"Harry Potter as Tool for Social Change" Study Guide

“Harry Potter as Tool for Social Change” Study Guide
       The following guide was developed by the Harry Potter Alliance of
Pasadena, a chapter of the Harry Potter Alliance. It was designed as an
open-to-the-public “crash-course” on the social justice themes of Harry
Potter and how to use stories such as those found in the Harry Potter series
to inspire social change. We met once a week for an hour to an hour and a
half each week over the course of six weeks. Not all discussion prompts
were used. Some prompts overlap between weeks.
       We encourage you to alter the curriculum to suit your needs. Any of
the weekly discussions are capable of being stand-alone events and do not
necessarily require the previous discussions. Other ideas include putting
together a group of panelists to discuss one of the topics, using the
questions provided as prompts, or holding a movie screening with handouts
for a post-film discussion on different social justice themes presented in the
film.

Overview
     Week One: Introductions
     Week Two: Book One and Initial Themes
          Primary text: PS/SS
     Week Three: House Elves and Other Magical Minorities
          Primary text: CoS, GoF
     Week Four: Criminal Justice and “Disease”
          Primary text: PoA
     Week Five: Hate, Fear, and Evil
          Primary text: GoF, OotP
     Week Six: Souls, Hallows, Horcruxes, and Therefores
          Primary text: HBP, DH

   Harry Potter Alliance of Pasadena | 626-470-7472 | HPAPasadena@gmail.com

“Harry Potter as Tool for Social Change” Study Guide
Week One: Introductions/Getting to Know Each Other
    For this first meeting, the facilitator should introduce what the
    group is (sometimes, people are in the wrong place!) as well as set
    community guidelines for sharing. Because of the nature of the
    content, it is important that members all feel safe to express
    themselves. Ask that everyone agree to confidentiality—if someone
    wishes to share someone else’s story outside of the group, they must
    first ask the permission of the person who originally shared it.
    Remind everyone that disagreement is okay. Ask that everyone use
    “I” statements—this means speaking only for oneself, as other people
    may have different perspectives and that we can only speak from our
    own experiences. Encourage everyone to, over the course of the
    group, “call Voldemort by his name,” meaning speaking openly about
    the things we may be afraid to talk about. (“Fear of the name [or
    talking about something] only increases fear of the thing itself.”)
    This is especially important for addressing our own faults and
    complacency in unjust systems. Ensure that the group will remain a
    safe space for participants to express their thoughts.

    Who are you? Tell a little about your self, your familiarity with
     Harry Potter, and any experiences you may have with activism.
     Which house, if any, do you identify with? Why?
    What are your expectations for this group? What do you hope to get
     out of it? What to you hope to learn?
    What social justice themes are you aware of in Harry Potter? In other
     series? How can literature be used to communicate and explain
     otherwise complex issues?
    Which characters or narratives most inspire you? Your answers do
     not need to be limited to Harry Potter.
    What is the significance of calling Voldemort by his name? Why
     does Dumbledore insist on using “Voldemort” instead of “You-
     Know-Who”? How, then, would Dumbledore argue we should talk
     about our own real-world “Voldemorts”?

   Harry Potter Alliance of Pasadena | 626-470-7472 | HPAPasadena@gmail.com

“Harry Potter as Tool for Social Change” Study Guide
Week Two: Book One and Initial Themes
  Harry Potter opens with, “Mr. and Mrs. Dursley of number four,
    Privet Drive, were proud to say they were perfectly normal, thank
    you very much.” What does it mean to be normal? According to you?
    According to our society/culture?
  Who or what, in our world, is Dursley-like? Conversely, who or
    what is considered “abnormal” or otherwise unacceptable? Who do
    you consider abnormal or unacceptable? Who do you fear?
  Re-read the initial description of Dumbledore (“Nothing like this
    man [. . .]” through, “everything from his name to his boots was
    unwelcome.”) in PS/SS. What is your reaction to this description?
    Compare and contrast Dumbledore with the Dursleys.
  Compare and contrast McGonagall and Dumbledore. Note the
    exchange about lemon drops: what does this tell us about both of
    these characters? Also note McGonagall’s reaction to Harry living
    with the Dursleys: what does this tell us about each character?
  Why does Dumbledore trust Hagrid? Is this wise? Consider the later
    friendship between Harry and Hagrid.
  Note that the final chapter gives evidence that Snape is trying to
    save, not kill, Harry. The fandom (and Harry) continues to believe
    Snape is evil for most of the series, however. Why do we have a
    tendency to over-simplify human complexities?
  Discuss the Mirror of Erised. What would you see in the mirror?
    Think about how the mirror helped Harry get the Stone only
    because he did not want to use it. Why is this important? Does Harry
    only succeed, both in this book and others, because he is not seeking
    power for himself? What lesson might this teach?
  Why does Dumbledore not tell Harry why Voldemort tried to kill
    him? Why does he lie about why Snape saved him? Is this fair?
    Should he have been more honest with Harry, or was he correct in
    his decision?
  After reading the first book, what might a reader expect the themes
    of the Harry Potter series to be? Which themes continue throughout
    the series?

