The Harry Potter series may be complete, but for real Harry Potter fans, it’s far from over. Like many of you, I grew up with the series. When I was 10, my parents gave me a box set of the first three books for Christmas. From then on, I was never the same. I read each one as fast as I could and then anxiously waited for the release of the next book. This tradition finally cumulated when I got my hands on the seventh book. By this time, I was in college. That means my obsession with Harry Potter had spanned more than a decade. And it continues to do so today.
Countless connections, allusions and intricate details fill the pages of each Harry Potter book. These intricacies can only be fully recognized after several re-readings, as true HP fans already know. So this is a call to action for Harry Potter fans: don’t let your obsession fade with age, grow it instead. Read and re-read, again and again. Harry Potter is the literary icon of our time, for more reasons than you’d expect. His story will continue to influence generations for decades to come because it’s so much more than the story of a boy wizard. Read the series again if you haven’t. Only then will you truly understand what makes Rowling a genius. I’ve re-read the books many times. Recently, after a reading of the final book, I decided the female characters don’t receive enough praise in analysis of the series. For that matter, the feminist interpretation of the series is not widely explored. This is puzzling to me. Have you ever noticed how all the female characters around the Chosen One are badasses, even the evil ones?
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First, let’s take a look at Hermione. Rowling once called her “the brightest character,” not surprisingly. Hermione possesses a thirst for knowledge that turns her into the spell-wielding, quick-thinking witch who ends up being crucial to the plight of Harry Potter. My 10 year-old self admired Hermione greatly. As a first year, she was a know-it-all and she put the boys in their place. She eagerly answered questions and hung out in the library without shame. She never assumed the role of a ‘dumb girl’ and could be bossy at times, but she never apologized for it. Hermione made it cool for girls to be smart, or at least in my 10-year-old eyes. Intelligence is something many of us downplayed in our younger years. Every girl had their different reasons, but Hermione taught us to embrace it and even perpetuate it. Hermione effectively challenged authority. Her intelligence allows her to recognize injustice, which she is smart enough to fight. She fought for the equal rights of house elves by forming S.P.E.W and immediately recognized the injustice of Professor Umbridge’s actions before anyone else. Even though she was Muggle-born (or a Mudblood in derogatory terms), she never let that label define her. In fact, it propelled her forward in the fight for justice. She saved her friends many times with her quick wit and objective judgment, and she was ready to die for her cause. Without her, Harry would never have succeeded.
I think Rowling successfully created a character in Hermione that all girls can aspire to be like. She is never described as a beauty. Instead she has more of the girl-next-door look. Who can forget her infamous bushy hair and large front teeth? She isn’t unattractive by any standards, but she is never obsessed with her appearance. However, she dresses up when it is appropriate. At the Yule Ball in the fourth book, Hermione shocks Ron and Harry with her looks. They had never seen her ‘done-up’ before because she didn’t feel the need to get dressed up regularly. Hermione’s best asset is her brain, not her looks. This part of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the first time readers learn that Hermione is not only smart but also attractive. So it’s not surprising that she catches the eye of many male suitors over the years. Krum, whom many of her female classmates swoon over, pursues Hermione. She also turns down Cormac McLaggan, an attractive and cocky Quidditch player, in the sixth book. Hermione reminds readers what truly makes a female valuable—and that is not looks. Her actions and commitment to learning remind female readers of the age-old saying that knowledge is power. While men have always been taught this mantra, women have learned this on their own—with some help from Hermione.
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Next, there’s Ginny. She’s in a category all her own. She serves a much greater role in the story than just Harry’s love interest. She’s the perfect match for Harry because she rivals him on so many levels. She is athletic, smart, brave and proud, just like Harry. She is also very skilled with a wand, unlike her brother Ron. She is also bold and proud of her beliefs. That is to say, the girl isn’t shy. It’s interesting to note that Ginny always stands up for herself, no matter the situation. Once called a “scarlet-woman” by her brother Ron, Ginny never apologizes for her relationships with boys. She engages in PDA shamelessly and has dated a number of boys. She even makes the first move on Harry. Her independence and strength attracted Harry to her. In a way, he probably saw a lot of his own personality in Ginny. Her strong character directly stems from the Weasley clan.
