Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Eucatastrophe in Harry Potter, Part 8

We've discovered plenty of eucatastrophes in the Harry Potter series. Every book exhibits at least one, if not several, of the sudden, joyous turns that lead to a happy ending and leave readers almost breathless with delight at their beauty. We've been stunned and amazed, charmed and elated as darkness becomes light, near despair becomes unlooked for fulfillment, and the hardest roads leads to the greatest happiness. 

We're left asking ourselves, perhaps, what all these Harry Potter eucatastrophes have in common. Dumbledore would know the answer: love. Love protects Harry, ensuring that Quirrell cannot hold him. Love calls Fawkes to Harry in the Chamber of Secrets. Love sends Harry's Patronus across the lake. Love keeps Harry holding his wand steady in the golden cage of Priori Incantatem. Love expels Voldemort from Harry's body in the Ministry of Magic. Love encourages Harry to keep on seeking Horcruxes even when he might easily have given up. Love leads Harry to shout “Expelliarmus!” one last time to finally defeat Voldemort. 

Indeed, the eucatastrophes of Harry Potter are powered by love, the kind of love that wills the very best for another person and then does everything possible to help that person attain it, the love that chooses to give everything, even one's life, that others may live safely and happily, the love that sustains a person in the darkest of times, the love that Harry Potter has in such great abundance.

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