Week Six: Souls, Hallows, Horcruxes, and Therefores
• What is, according to the Harry Potter series, a soul? What other words could you substitute for “soul”? Do you believe in the concept of “souls” or something similar? Why or why not? Why do you think Rowling chose to include “souls,” an idea generally considered spiritual or religious, alongside the social justice themes of Harry Potter? • Dumbledore describes the Dementor’s Kiss, which sucks out a person’s soul, as a “fate worse than death.” How does this compare to horcuxes, which involve the mutilation and fragmentation of a person’s soul? Do you think Voldemort has suffered a fate worse than death? • Dumbledore asks Snape to kill him to protect Malfoy from damaging his soul. “What about my soul?” Snape asks. What do you think? Did it harm Snape’s soul to kill Dumbledore, or was it different because his intent was different? What do you think Snape’s soul looks like? What about other Death Eaters? Do you think torturing another or mistreating others damages your soul, too? Why or why not? • What sort of justice system is reflective of and bears in mind the desire to keep “souls,” or a person’s humanity, intact? Does our justice system seek to restore or respect the humanity/soul of both accused and convicted criminals? Of victims? What rights do you think an accused criminal deserves? A convicted criminal? A victim? • Compare and contrast the different attitudes toward death found in Harry Potter. Consider particularly the Tale of the Three Brothers and the Hallows. • What is the point of Harry Potter? Of fiction? What action, if any, are you asked to take? In what ways, if any, should your relationships—with friends, with family, with strangers, with animals, with nature—change? Have you changed since reading or watching Harry Potter? Consider even small changes. What conscious changes might you make in response to the lessons and themes of Harry Potter? What can we, as a group, do? • Rowling said, “We do not need magic to change the world; we have all the power we need inside us already: we have the power to imagine better.” Do you agree? How do Harry Potter and other stories encourage you to “imagine better?”