Harry Potter and Magical Thinking
The Enchanted Appeal of the J.K. Rowling Series
Harry buys his first wand at Ollivanders. Wand making is a craft in Harry Potter's world. According to Mr. Ollivander (wand craftsman), ...the wand chooses the wizard....
Magic Anyone?
Harry's wand has a phoenix feather contained in it. The wand that killed his parents contained a phoenix feather from the same bird. Mr. Ollivander wonders if there may be a connection between the wands:
I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter....the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather....It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand,when its brother...gave you that scar (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone).
Many well known tales have magic woven throughout the story lines: Cinderella and her fairy godmother (pumpkins are turned into coaches), Rumpelstilskin (woven straw into gold), yet, is the magic expressed in the Potter tales partly responsible for the success of the series?
Magical Thinking
Before the human brain can develop logical thinking, it engages in magical thinking. Remember one of the old rhymes: Don't step on a crack or break your mother's back? This is an example of magical thinking. There isn't a logical connection between A (stepping on a crack) and B(breaking your mother's back).
In Harry's world, here is Harry, who is forced to face life on his own. The Dursleys (his adoptive family), offer Harry little to no comfort. They do not hide the fact that he is not welcome into their unit. When Harry engages in the magical world he finds that Voldemort, his nemesis, wants him dead.
Magic becomes Harry's protection (A). It enables him to survive in two worlds that are hostile to him. There is no explanation as to how magic works with or defies the laws of the universe in either of Harry's worlds (B).
Benefits of Magic and Harry Potter Fans
Throughout Harry's stories, we see him triumph. Take the magic out of the stories, and Harry Potter as well as Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and others might not have triumphed at all given the number of potentially fatal circumstances they were involved in.
How does magic translate into the Potter series success? Perhaps, given today's world that is pumping information from a number of sources (cell phones, computers, i-pods, television, radio, etc.), magic in Potter's world simplifies the day. Potter and his friends do not have to think about how to defeat Voldemort (Harry's nemesis) without magic--just wave a wand, cast a spell--done!
For contemporary children and young adults, the Hogwart's magical landscape perhaps simplifies their worlds, provides them with an entertaining mode of escape from information and circumstantial overloads. Perhaps, the same holds for adults. The Potter magic allows one to be transported into a realm that has immediate outcomes/answers in many instances, pleasantly relieving the reader or the viewer (if a Potter movie) of having to think, critically think, and think logically. Finally, perhaps the magic in the Potter tales is a pleasant reconnection to the magical thinking of one's inner child.
Now then, does Harry know a spell to reduce fuel prices?
Source
J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic Press, 1998, pgs. 82, 85.
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