Eucatastrophe in Harry Potter, Part 1

Eucatastrophe. Good catastrophe. According to J.R.R. Tolkien, eucatastrophe is “the joy of the happy ending...the sudden joyous 'turn'...a sudden and miraculous grace...never to be counted on to recur” (1). A genuine eucatastrophe nearly takes the reader's breath away with its beauty and delight. It shocks and charms, awes and enchants, amazes and elates. It is the unexpected pleasure that comes at the end of a long, hard road, the deep satisfaction that everything turns out well in the end even though everything seemed black and hopeless. 

The Harry Potter stories are filled with eucatastrophes. Each novel features at least one, if not several, of these stunning turns of plot that bring pure delight to readers. This series of posts will examine the eucatastrophes of the Wizarding World and draw a few conclusions about their deeper meanings. 

Harry's prospects seem rather bleak toward the end of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Dumbledore has gone off to the Ministry, leaving Harry, Ron, and Hermione to go through the trapdoor and seek the Sorcerer's Stone before their enemy (whom they believe is Snape) seizes it for Voldemort. The trio progresses through each challenge until Harry must go on by himself. Then, to his shock, he faces not Snape but Quirrell and Voldemort himself. As Harry struggles against the ropes that bind him, something dawns on him. He realizes that since he does not want to actually use the Stone but only find it, if he looks into the Mirror of Erised, he will see where the stone is hidden. Voldemort also catches on and tells Quirrell to use Harry. 

Harry stands before the Mirror, small and scared, and suddenly experiences a eucatastrophe. The Sorcerer's Stone drops into his pocket. It is completely unexpected and quite satisfying. Harry now possesses the prize that Quirrell and Voldemort haven't been able to grasp...and only because his intentions are pure. 

But Harry is not out of the woods yet. He still has to escape. He defies Voldemort and makes a dash for the door, but Quirrell grabs hold of his wrist. Then another eucatastrophe occurs. Quirrell can't hold onto Harry. His hands burn and blister at the mere touch of Harry's skin. Harry uses this phenomenon, which he doesn't understand, to his advantage, but soon he collapses under the strain. Just before he passes out, however, he catches a note of a third eucatastrophe: someone calling his name. 

Neither Harry or readers understand what has happened until Harry wakes up. Dumbledore had returned...suddenly, unexpectedly, seemingly out of nowhere. He pulled Quirrell off of Harry just in time. Harry is almost miraculously safe. 

Dumbledore then proceeds to explain the second eucatastrophe. Quirrell couldn't touch Harry without experiencing great pain because of the strength and power of Lily Potter's sacrificial love. That love is, Dumbledore tells Harry, “in your very skin,” and it is the force behind one of the eucatastrophes that save Harry at the end of his first wizarding adventure.

(1) In “On Fairy-Stories” (The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays, page 153)