   Harry Potter Alliance of Pasadena | 626-470-7472 | HPAPasadena@gmail.com

“Harry Potter as Tool for Social Change” Study Guide
Week Three: House-elves and other Magical Minorities
  Why must Dobby punish himself? Is he bound by magic to do so, or
    is he so fearful of his master that he does? Do all house elves punish
    themselves?
  When given the opportunity, Harry frees Dobby, despite the obvious
    potential danger in angering Lucius Malfoy. Would you do the
    same? Should you?
  Hermione’s first response to learning enslaved house elves prepare
    the food at Hogwarts is to not eat. Is this effective? Why or why not?
    Would it be more effective if she convinced her schoolmates to do the
    same? What did she hope to accomplish, if anything, by refusing to
    eat? Awareness? A change in policy?
  Ron sees no problem with the current system and points to the house
    elves’ apparent happiness as proof that change is unnecessary. Is it
    right? Compare this to the Civil Rights Movement: In Letter from
    Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King, Jr., addresses moderate, white
    clergy who thought he was being too impatient or asking for too
    much too soon. In what ways is Ron like them? Why was he
    complacent with the slavery? Why did Dumbledore allow the house
    elves to stay enslaved?
  Do you know where your food and other goods come from? Are any
    “house elves” involved in their production? Even in the US, many
    farmworkers work in extreme heat with no water, no breaks, no
    shade, and no benefits (like health insurance) and for less than
    minimum wage. Workers suffer health problems and even potential
    death. Meat production is often extremely dangerous as well because
    the conveyors move incredibly fast and workers use sharp and
    dangerous tools while the meat is in motion. If injured, a worker can
    no longer work and rarely has health insurance to pay for medical
    care. Some even die. Knowing this, do you feel more like Ron or like
    Hermione? Do you think those conditions are acceptable? What are
    ways you could address this modern version of slavery?
  People often argue that many of these conditions are acceptable
    because undocumented workers are often those performing the work.
    Is this fair? Should our worker protection laws apply only to
    citizens? Only to workers within the US? Only to US-based
    companies? Or should the protections apply to all human beings?

   Harry Potter Alliance of Pasadena | 626-470-7472 | HPAPasadena@gmail.com

“Harry Potter as Tool for Social Change” Study Guide
   What about animals? What protections, if any, do non-human beings
   deserve?
  Consider researching the production processes of other goods you
   consume. How are other types of workers treated?
  In the wizarding world, other creatures, such as dragons, centaurs,
   giants, goblins, hippogriffs, and more are treated without respect.
   What creatures (or people) do we treat without respect? Have you
   ever considered someone else as being lesser? Are creatures such as
   centaurs and goblins comparable to other human beings in our
   world? If so, what groups of people are treated as “half breeds” or
   lesser simply for being different?
  Consider the dragon(s) in Gringotts. Do you think the dragon is
   violent because it is a dragon or because of the conditions in which it
   lives? Is this torture, or is it okay? Does this story change the way
   you feel about other animals that are considered dangerous?

