The Last Harry Potter Book: Is it Good or Evil?

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows , J.K. Rowling’s seventh and final volume, soared off bookshelves at 12:01 am on July 21, 2007 at an incredible rate of 5,000 copies per minute. In the U.S. alone, 8.3 million copies reached eager hands in 24 hours – an all-time publishing record. Whatever your opinion of this tantalizing tale of wizards and Muggles, there’s no doubt that Harry Potter remains the Number One story of our time.

And the most controversial.

Is Harry Potter good or evil? “Unquestionably good!” contend Harry Potter readers the world over. To support this conclusion, reference is often made to Albus Dumbledore, a key character in the Harry Potter storyline, who often commends the virtues of “love, loyalty, and innocence” ( Deathly Hallows , p. 709). Even many Christians now see Harry Potter as a type of Jesus Christ because in the final book Harry unselfishly and voluntarily lays down his life to defeat the evil Lord Voldemort before being resurrected and triumphing at last. “That’s what Jesus did!” many say. Thus they view Harry Potter as some sort of a Christian allegory, a classic tale of good vanquishing evil.

You may consider me a Muggle (J.K. Rowling’s term for those who oppose magic), but I strongly disagree with this assessment, and during the month of July I had the opportunity to express my views on dozens of radio shows. In this short article, I’ll make my position plain.

It’s true that there are good themes within Harry Potter , and I certainly believe in “love, loyalty and innocence.’ The problem is – and of this our generation seems woefully ignorant – that real love comes from God alone (see 1 John 4:7), true loyalty involves firm obedience to His commandments (see Revelation 12:17), and true innocence can only be maintained by avoiding sin entirely, including “the sin of witchcraft” (1 Samuel 15:23).

Here is the epiphany of the Harry Potter series:

“Avada Kedavra!”
“Expelliarmus!”

The bang hit like a cannon blast, and the golden flames that erupted between them, at the dead center of the circle they had been treading, marked the point where the spells collided. Harry saw Voldemort’s green jet meet his own spell, saw the Elder Wand fly high, dark against the sunrise, spinning across the enchanted ceiling like the head of Nagini, spinning through the air toward the master it would not kill, who had come to take full possession of it at last. And Harry, with the unerring skill of the Seeker, caught the wand in his free hand as Voldemort fell backward, arms splayed, the slit pupils of the scarlet eyes rolling upward. [Voldemort] hit the floor with a mundane finality, his body feeble and shrunken, the white hands empty, the snakelike face vacant and unknowing… dead, killed by his own rebounding curse, and Harry stood with two wands in his hand, staring down at his enemy’s shell ( Deathly Hallows , pp. 743-744).

Thus died the diabolical Voldemort, conquered by Harry Potter’s “love, loyalty,” and superior witchcraft.

Immediately prior to this duel-to-the-death scene, Voldemort “killed” Harry Potter with a Death Curse, yet in the interim, Harry finds himself alive in a whitish, hazy place where he meets Albus Dumbledore, his wizard mentor, who died in the previous Harry Potter book. “‘But you’re dead,’ said Harry. ‘Oh yes,’ said Dumbledore matter-of-factly'” ( Deathly Hallows , p. 707). After a lengthy conversation about “the deepest laws of magic” ( Ibid., p. 711) and the positive results of Harry’s willing submission to Voldemort’s deadly curse, Dumbledore encourages Harry to “return” to his lifeless body so that his enemy “may be finished for good” ( Ibid., p. 722). This is spiritualism, or communication with dead people.

After the dust settles, the Epilogue of Deathly Hallows is entitled, “Nineteen Years Later.” There author J.K. Rowling fast-forwards to a happy time when an older Harry Potter is now married with kids. The very last scene shows Harry Potter waving goodbye to his two sons, whose faces are “ablaze with excitement,” as they happily head to “Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry” to become proficient in the art of witchcraft just like their dad. The last three words on the last page are: “All is well” (Ibid., p. 759).

But in reality, all is not well , for even though the bestselling Harry Potter books exalt virtues like love, friendship, loyalty, and innocence, they also honor the practice of witchcraft, even by kids, and of talking to dead people. Now notice carefully how God Himself warns His people about witchcraft and spiritualism:

When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft , or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells , or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD… but as for you, the LORD your God has not appointed such for you (Deuteronomy 18:9-14, emphasis added).

Here “witchcraft,” “spells,” and talking to “the dead” are categorically forbidden by God Himself. They aren’t good at all, the Lord strongly informs us, but are entirely evil, for they lead away from His love, real loyalty, true innocence, and are open pathways to demonic spirits. If you look closely, God is especially commanding parents to guard their sons and daughters. “The nations” surrounding us may practice such “abominations,” but ” God has not appointed such for you .”

In conclusion, while there may be some “good” in Harry Potter , there is much “evil’ mixed with it, and I’m not talking about Voldemort. Call me a Muggle if you wish, but my Bible says that real witchcraft and spiritualism are direct channels to “the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41), and if you will but open your eyes, you will see that these practices are not only thriving all around us, but are growing rapidly in popularity.

Dear reader, someone more sinister than Lord Voldemort is behind this occult trend, and Someone much purer than Harry Potter is seeking to expose the danger.

His name is Jesus Christ, who loves us, died for our sins, and rose again.

Let’s focus on Him.