How Is Harry Potter Related To Religion

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J.K. Rowling’s series, Harry Potter, is made up of many elements. One of these many elements is religion. “To me, the religious parallels have always been obvious,” (Rowling, 2007). Now the “religious parallels” are not to the Occult but to Christianity. Christianity and Harry Potter share a lot similar themes but one stands out: Love. “Love in Harry Potter comes in three forms Family, Friendship, and Sacrifice” (Killinger, 2008). Through out the series, Harry is touched by each one; Family through the Dursley’s, the Weasly’s, Hagrid, and Sirius Black, Friendship through Ron and Hermione, and Sacrifice through his mother, father, and ultimately himself. In Christianity, these forms are taught through out the Bible. However John 15:12-17 includes …show more content…

In today’s world, technology is used in transportation, cleaning, communication, and lights. In Harry’s world, magic is used in all those things; spells can make cars fly, brooms sweep themselves, people Face time through objects, and create a source of light at any time and anywhere. Lori Handeland once said, “Words have power…” This is the secret of the spells in Harry Potter, there power does not come a demon or supernatural force but from the words themselves. Rowling even makes a point of this in the series: “You’re saying it wrong,” Harry heard Hermione snap. “ It’s Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the ’gar’ nice and long.” (Sorcerer’s Stone, 1997). “In college, Rowling studied French, Latin, and Greek.” (Pollack, 2012). This means when she was created these spells, she did not have to make them up, just combine. For example, Expecto Patronum. In Latin, Excepto means, “I await, look for, hope or desire for”. While Patronum means “a guardian, protector, or defender before a court”. So the Prisoner of Azkaban, when Harry had to protect himself and Sirius from soul sucking creatures, he used that spell to summon a protector in the form of a