy ones are the followers of Christ Jesus. The use of that term is one of the little clues she lays out, and she’s showing her colors in a very discreet way. She’s very self-consciously creating a difference between the muggle and magic worlds, and names are a big part of her attempt. She takes great care and pride in the names and words she chooses.
The sound of the names (think of "Slytherin" and "Hufflepuff"), their etemology, it’s all a part of what she’s doing. Some words don’t mean anything anymore in context, but she keeps turning the tables on what is considered the norm of our culture.
You can almost contrast St. Mungo’s to St. Brutus’, which explicitly shows the Dursley’s brutality. In the muggle world, a saint's name is applied to dentention center, whereas in the magical world, the name is applied to a center of healing.


Angry Sisters
When the book opens, we find out that Fudge has been impeached from the Ministry; we then go to Spinner’s End where Bellatrix and Narcissa have gone to see Snape. Narcissa is showing storge love towards her son, Draco. Her sister is with her, yet she doesn’t tell Voldemort that she and Narcissa have gone to seen Snape. This means she is actually betraying the Dark Lord for her sister; even Bellatrix has this tiny little corner of storge for one of her sisters (none for Mrs. Tonks). For whatever reason, she’s protecting her sister’s treachery, and she doesn’t reveal their visit to Voldemort.
Part of this is the idea that there’s a little good in everyone. From a creation perspective, everyone is made in the image of God. Rowling is developing a doctrine of sin, and we see in every character the presence of sin. We all have sin, and we all do sin. However, there’s still the mark of creation, though we may befoul it. We cannot undo what God has done, and Bellatrix’s loyalty to her sister is a subtle theological statement.
We can compare those two sisters with Harry’s mother and Petunia Dursley, and with that, we go from Spinner’s End to Privet Drive.
Aunt Petunia knows about Azkaban from Snape. When we first read the book, she talks about “that boy” and later says, “that Potter boy”. Assuming she’s referring to the same individual, we believe this to be James Potter. After finishing the last volume and beginning again, we find out that “that boy” Petunia was referring to was Snape. This is very careful writing.
There’s this issue between Petunia and Lily, and it’s certainly not agape love. Why on earth would Petunia agree to take Harry in? Dumbledore sends her a howler telling her to remember the letter that had been left on her doorstep with Harry as a baby. It turns out, Petunia kept Harry to protect him. Here we have this corner of compassion with Petunia; we even see her put her foot down with Vernon in the fifth book. Petunia isn’t necessarily evil; there are scales of evil. Voldemort is completely evil, and everyone else is gradually less evil than him.


Professor Slughorn

He is very smart, but he has a lot of biases and plays favorites in order to help himself achieve his personal goals. Slughorn has good qualities but he very self-centered. “…whose god is their belly” Philipians 3:19 He’s not interested in power or fame but he still collects people. He objectifies people.

Fear is his primary motive. He is on the run all the time, he can’t even enjoy himself. And yet in the last book, he leaves but then comes back! And he is actually dueling Voldemort at the end.

There’s a lot in the books about being called upon to make choices. “Chose you this day whom you shall serve” Joshua 24:15 The same challenge is presented to Slughorn by Professor McGonogall when she says, “We fight to the death.” She knows the importance of what lies ahead, and she wants others to know it as well.
He has his little group called the Slug Club. Harry is a member (not really of his own free will), and he doesn’t want to be. Dumbledore requires the memory, so he tells Harry that he has to be a part of the "club." Harry, however, doesn’t do a very good job of attending the dinners. (C.S. Lewis wrote The Inner Ring on this subject, and he also put this at the heart of his book, That Hideous Strength. In his book, the driving desire of the young junior member of the faculty is to become a part of the "in" crowd.) There are lots and lots of inner rings scattered around (Death Eaters, Dumbledore's Army, etc...), and you’re either in or out. The question is, how do you feel about it? Do you want to be in? Are you thankful you’re not?
Ron wants to be invited to Slughorn’s parties, but Harry doesn’t. Draco also wants to be in the inner ring, but neither Neville nor Luna will be invited in. The way that Harry dislikes the Slug Club and invites Luna to the Christmas party "just as friends" really brings up the issue of what real friendship is.
To a certain extent, Dumbledore’s Army was a different way about thinking of an inner circle. There is a difference in how you get accepted into the Slug Club and how you get into the DA. It all depends on what value system you are using to value other people. The Death Eaters are an inner circle, as were the Marauders in their time.
Rowling also makes the case that not everyone who has a reputation or intense popularity are the kind of people who you need to hang out with.