Ginny comes from a family full of men, with a matriarch that is as bold as she is. Molly Weasley is first portrayed as typical mother, always worrying, nagging and yelling. At the end of the series, we see what Mrs. Weasley is really made of. There are clues throughout the entire series, so this revelation wasn’t that surprising. Throughout the series, Rowling only penned a few curse words throughout the series and one of them came out of Mrs. Weasley’s mouth during the battle at Hogwarts. She says, “Not my daughter, you bitch,” while protecting Ginny from dueling with Bellatrix Lestrange. All of the sudden, we see Mrs. Weasley’s true strength. All of the sudden, the nagging, loud mouth that readers know so well has a fiery attitude and fierce wand skills. Mrs. Weasley is one of my favorites; she reminds me of my own mother because her strength is hidden by the guise of motherhood. Rowling, a mother herself, does the Weasley matriarch justice. She is much more than just a mom. She is a bad ass that will protect her loved ones at all costs.
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While Ginny, Hermione and Mrs. Weasley are all out-spoken, strong female characters, Rowling wrote Luna Lovegood as soft-spoken and timid to remind readers to be true to themselves. Luna, sometimes called Loony Lovegood, is a loner and an outcast. She’s always the first to admit that she doesn’t have many friends. She isn’t necessarily proud of that fact, but she isn’t ashamed of it either. She’s happy. Many Hogwarts students find Luna to be strange; oftentimes they play cruel practical jokes on her.
That’s only because she embraces her interests and beliefs, instead of modifying them to meet the expectations of her fellow classmates. While Luna may seem soft spoken, she is actually very strong. As we all know, it’s difficult to go against the norm in school. Luna’s convictions give her a unique perspective on the world. Harry benefits from Luna’s view throughout their friendship in more ways than one. In a way, Luna may be the most independent character. How remarkable is it to truly never care what others think? Luna is a reminder that there is no correct way to fit-in. Basically, Luna’s character reaffirms that you really can be yourself and make true friends. While these ‘good’ characters offer many valuable lessons to young female readers, you can’t ignore the evil women characters in Harry Potter.
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Rowling created several strong (sometimes scary!) evil female characters. They’re a reminder that women can be cold hearted and just as vulnerable to corruption and power as men can. Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy are my favorite examples. Bellatrix kills without thinking, tortures without regret and shamelessly seeks the approval of Lord Voldemort. She is just as positively evil as he is. And unlike Ginny, Hermione, Luna or Mrs. Weasley, Bellatrix actions are to please a man—a man who will never thank her. Her sister, Narcissa, then may actually be the stronger character. Although Narcissa is just as evil as Bellatrix, she puts her family before her commitment to the Dark Lord. Narcissa is smart enough to recognize that Voldemort doesn’t give the same kind of commitment to his Death Eaters that he expects from them. In the final book, its Narcissa’s lie to Voldemort that marks the turning point in the battle at Hogwarts. In this sense, Narcissa becomes a double agent. She pledges allegiance to Voldemort, but at the end of the day, her family will always come first. This loyalty to anyone beyond Voldemort was unheard of amongst the Death Eaters.
Throughout all seven books, Rowling created strong female characters, both good and evil. She created characters that her female readers could identify and grow with and that her male readers could admire. Rowling was told by her publishers that boys may not want to read a series written by a woman, so they abbreviated her name to J.K. After experiencing Harry Potter, male readers hopefully won’t shy away from other books written by women. In this series, Rowling created woman characters that show how multi-faceted and dynamic women can be. Not a single female character in Harry Potter is a stereotype. There are no housewives or dumb girls. They’re all three-dimensional, which is why we can identify with them. They’re real – just like us. Rowling’s masterpiece will stand the test of time alongside some of the greatest authors of all time like Bram Stoker, William Faulkner and Jane Austen. I suggest we never stop analyzing and appreciating those books that made her so.
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