HP and the Ten Commandments #2

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 32614

Hp and the Ten Commandments #2

   When I started this series I was planning to do one a 
month...real life has intervened. For those who weren't with me 
for the first round, I am planning a series of essays, which 
explore the ways in which the Ten Commandments relate to the 
HP universe. I write from the perspective of a Reform Jew, but I 
welcome hearing other points of view. Essay #1 is at message 
23737. 

   "You shall have no other Gods besides me. You shall not 
make for yourself a sculptured image, or any likeness of what is 
in the heavens above, or on the earth below, or in the waters 
under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them. 
For I the LORD your God am an impassioned God, visiting the 
guilt of parents upon the children, upon the third and fourth 
generations of those that reject Me, but showing kindness to the 
thousandth generation of them that love Me and observe My 
commandments."
     -Exodus 20:3-6 Jewish Publication Society translation
    
   The second commandment seems remote from Harry's world.  
It's Quidditch, not worship, which unites the wizard community.   
Christmas and Easter celebrations at Hogwarts are as secular 
as Valentine's Day and Hallowe'en. The few other references to 
religion all evoke the past. Enchanted suits of armor sing 
Christmas carols, but don't remember half the words. Some 
monks appear in a painting. The ghost of a fat friar haunts 
Hufflepuff House.  The Quidditch field at the World Cup match is 
so big that "ten cathedrals would fit comfortably inside it." The 
details are sketchy, but it seems that religion is not something 
that modern witches and wizards take seriously.  Far from having 
other gods, the wizards seem to have no need for gods at all. 
   "Muggle" has come to be a real life term for a hopelessly 
mundane individual, but it is not only Rowling's Muggles who live 
in a world where only facts are believable. Even in the wizarding 
world, imagination and spirituality are devalued.  At Hogwarts, 
young witches and wizards are taught that myths and legends 
are meaningless. All they care should care about, as Professor 
Binns puts it, is "solid, believable, verifiable fact."  Similarly, the 
mystical qualities of magical beasts are ignored or qualified. 
Newt Scamander will only say that phoenix song is  "reputed" to 
strengthen the pure in heart. Nothing is said of the magical 
innocence of unicorns when they are studied in Care of Magical 
Creatures classes. 
   Spirit though he is, Binns' attitude toward the Unseen would be 
right at home on Privet Drive. Just as Vernon can't cope with the 
storm of letters, Binns can't believe that a monster could be 
stalking Hogwarts.  Cut off from his imagination, Vernon rejects 
the good because it is unfamiliar. Refusing to believe that evil 
exists, Binns cannot protect his charges from it. 
   Harry, who does use his imagination, has to struggle with a 
different problem.  Imagination has its own dangers. Like the 
Mirror of Erised, what it shows us may be neither knowledge nor 
truth.  Still, Harry doesn't think he needs guidance to make moral 
choices. "I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks," he 
says. He soon discovers it's not so easy. His mistake about 
Snape in Book One affects no one but himself. But as the attacks 
in Book Two continue, he sees how the fear of evil undermines 
both judgement and the rule of law. Hagrid is imprisoned. Dobby 
attacks Harry with a rogue Bludger. Even Hermione starts 
breaking rules. The other students also turn to magics of 
doubtful origin and dubious effect. To feel powerful against a 
mysterious evil, it seems, they require a mysterious good. Poor 
Neville Longbottom supplies himself with a purple crystal, a 
rotting newt tail and a green onion.
   Worst of all, fear erodes the trust between Harry and 
Dumbledore. Worried that he is somehow connected with the 
evil stalking the school, Harry refuses to confide in the 
Headmaster. (Perhaps someone from a Christian background 
would like to comment on the fact that Harry's denials are 
punctuated by the appearances of Hagrid with a rooster.)  
   Clinging to the unreasonable belief that there must be a 
reasonable solution to all this, Harry at last deduces where the 
entrance to the mysterious Chamber must lie. Strangely, he and 
Ron bring Gilderoy Lockhart along, though he is a rotting newt 
tail if there ever was one.  It's as if they think they can somehow 
force him to use the power they once believed he possessed.  
Lockhart, whose devotion to his own image has been a running 
joke, reveals a more sinister side. His image demands a 
sacrifice: Ron and Harry will lose their memories, and Ginny will 
be left to her fate. 
   The theme of the second commandment becomes explicit 
when Harry enters the Chamber of Secrets at last.

   "Harry had to crane his neck to look up into the giant face 
above: it was ancient and monkey like, with a long thin beard that 
fell almost to the bottom of the wizard's sweeping stone robes, 
where two enormous grey feet stood on the smooth chamber 
floor. And between the feet, face down, lay a small, black-robed 
figure with flaming red hair."
  
   Ginny lies before the sculptured image of  Slytherin in the 
same posture the Death Eaters will assume to pay homage to 
Voldemort in GoF.  Hero worship has betrayed her.  In pouring 
out her feelings for Harry, Ginny has psychologically transferred 
them to Tom.
   Following the pattern of the commandment, Tom reveals the 
roots of his own hatred. The rejection in his past will continue 
down the generations to destroy Lily and James. Harry counters 
with the rest of the message: that love, even the love of a 
common Muggleborn, is stronger than hate. But Riddle has 
Harry's wand, and Harry's staunchest protector is far away, 
betrayed by Harry's refusal to seek his help.
   Harry has nothing to believe in. He's only trying to scare Riddle.  
He's broken about a hundred school rules. His loyalty to 
Dumbledore is badly frayed. 
   "He's not as gone as you might think!" Harry cries, only wishing 
it were true. Yet the phoenix comes, flooding the chamber with 
warmth, light, and most of all, song.  Phoenix song has a power 
that can be used only for good, strengthening only the pure. It is 
the clearest depiction of holiness we have yet seen. 
   "Music," says Dumbledore in Book One, " a magic beyond all 
we do here."  He leads everyone in the words to the school song, 
but lets the students each choose their own tune. Are the 
different tunes for the school song Rowling's metaphor for the 
different religions in real life? 

Pippin