THIS IS PART VIII IN A SERIES
The book as knowledge seems like possibly the easiest way to understand a book. We all likely learned from textbooks and printed readings in school so, of course, duh, books contain knowledge. But, what types of knowledge are books imparting to their readers? And wait, hang on, the Harry Potter series is fiction, it’s all made up, how does that contain knowledge?! Well, let me explain…
In Foucault at School, Shira Wolosky (2013) argues that through the variety of teaching and disciplinary methods presented at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry {Dolores Umbridge, Professor Snape, Professor Trelawney, Albus Dumbledore, Remus Lupin} readers learn about the way to approach teaching and learning. Through other, more metaphorical lessons children also learn about slavery or indentured servitude and the historic oppression of women {via house elves} and oppressive governments (Wolosky, 2013). In the season three finale of Monstrum, Dr. Emily Zarka (2021) mentions how werewolf and belovéd professor Remus Lupin is a stand in for the social ostracization many sick people felt in the early years of the AIDS epidemic. Rowling’s fictional world mirrors our own and human history, allowing readers to explore both the good and bad in a safe fictional form internalizing and interpreting right and wrong for themselves.
Andrea Bixler suggests that teachers can learn about teaching through the books as well. Bixler points to tried and true teaching methods that are either well-received or fail in the books providing teachers reading the stories opportunities to reflect on their own practices. We see professor Snape interrogate Harry about potions in Harry’s first every potions lesson. While questioning students is good, doing so without them having any prior learning experience is not good at all. Active learning is another great teaching method but when applied by Gilderoy Lockhart via some pixies and approximately zero instruction, things are not great at all (Bixler, 2011; Rowling, 1998 & 1999).
Of course, not every lesson to be learned from a book is taught by teachers and magical classes.
“For 12-year-olds {Muggles and wizards alike}, the world starts to become strange. Your parents start to become real, flawed people, your friends become people you no longer recognize, and you don’t want to look in the mirror most days. No matter how tangled things became in real life, I could always find my friends again, where I left them, at Hogwarts” (Kolongowski, 2017, p. 2).
Jill Kolongowski (2017) dedicated the entirety of her first published book to the lessons about friends and family that readers can take from the Harry Potter series. This is, perhaps, where fiction excels. Fiction allows readers to live other lives; encounter people, creatures and circumstances that may or can never exist for them in the real world. Seeing friends and family portrayed with both positive and negative characteristics and watching how the characters respond gives readers a basis for resolving their own life challenges. Through a series of chapters named after spells from the books, Kolongowski explores everything from community and belonging to the dangers of power and laughter during the worst of times. As I write this post, during the holidays during a pandemic in a city that is often shamed for the sheer number of unhoused people that live here I think about Kolongowski’s statement that “Hogwarts… brings peace through food” (Kolongowski, 2017, p.13). In a relatively simple way, by showing Harry’s excitement over the feasts in the Great Hall at Hogwarts, Rowling helps readers who always had a roof over their heads and full bellies an understanding of the importance of safety and food to those that are lacking. Readers in less fortunate circumstances are provided with a fictional situation they can relate to (Rowling, 1998-2007).
Kolongowski (2017) also points out how the books are really not very funny or lighthearted. We have comic relief through the Weasley twins Fred and George and moments of true fun at Quidditch matches and in Dumbledore’s candy inspired office passwords. What Rowling has done for readers is woven fun throughout thousands of pages of drama and challenges, teaching readers “that laughter will always come back again” (Kolongowski, 2017, p. 139).
As much as the books contain darkness, we also cannot avoid the lessons of sexism between the pages. The smartest character, who saves her friends again and again and again, is not the heroine of the saga. Hermione Granger provides plenty of assists but it’s Harry Potter who’s name is in the series’ title and Harry Potter who ultimately defeats the dark wizard. Hermione is not only book smart but also possesses an emotional intelligence that makes her a fierce friend (Kolongowski, 2017). While I wish it was a female, BIPOC, trans, or non-binary wizard that got their own book series, or that Hermione performed the last spell that brought about Voldemort’s end, that doesn’t mean she isn’t teaching us all along. “From Hermione we can remind ourselves that we need to listen to women… We need to trust that women are smart and capable…Thank god for insufferable know-it-alls” (Kolongowski, 2017, p. 155).
While Hermione is quite possibly the embodiment of knowledge within the Harry Potter series, readers are also getting an education through the history and cultural references embedded within the world itself.
