HP and The Ten Commandments #1

[foxmoth at qnet.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 23737

	I thought that it would be fun to look at Potter books in terms of 
the Ten Commandments. My plan is to do a series of essay posts, like 
Peg Kerr's series on the vices and virtues. My intention is not to 
soapbox for the  commandments, but simply to investigate how these 
principles, or my interpretation of them, are reflected in the 
Potterverse.  I write from the perspective of a Reform Jew, but my 
interpretations are my own. I respect the right of other list members 
to hold vastly different opinions and I hope you will accord that right 
to me. I intend no disrespect to anyone's beliefs. 

I would like to thank Ebony, for pushing me to post this, and the  
Moderators, especially John, Amanda, Amy and Neil, for their advice and 
encouragement.  Responsibility for the content is strictly mine. Feel 
free to email me at foxmoth @ qnet. com (don't forget to delete the 
spaces) with your comments or post them to the list. 

There are several traditional methods of numbering the verses and 
dividing the commandments into ten. The translation I will use is from 
the Jewish Publication Society.

1) I the Lord am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the 
house of bondage.

	The first commandment contrasts a legitimate authority  -God's - 
with the false authority of Pharaoh and tells us how they are to be 
distinguished. Legitimate authority sets us free, false authority keeps 
us enslaved. 
	In Rowling's world we have met no character who personifies the 
forces of good as thoroughly as Voldemort personifies evil. But we can 
distinguish between those, like Dumbledore, who use their power to free 
others, and those who wish to dominate and enslave. 
	Harry's Egypt is, of course, the Dursleys. Harry's rescue shares 
many elements with the story of Exodus. Ignorant of his heritage and 
his destiny, Harry suffers in captivity. Like Pharaoh, the Dursleys' 
fear motivates them to keep their unwilling charge as downtrodden as 
possible.  We are not told why Harry's rightful protectors allowed this 
situation to develop, but after a manifestation involving a serpent, 
and with the reluctant consent of his captors, Harry goes free. Hagrid 
brings him out with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, crossing the 
sea amid signs and wonders. Fortunately for first-born Dudley and the 
rest of the Dursleys, Rowling doesn't carry the parallel too far. 
	But slaves need only answer to their masters. Those who are free 
must accept rules and responsibilities for themselves. Like the 
Children of Israel, the wizarding folk don't always want to obey. Human 
justice is meted out in the form of detentions and points lost, in 
fines from the MoM and sojourns in Azkaban.  More often, as in the Book 
of Exodus, providential or poetic justice moves in when human resolve 
and human justice fail. This technique enables Rowling to redress the 
moral balance while entertaining us with the Orwellian spectacle of the 
Department of Magical Law Enforcement, which seems to be more concerned 
with erasing the evidence of magical crimes than with uncovering it. Of 
course real law enforcement agencies aren't like that <g>.
	As in the Bible, the reader should not assume that an individual 
has gotten away with something simply because he or she has eluded 
discovery. In Rowling's world, as in many folktales, magical objects 
improperly obtained or malignly used exact a vengeance on their 
possessors. There are many examples of this: Hermione's misadventures 
with the polyjuice potion, Lockhart's disastrous attempt to put a 
memory charm on Harry and Ron, the threatening phantoms that emerge 
from Voldemort's wand.  If this is a known principle of the magical 
world, it would explain why Dumbledore is so permissive. Magical crimes 
punish themselves in the end, so he merely needs to protect the 
innocent until the guilty have reformed themselves or paid the ultimate 
price for their misdeeds.