• Cornelious Fudge knows how to get along and flatter people.
• Horace Slughorn sets up the Slug Club and objectifies people.
• Gilderoy Lockhart is a pathological narcissist. 
• Barty Crouch works very hard to keep his reputation, to the point of disowning his own son.
• Percy Weasley is a self-important flatterer.
• Ludo Bagman is very puffed up by his past position on a national quidditch team, and this is his continuing basis for operation.
• Cormac McLaggen will bore you to death talking about himself; he is an attention-seeker.
• Draco is this way in the first book onward. He brags about how wealthy his parents are, how much influence his father has, and it’s a skill he cultivates to his ruin.
• It’s clear that Rowling doesn't really like these sort of people.

Shield Charms

Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes have a wide assortment of shield charm items for sale. These articles shield you in different ways, and according to Dr. Poe this could allegorize the whole armor of God. This is the whole idea between the shield and the onslaught of evil it’s protecting you from.    

Jinxes in the Bible?

Mrs. Weasley threatens to jinx Ron at the Burrow. When a jinx comes upon us, we’re inhibited in some way. This is what happened to the father of John the Baptist; he was "jinxed" so that he couldn’t speak because his lack of faith in God. John the Baptist’s father was able to speak again once his son was born and named.

Dr. Poe quote of the day: (On the Harry Potter films) “Where there is a will, there is money to be made.”

Chapter 19: Demon Possession, Temper Tantrums, and Dumbledore's Guilt

Order of the Phoenix

The Indwelling of Voldemort

   We’ve had the confrontation between the DA members and the death eaters, then the Order of the Phoenix joined, then Dumbledore arrived, then Voldemort himself came. There was a confrontation between Harry and Voldemort, and then Dumbledore comes on the scene and takes over. 

For the first time, according to Harry, Dumbledore seemed afraid when Voldemort was possessing Harry. The description of what it felt like to be possessed was like poor Dr. Poe’s elbow surgery: pure agony without escape. 

Death is not the end. Harry says, “death is nothing, and I’ll see Sirius again.” And when he thinks that, the tables turn for Harry and Voldemort, but we don’t learn that until later. It is then that Harry's spirit overpowers the indwelling spirit of Voldemort, and now of the sudden it is Voldemort who is in unbearable pain. 

Sometimes our best image of something is the opposite of what it is and we can’t get a handle on the way it truly is; we can only understand the opposite of what it is. Here Rowling is describing a deadly possession: the idea of being fused to another intelligence. She’s describing the opposite of the new birth, being embraced by the Spirit of God. Instead of pain unimaginable, we have light and joy. One of the things she’s doing in all of this is making a case for Christianity and how one comes to God. The idea of dying and the substitutionary death is an important part, but the regeneration part is left out. The whole motif we find littered throughout the New Testament is left out of most modern-day works. Rowling, however, is doing the opposite; she’s not writing theology, but a story, and she’s showing us what it’s like in a hideous, destructive way. To be fused to the Spirit of God is the opposite of this experience of Harry and Voldemort.

Harry wants Dumbledore to kill him so it’ll be over, and Voldemort soon begins using Harry’s voice. Harry now knows death is not the worst thing in the world. Harry’s blessed hope is that there is something beyond death because he wants to see Sirius again. When he thought of Sirius, his heart filled with emotion, and Voldemort was pushed from Harry’s body in pain. Voldemort is incapable of love, and it was physically painful for him to possess Harry while he felt such love.

The device she’s using of the two beings being joined is the opposite of the Christian life. We have the mind of Christ, so this whole business of Occlumency and Legilimency is like how part of our spiritual goal is to know the Will of God and to have the mind of Christ. We spend our whole life developing those skills, and thankfully, the Lord is constantly making himself known to us.

Meanwhile, Back at the Office...

   After the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, Harry gets back to the headmaster’s office and eventually Dumbledore returns. Dumbledore tries to empathize with Harry, but Harry says he can't possibly know how he’s feeling. At the beginning of this book, Harry was against Ron and Hermione for being in on everything that was going on in the wizarding world while he was stuck at Privet Drive.