  Harry Potter Alliance of Pasadena | 626-470-7472 | HPAPasadena@gmail.com

“Harry Potter as Tool for Social Change” Study Guide
Week Four: Criminal Justice and “Disease”
  When Lupin is “outed” as a werewolf, he is forced to resign his job
    and explains that, “Parents wouldn’t want a werewolf teaching their
    children.” Compare this to instances such as Boy Scout Troop
    Leaders being forced to quit after being outed as LGBTQ or
    undocumented persons who are legally ineligible to work at all. Does
    our society view being LGBTQ as a “disease” like being a werewolf?
    What about undocumented persons? What other groups of people
    are treated as “diseased” or undeserving of the equal rights or have
    been treated as such in our history?
  When we talk about prejudices (like anti-werewolf fears), we often
    think first of outright discrimination or hate crimes. Lupin, however,
    is not subjected to outward hostility so much as distrust which bars
    him from holding a job. Do you see this same, more subtle
    discrimination in our society? Are you guilty of it? If you were hiring
    for a job and you had two equally qualified candidates, one of your
    race (or more like you) and one of another race (or less like you), who
    would you choose? Why?
  In the US, minorities are significantly more likely to have lower
    incomes, be unemployed, or even be convicted of a crime. While anti-
    discrimination laws exist, do you think these do enough to protect
    against subtle prejudices? If a law existed in the wizarding world
    that protected werewolves from being denied jobs based on their
    “disease,” would it solve the problem? If not, how could the problem
    be solved?
  Jo Rowling has explained that the idea for dementors came to her
    after experiencing depression herself. They are a physical
    representation of depression and fear in the wizarding world. With
    this in mind, what do you think of the justice or morality of the
    wizarding prison system? Do you consider dementors and Azkaban a
    form of torture? How do the conditions of Azkaban compare to
    conditions in our own jails? What is the purpose of prison? What do
    you think its purpose should be?
  How does the Dementor’s Kiss compare to the death penalty? Given
    the potential to wrongfully convict an innocent person to death (or
    worse), is this fair, just, or moral?

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“Harry Potter as Tool for Social Change” Study Guide
  In the Muggle world, Harry would likely be diagnosed with
   depression, a mental illness, in this book. Does this change your
   understanding of depression? Of Harry? How does he cope? How can
   this narrative be used as a tool for coping with and understanding
   our own psychological struggles?
  Sirius’s and Buckbeak’s individual narratives follow somewhat
   parallel arcs. Was this intentional? Are animals deserving of the
   same protections against execution as humans? If the death penalty
   is wrong for humans, is it wrong for animals, too?
  The example of Lennox, a dog in Belfast who was executed for
   looking similar to an “illegal” breed, was brought up in our group.
   Many municipalities have laws against certain breeds, such as pit
   bulls, because they are deemed “dangerous dogs.” Is this fair? Or is it
   just, as some suggest, “dog racism”?
  Should an animal which has harmed a human be executed? Why or
   why not?

  Harry Potter Alliance of Pasadena | 626-470-7472 | HPAPasadena@gmail.com

“Harry Potter as Tool for Social Change” Study Guide
Week Five: Hate, Fear, and Evil
  Which character, creature, thing, etc. do you most hate in Harry
    Potter? Why? Discuss in depth. Is your hatred fair? Is it possible the
    character/creature is not the root cause of what you hate? Is it
    possible to change it? Does your hatred prevent you from seeing any
    good in the character/creature? Would someone else have a different
    perspective on it?
  Rita Skeeter is a commonly hated character. Why? Is she the cause of
    the problem, or just a representation or embodiment of our culture?
    Is her writing harmful? Why? What ways might there be to
    eliminate or reduce Rita Skeeter-like journalism in our world? Is it
    possible to do so?
  Umbridge may be the most hated character in the series. Why is
    that? Why not Voldemort? Do we pity Voldemort? If so, is it because
    we know more of his backstory than Umbridge’s? What is it about
    Umbridge that you hate most? Are you ever like Umbridge? What
    does Umbrige want? What is her motivation?
  What motivates Death Eaters to become such? Is it possible you
    might have become a Death Eater if you were raised in a different
    environment?
  Voldemort’s rise in power coincides with the dementors being let
    loose across England. Consider the symbolism of this: the entire
    country, both Muggle and magical, is in a dark, depressive fog,
    whether they can see the source or not. What is the difference
    between a personal depression, like Harry experiences during
    Prisoner of Azkaban, and this larger, national depression? Do you
    think a political structure, such as Voldemort’s tyranny, is capable of
    causing such widespread depression? How can citizens deal with
    this?
  What is evil? Try to clearly define it. How easy or hard is it to
    determine what is evil? Think of examples where it is hard to define
    what is evil or not. Can “good” people commit evil? Can “evil” people
    do good? Is it possible for a person to be both good and evil? Is it
    possible for a person to change from one to the other? Explain.

   Harry Potter Alliance of Pasadena | 626-470-7472 | HPAPasadena@gmail.com

“Harry Potter as Tool for Social Change” Study Guide
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?”

   Harry Potter Alliance of Pasadena | 626-470-7472 | HPAPasadena@gmail.com