Historical image of a mandrake from The Sorcerer’s Companion
The knowledge hidden within Harry Potter
I think that Rowling’s strength lies within the history and mythology she has littered the pages of the series with. Similar to the wizard students we are reading about each book has something new to learn about our world with each turn of the page. From hippogriffs and mandrakes to the sorcerer’s stone and professor Lupin, there are endless searches that will turn up historical results from the content of the series.
Kronzek and Kronzek have a 271 page book to help readers understand some of the history and mythology that lurks within Harry Potter’s pages; and that only get us to the fourth book, Goblet of Fire since The Sorcerer’s Companion was published in 2001. I’m going to discuss just a few but there’s a proper citation below for anyone wanting to learn more.
Herbology and plants
While we would call the study of plant botany, not herbology, this is an enduring field of study for humans. The first know book about uses of plants is from China in 2800 BCE and examining plants effect on humans, both good and bad, has been ongoing ever since (Kronzek and Kronzek, 2001). Plant fact and lore plays a central role in Rowling’s series, both through Herbology and Potions classes and plant questions are among the first things readers encounter at Hogwarts. “‘Potter!’ said Snape suddenly. ‘What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?’” (Rowling, 1998, p. 137). Readers will have to do a bit of research for that answer but right away we learn that plants are going to be important at this school. One standout plant is the mandrake. In the books {and movies} it cries and can knock people out (Rowling, 1999). Mandrakes in real life don’t have faces but rather a “long, pointed root” which can “grow three to four feet long and is forked like a carrot grown in rocky soil” (Stewart, 2009, p. 105). They are in the nightshade family and were used as sedatives, so the fainting as a response to encountering one is close to fact (Stewart, 2009). They were also often depicted as plant people with faces as can be seen in the image above and so Rowling gave us a bit of history in its depiction in Chamber of Secrets.
Alchemy and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Rowling throws history in our face from the start with the first book in the series. Alchemy was the study of turning common metals into gold. The practice was based on art found in Egypt and as stories evolved over time, there was special stone that would be able to perform this as well as create the Elixir of Life which, like in the book, would grant one immortality. Nicholas Flamel was, in fact, a medieval alchemist and belief in the stone was widespread at this time so it makes sense that this character and the stone would be included in a magical saga (Kronzek and Kronzek, 2001).
Remus Lupin
One of my favorite nuggets of history and mythology Rowling included was a puzzle piece that I completely missed on my first reading of the Prisoner of Azkaban: Professor R. J. Lupin (1999). Romulus and Remus were brothers suckled by a she-wolf who would found the city of Rome when they grew up. in a disagreement over which hill was the best one to found Rome on, Remus was killed by his brother (wikipedia). In case that wolfish reference was enough, Rowling also gave this professor a last name based on the Latin name for wolves: Canis lupus (wikipedia). A man with a wolfish name…man-wolf…werewolf <— ahh, there is it!
If we were all a bit more like Hermione and spent time studying the details in Rowling’s texts, we could certainly learn a lot.
Further research
There is a lot of content out there for anyone that is interested in doing further research about how the Harry Potter series has influenced a variety of academic fields. One fun one is this Ologies interview with a chemistry professor who works spells into her class.
Citations
Bixler, A. (2011). What We Muggles Can Learn about Teaching from Hogwarts. Clearing House, 84(2), 75–79. https://doi-org.proxy.ulib.uits.iu.edu/10.1080/00098655.2010.507825
Kolongowski, J. (2017). Life lessons Harry Potter taught me: Discover the magic of friendship, family, courage, and love in your life. Ulysses Press.
Kronzek, A.Z. and Kronzek, E. (2001). The sorcerer’s companion: A guide to the magical world of Harry Potter. Broadway Books.
Rowling, J.K. (1999). Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban. Arthur A. Levine Books An Imprint of Scholastic Press.
Rowling, J.K. (1999). Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets. Arthur A. Levine Books An Imprint of Scholastic Press.
Rowling, J.K. (1998). Harry Potter and the sorcerer’s stone. Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic Press.
Stewart, A. (2009)/ Wicked plants: The weed that killed Lincoln’s mother & other botanical atrocities. Algonquin Book of Chapel Hill.
Wolosky, S. (2014). Foucault at School: Discipline, Education and Agency in Harry Potter. Children’s Literature in Education, 45(4), 285–297. https://doi-org.proxy.ulib.uits.iu.edu/10.1007/s10583-013-9215-6
*Some citations for web resources are linked directly in the post (in blue).