There’s a certain safety in being able to rant and rave at those you’re closest to, so now Harry rants at Dumbledore and pitches a royal fit. He’s fifteen, facing sixteen, so he is solidly in the middle of his adolescence. He start’s smashing and throwing Dumbledore’s things and having a wild temper tantrum.

Dumbledore tells him that suffering is part of being human and caring about people. It’s hard to reason with anyone with a fever pitch emotion, but Dumbledore is persisting in hopes of calming Harry down. Harry declares that he doesn’t care anymore, but the idea of caring is an important thing.

These are all mystery stories, but it doesn’t work unless the audience cares. You have to care about the mystery and the truth to it; it’s a necessary ingredient. One of the conventions of a mystery story is that at the end of the mystery, the detective explains it all. This chapter is the big explanation. But at the end of this mystery story, it is not the detective (Harry) explaining the ending of the story, it’s Dumbledore!

Again, Dumbledore is not God. He is, however, a type of prophet. Dumbledore is a wizard, the wise man, Elijah and Samuel, and he has a band of followers in the Order of the Phoenix to follow his cause. It falls to Dumbledore to explain it all to Harry and to put it all together. His is also the role of the interpreter.

Dumbledore's Guilty Conscience 

   Harry blows off steam and says he doesn’t care, to which Dumbledore disagrees. Harry has lost his parents and his godfather, and when Dumbledore tried to emphasize, Harry doesn’t agree.  Normally, when we say this, we don’t really know how they’re feeling; we just haven’t had that experience. We can sympathize with the person, but we can’t really empathize with them. But Dumbledore tells Harry that he understands because he truly does understand. Dumbledore is not like the Rock of Gibraltar, unmoving and unchanging. He is human. He messes up just like everyone else. In this case, because we later find out what happened to Dumbledore, we know that Dumbledore really can empathize. He’s been through it all. Dumbledore lost his parents and his sister, and it’s something that dogs him all the time.

Dumbledore is upset with himself because he didn’t tell Harry upfront about everything that was going on, and he kept too many secrets from him. Dumbledore has a brother, Aberforth, who really understood life and what mattered in a way that Dumbledore did not. If Dumbledore had been open with Harry, Harry would never have been tricked into going to the Ministry (and as Dumbledore believes) Sirius would still be alive; Dumbledore gives himself all the blame. 

One thing that’s going on there, now that we know the whole story, is that he’s still blaming himself for his sister’s death, he’s still carrying it with him, and that makes it easier for him to blame himself for everything else. He’s carrying a huge burden of guilt. We’re also getting a full dose of the frailty of Dumbledore that’s explained to us in the last book. We don’t find out what’s really animating him until the last book, and rereading the series sheds a whole new light on his character. Rowling is writing this, knowing how the thing is ending. "She is a genius, clearly."

Dumbledore has this plan, you see. He guessed that Harry’s scar would be a connection between Harry and Voldemort. On the flipside, Dumbledore is dealing with guilt, dealing with all his secrets, and knowing what connections he drew, he still can’t tell Harry what his scar, what this connection, really means, nor what will eventually have to be done about it (destroy the horcrux of himself).

In the first few years, Dumbledore goes through what Voldemort was doing, his history, on and on until he admitted he put off telling Harry why Voldemort had tried to kill him when he was just a baby. Dumbledore is now telling us how he goes about deciding when, why, and how to keep secrets. He avoids telling Harry the truth to avoid hurting him anymore. Here we finally have the rationalization of Dumbledore’s pattern of secret keeping.

Dumbledore fell into the trap he had foreseen: he cared more for Harry’s happiness than of his knowing of the truth; he acted exactly as Voldemort would expect the fools who love to act. Dumbledore has kept a close eye on Harry throughout his time at Hogwarts, more so than Harry can imagine (Mrs. Figg at Privet Drive; always knows what’s going on at Hogwarts and because Dumbledore doesn’t need an invisibility cloak to make himself invisible). 

The last person Dumbledore took care of and was responsible for was his younger sister. Needless to say, he "muffed that one", so Harry is his second chance. Of course, we don’t know that during his conversation with Harry; in fact, we don’t find this out about Dumbledore until he’s already dead. 

 As Harry got older, Dumbledore kept finding reasons not to tell Harry. But as Harry’s finally calms down and gets drawn into Dumbledore’s story, he tells Harry that Voldemort tried to kill him because of a prophecy made when he was just a baby. Voldemort only knew a bit of it of the prophecy, and because he acted before he heard it in its entirety, the rebounding of the Avada Kedavra curse led to his demise. 

Now that Voldemort has been returned to his body, he is determined to hear the rest of the prophecy so he’ll know exactly how to kill Harry. Dumbledore doesn’t reveal to Harry the nature of the horcruxes or the fact that Snape was the one who told Voldemort the snippet of the Prophecy he’d overheard. Was Dumbledore right to hold this back? Are there some instances you don’t tell everything you know? We’ve seen Aberforth say that Dumbledore is wrong to keep secrets, but he’s not an objective observer; he blames Albus for their sister’s death. It’s absolutely necessary to keep the secrets for the last two books (one reason is because of the money to be made).

The Nature of Prophecy

   Sybill Trelawney was the one who gave the prophecy, and she experienced a true Seer moment like the one Harry witnessed in the third book. The prophecy orb is destroyed in the fight at the Ministry, but Dumbledore pulls the memory from the Pensieve so that Harry can see and hear it all happen.Dumbledore was, perhaps, right in keeping the conviction of this knowledge form Harry; the absence of the knowledge might’ve been the only thing that allowed him to function. This is what Dumbledore was hinting at; if Harry had known why he was getting these visions, it would’ve made a difference with his Occlumency lessons.We need to think about words like "destiny", "karma", and what really imply because that’s the way Harry’s going to bring it up.We have the European understanding of how everything works out: the fates weave the rope of destiny and determine everything that will happen. But the Hindu understanding of why we do things is "karma." You do this because this is who you are, and you can’t do other than your true nature. While the Egyptians believed everyone had their Ka that was laid out before them.We have this concept in different cultures, and Rowling is dealing with the nature of prophecy and how it works. The Chosen One actually could’ve been Neville instead of Harry. The reason Harry’s name was put on the prophecy is because of Voldemort’s actions. He interpreted the prophecy in a certain way and tried to fulfill the prophecy without knowing the contents in full. Modern science fiction stories have used the term prophecies in them. It’s in the Chronicles Narnia, but you expect it from Lewis. What’s the source of these prophecies? Where do they come from? Divination and Prophecy are entirely different things. Trelawney was never able to make an accurate prediction during Divination class, yet she’s the one that makes the two, genuine prophecies in the Harry Potter series.We will talk more about the prophecy, Harry’s destiny, how it affects his actions when we get to the two last books.
What About Umbridge?Umbridge was taken by the centaurs and traumatized by the experience; she almost got Harry killed in the beginning by sending dementors to Little Whinging, and she’s willing to torture him with the Cruciatus Curse. When she offended the centaurs, they carried her off, and she got off awfully easy with them. Dumbledore simply trudged into the forest and retrieves her after he’s been restored as Headmaster. Umbridge, however, wastes her second chance; her character doesn’t changed once Dumbledore rescues her, and she’s just as vile as she ever was.

Chapter 18: Where Does God Belong in Harry Potter?

AT LAST! 


I am so sorry for the delay in updating this blog, but I must beg your forgiveness. I was just recently released from one of the most terrifying forms of the Imperius Curse. I must confess the particulars are a bit fuzzy in my memory now, but I have been told that while I was at school this curse forced me to long and secluded hours in the dark with nothing but books to keep me company. After pouring over these books, I was subjected to a series of tests given to my by select professors. Soon after completing these tests, I was released from the Imperius Curse and was sent home to recover. 
Now that I have fully recovered from these final tests, I have set about (using a borrowed time turner) going back in time and writing to you everything we covered in class while I was under the of this curse. A big thanks once again to Alice of Rabbiton for providing me with her parchments from these classes.


-Victor Bennet


The Gospel

• Begins with the Creator God

• Fulfillment of Scripture/Prophecy

• The Incarnation; Jesus is fully human and fully God.

• He died for our sins

• He rose from the dead

• He is exalted to the right hand of God; He has been given a name above every other name

• He gave the Holy Spirit to those who had faith

• His will come again

One of the big themes in the Harry Potter books is challenging the relativism of our own culture: there’s no right or wrong, no good or evil. Harry Potter is not a relativistic work. Rowling works ultimate right and wrong into her work as part of the natural universe.
Cultural relativism is combated with the fact that there is a creator God. He created values, and these values are built into the very creation itself. Value is given because there is a God and is invested in us. The foundation and value of a family is also found in the fact that there is a creator God.


Love
The books have a huge theme of love.
All the points of the Gospel deal with Love because God IS Love. Without God, there is no Love. Love, by definition, is a relational thing and can only exist when there is an alternative, and God's love saves us from that alternative. 

The Hebrew world “hesed” is all throughout the gospels, and it is roughly translated “steadfast love.”

God does what He does because of His "hesed" love of people. The atonement was an expression of His love, and this idea drives the materialists mad. They try to develop some kind of rationality because love has a supernatural quality to it.


Death
After the creation of the world, God created humans. But humans fell short of the glory of God when they sinned. This is when Death is introduced. Death is also a major issue when Christ dies for us and rises again.
The books have a theme of death as well.
After the Creator God, we have the doctrine of Creation and that is where we as humans come into the story. The glory is that we’re made in the image of God, yet the tragedy is that we’ve fallen short of His image. We break the rules because we’ve fallen short of God. Death and Sin comes in, and Rowling explores the different manifestations of Sin through the books. Jesus died for our sins, death being the ultimate wages for our sins. It’s a double substitution: He died for me, and I am crucified with Him; He takes my death, and I take His life.
If we go forward to the last book, we see that Rowling isn’t a Universalist. Dumbledore tells Harry at King’s Cross Station that he can’t help Voldemort, but Harry nonetheless is the evangelist to Voldemort when they’re dueling and Harry tells him "it’s not too late".


Supernaturalism
Rowling’s books are filled with the supernatural.
The Resurrection is an excellent example of the supernatural. People just don’t come back to life every day. It’s just not normal! It's not Natural, thus it is Supernatural! 
God speaking to prophets and the prophecies coming true, the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, this is all spooky. Many people ask the questions, "Is the Creator God involved in the universe, and if so, in what sense is He involved? Is this just cause and effect, or is there an order of nature, created by God in the beginning, the way the Bible tells us?" I myself, Victor Bennet have often asked these questions. Is there an answer? 
Dr. Poe gives us a excellent explanation. "We cannot have God creating the fundamental forces of the universe without the idea that God can be involved in it." That is to say, if we believe that God created the entire universe, how could we believe that He is not equally involved in sustaining it? People have this idea that God lives way, way up high, and He has to come down to earth to be involved. God’s Holy Spirit has never left, hence the term: an omnipresent God. God has never left. He was here in the beginning, and He is still here today.


What Is the Mystery in The Department of Mysteries?
In the fifth book we really get up close and personal with the Department of Mysteries. We come to find out that it contains the prophecies. This brings us to the idea of prophecy in the Bible. Prophecies make the Bible different from any other book in the world. It’s easy for a holy book to claim itself true. The one thing unique to the Bible is that it contains prophecy, which is absent in all others "holy writings". The Bible is an intriguing collection of prophecies so that you’ll know the character of God as one who makes promises, keeps those promises, and thus is trustworthy.
These successions of prophecies strive to show the character of God as one who keep His promises. God is different than all the other manmade gods. Prophecies only work if there is an all-knowing being who can see the future and then can reveal it to humans. The deities of other cultures don’t speak to us, don’t know us, don’t love us, and, in Eastern religions, aren’t really even conscious of themselves existing. 
When Rowling introduces the idea of prophecy in the books, she opens up an obvious question: "Where do these prophecies come from, how do they happen?" Prophecy is very different from divination. Divination tries to wrench knowledge from the universe, while prophecies are abrupt and are granted to seers, but the people are not the start of it. Prophecies come when you aren't expecting them and when you may not want them.This is how the Spirit of the Lord came upon the Biblical prophets. Amos didn’t like being a prophet, Isaiah didn’t want to be prophet, but God was able to use them nonetheless. When Trelawny actually does prophesy, she is not the source of it and cannot control it.
Talking about prophecy brings up the problem of how it works. Rowling doesn’t deal with the source of power that fuels magic. She’s already slammed Divination, and she makes sure it’s discredited. Then, she subtly raises the question of where these prophecies come from and the only sensible answer would be that there has to be something more to the universe than simply the natural world that we see and understand. 
So why don't Rowling explain where prophecies come from or at least hint a bit more at what she believes? It boils down to the fact that these books are not theology or Scripture; they’re fairytales that have been influenced by Christian faith. You get a unique set of answers with her stories, and we get a whole different answer with other stories. They all point towards the ultimate answers which are contained within the Bible. 


Substatutionary Deaths
Rowling’s books feature many characters’ deaths for other people. Which is the right one: did Jesus die as a substitution for us, did his death defeat death/Satan, did his death clense and heal us, did his death set us free, etc. The problem with our culture is that we’re trying to narrow it down to the one, essential “it”. In fact, Christ did it all. The modern way of thinking, by getting it down to the one thing, eliminates the one thing itself.
 In the book, Harry doesn’t die for sins. He’s representing the reasonableness of a substitutionary death. In Scripture, there is typology. Harry is a “type” of Christ. He is not an allegory or even a reflection of Jesus, he is a character that has been influenced by, and shares similar characteristics with Christ. Harry is not Jesus, Dumbledore is not God, and this is just a glimmer of the real story. The big, real story, the full story, is Jesus.

Chapter 17: Childhood Rebellion

Today we started talking about The Order of the Phoenix. But we also had the special treat of hearing most of the class sing a Sorting Hat song! Dr. Poe said that anyone who would sing would be given extra credit. (The only reason I didn't sing was because I wanted to be sure that you all were able to see it happen!) So enjoy the video and the post!

- V.B.

Order of the Phoenix

Middle Adolescences

•    During this time of childhood, the task is gaining independence. In our culture, driving a car is a large rite of passage. “My brother and sister were arrested before they were 20, whereas I was a prison chapelen. There was a difference.” There is always some sort of rebellion involved. Dr. Poe’s rebellion was to become a Republican at the age of 15 (at the time, this was unheard of in the South).
•    Harry’s parents are dead, so how does he gain independence? Harry is angry because he is cut off from the Order. He thinks they think he can’t handle information, but he has never been told this. He is paranoid.
•    His friends haven’t spoken to him all summer, he thinks it is because he is being punished.
•    Dumbledore is the only person that Harry can rebel against. During this age, children are wanting their parent’s love, but keeping them at arm’s length at the same time. This is because the relationship between a parent and child must change into something different, it must become an adult-to-adult relationship.
•    Harry feels neglected by Dumbledore, but can’t lash out at him, so Harry takes out all of his anger out on his friends.

Emotions

• Even though females are typically more emotional than males, Harry is the emotional one in this story and Hermione isn’t. Men and women both have strong emotions, but each gender deals with them differently. Why do humans have emotions? Because God has emotions and we are created in his image.

Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc

• Harry in this book is very angry. All the time. 
• One of my classmates said that when he read this book as a kid, he was very angry too. It wasn’t because of reading the books that they were angry, it's because some of the kids reading this book were already going through similar problems as Harry. 

The Doctrine of Sin

• Rowling is constantly pointing out that there are things wrong with everyone. Even the “nice” people. It’s one thing to say that Voldemort or the Malfoy do things wrong, but she shows that Harry, Dumbledore, and the others mess up to.

Reconciliation

• Rowling is working with reconciliation in this book. Harry is stubbornly hard headed about not wanting to open up to his friends after he feels hurt. This is most obvious against Dumbledore in this book, but you also see this between Harry and Ron in Goblet of Fire and you see it ALL the time between Ron and Hermione.
• Harry does finally realize his faults and repairs his friendships.
• How do you raise children? Rowling shows that this period of growing up is hard, but also that what happens before you are 11 years old is important as well. 

Umbridge

• The author of a work can often be judged by the characters that they write. They don’t have to be a “good” character in order to be a well written character. Umbridge is a wonderful character because she is so horrid. Umbridge is a manager not only in the government, but in the educational system as well.
• Rowling makes it clear that governmental involvement in education and governmental involvement in the press (Daily Prophet) is a bad thing. The Prophet doesn’t print headlines about Harry being mad, they work it into just normal articles. And this is much like C. S. Lewis saying that Christians should just write more from there point of view. This is the corrupted version of Lewis' apologetics. The Prophet does this to undermine Harry and Dumbledore.
• When Sirius Black was on the lose, the Ministry goes out of there way to protect Harry, but now that there are ten death eaters at large they are discrediting him and persecuting him.

Hermione’s independence

• Hermione is the one who comes up with the idea of Dumbledore’s Army. This is very much an outright rebellion on her part.  “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

Percy Wesley

• Percy sacrifices everything to be part of the “inner ring.” Legalism is not a equivalent to righteousness. In this story, the legalist is a “bad guy.”

Soon we will start talking about the films as well. We will explore the different mediums and the limits that they both have. 

Chapter 16: Harry Potter and Sex (or the lack thereof)

Now that the title got your attention... 
I'd like to give a big thanks to Alice of Rabbiton for taking the notes that make this post possible. I will also point out that all phrases in quotation marks are quotes from Dr. Poe unless otherwise noted. I will also take this opportunity to remind you that all information found on this blog is a faithful representation of what is discussed in class and may not necessarily reflect the views held by me, my classmates, or Union University as a whole. 


That being said, I approve of (although I may not always agree with) everything that I allow to be placed on this blog. I hope that you enjoy today's post on Love, Prejudices, and the Morality of the Unforgivable Curses.


-V. B.


A Continued Discussion of Eros

•    As Rowling follows these children as they go through adolescence, she is faced with the question of when to introduce certain experiences. In the midst of all that’s going on, when do you introduce eros?
•    The body is changing during this time period, so how do you introduce these new emotions? Hormones start exploding, acne kicks in, your body begins to change shape, and life just seems awkward all of the sudden. 
•    Sexual experimentation, in today’s society, is being pushed on much younger age groups. Since the counter-culture of the 1960's, sexual norms have basically been eradicated in American culture. Our society sees no sexual norms or boundaries; no right or wrong, there’s just what you do. "Intercourse, in our culture, is just as normal as a handshake between strangers," according to Dr. Poe. The media also gives us continuous exposure about sex.

So How Does Rowling Combat This Horrible Eradication of Morals?

•    One of the subtle things she does is to wait until around age fifteen to talk about dating. She’s reestablishing what is normal, and she’s allowing them to grow up at the pace that is normal and acceptable; your emotions, your intellect, and your body is all in sequence. "They’re not talking about bedding girls; they’re talking about the horror of asking a girl on a date." This is a very subtle to establish what is normal.
•    When you talk about a worldview, one of the core beliefs is sexual morals. This is what Rowling is touching on by reaffirming a healthier understanding of growing up and getting things in the proper sequence. She doesn’t make a big deal out of it. It’s just part of the story and how the characters mature in all those different dimensions.
•    Hermione criticizes Ron’s “emotional range of a teaspoon” when he can’t empathize with Cho. Rowling is talking about the disparity between males and females for about a ten year period; they’re maturing at different speeds. She’s tracing that, and we see how Hermione, being more mature than Ron, has to wait for his affections and emotions to catch up with hers.
•    She’s doing all this to create a new set of norms, but she’s only one voice out of many. There are millions of stories that have changed the behavior patterns of society in terms of what was acceptable, what is normal, and what is expected. If you don’t behave the way culture expects, you are "abnormal." You are like Dobby, the social deviant who doesn’t think or behave the way a house elf should.
•    Christians in all cultures, at all times, are at some level social deviants. We are different from the mainstream of the culture (or at least one would hope so) and we had a profound effect on the broad culture for decades. But the West is losing its Christian foundation. Life, liberty, and happiness are products of a Christian worldview.
•    Rowling doesn’t discuss it in terms of human behavior or lecture about what nice people do, but in terms of normal, everyday behavior. The narrative itself has an influence on the reader, leading them to agree with what she likes and disagree with what she dislikes. Rowling doesn’t lecture about what is right and wrong, she just builds her view of norms right into the story! By just presenting things as the normal way of doing things, the reader is just brought along with the idea that this is just the way things are.

Dr. Poe stated that he would be interested to see if these books have changed the way the world views things as acceptable. The pulpit of the ‘60s was the movie theater, they pushed all the envelope and created norms. So how have these books and films made any cultural change in the generation of "Millennials" that have been so observed in the series.  


Pride & Prejudices 

•    This book really highlights the idea of prejudice in a way that we haven’t seen quite as much. It comes to a head with attitudes towards things like half-breeds. Rowling touches on the acceptance of who you are and your own identity, and a lot of people deny their true selves. There are prejudices against half-giants, but she writes the story to where we dislike the ones who dislike the half-giants.
•    Hermione talks about those who are prejudice about werewolves. She’s not giving out simple answers to things, and there are just some behaviors that you just don’t accept. More obvious with Fenrir than Lupin, there are extreme behaviors that won’t be tolerated (killing children).
•    She also touches on the attitudes towards house elves and centaurs, even against muggles. The strangeness of the prejudices is further explored with goblins, wand carriers, and those who are not pure-bloods.
•    This can become a methodology, working when Ron and Harry are discussing the dates for the Yule Bale. They’re now evaluating the appearance of girls. These evaluations that are going back and forth are very strange. Things like that are part of finding your place in Harry Potter and putting prejudice in its place.
•    Jesus was always multicultural, but most cultures work at reinforcing the prejudices rather than tearing them down. In Galatians 3:28, Jesus tells us, "There are neither Jews nor Greeks, slaves nor free people, males nor females. You are all the same in Christ Jesus."            

 New Types of Magic In The Goblet of Fire

•    The Aging Line around the goblet itself is very similar to getting an I.D. card and the right of passage that it gives you (going to certain movies, buying beer, etc).
•     Apparating and the desire to do so all the time when you have your license is like driving.
•     Veritaserum, the strongest truth potion, would be like sodium pentathol.
• Rowling is often dancing between magic and science, giving it a clever twist to make it make-believe when, in actuality, it does exist in reality.
• Harry lies a lot but has some very valuable secrets, so he’s incredibly worried Snape would give him the truth serum.
•    Rita Skeeter and the paparazzi are being terribly worrisome.
•    The Goblet of Fire is the Sorting Hat carried to the next level. It is sorting the occupants into the worthiest individuals from each school. It’s like a computer, and it does get "hacked" by Barty Crouch Jr.
•    Professor Moody (aka Barty Jr.) transfigures Malfoy into a ferret, and he transforms Barty Sr. into a bone and buried him.

The Unforgivable Curses

Barty Jr. demonstrates the three unforgiveable curses to us for the first time.

• Imperius Curse
•    You can control somebody.
•      Learn to manipulate people so that they do what you want them to do.
•    We’ve had it used on us numerous times, and we pick up the skill if we’re not careful. You may have relatives that are really good at the Imperius Curse, only we typically call it a "Guilt-trip." It gives you total control over someone based on what you say. You've heard them before,  “You do want you want.” or “Don’t mind me, I’m used to being alone.”

• Cruciatus Curse
•    "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me" is the countercurse that we were all taught as kids, but it never seemed to work...
•    You can torture someone with unbearable pain.
•    James, brother of Jesus, wrote on this subject of the power of words to cause unbearable pain. The tongue is an incredibly powerful instrument for good and for evil. "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be." James 3:9-10

• Killing Curse
•    Jesus warned us of this in the Sermon on the Mount. Thou shall not kill.
•    You don’t have to use your hands; it starts with the intentions of the heart. Murder starts with the intentions of the heart.
•    Harry couldn’t use the Cruciatus Curse because he didn’t mean it in his heart.
•    Umbridge regularly uses the unforgiveable curses for “the greater good”.
•    Kingsley Shacklebolt uses the Imperius Curse on Cho’s friend when Dumbledore’s Army has been caught by Umbridge’s interrogations.
•    McGonagall uses one against Bellatrix in the Deathly Hallows.
•    Harry never uses the killing curse, and he even warns Voldemort not to use it.
•    Molly Weasley never utters the curse out loud, but we know she’s used it against Bellatrix.

What Are the Ethics Behind The Unforgivable Curses?

•    Our heroes later use the unforgiveable curses. “Unforgivable” isn’t a legal term, it’s invocative of the something like the Last Judgment. Is it right for the heroes to use them? Some things are forbidden by the state, culture, authority figures, or God. 
•    Is it the curse that’s the problem or is it the killing of people that’s the problem?
•    Dr. Poe hopes to continue this discussion at a later time and will perhaps to have one of our professors of ethics discuss this with us!

Parting Thoughts...

•    The idea of celebrity is introduced with Victor Krum. To what extent is Rowling’s celebrity featured in to the way she writes those passages? Does she put herself into the book? She does have insight into the experience of fame that other authors don’t know about. Rowling was surprised at her fame, and in that sense, she’s musch like Harry. She’s clearly making the case for what’s important, and in the end, friendship is more important than fame.
•    A death eater (Crouch as Moody) tells Harry that he and Hermione would make good aurors, which is very ironic.
•    Voldemort is already planning to kill Snape, and Harry overhears this in the graveyard. With the whole resurrection/murder/graveyard sequence, she’s now making it a horror story. It also goes back to the druid type of ritual with blood and ghastly magic; this ceremony and the resurrection of Voldemort, is the essence of evil.