Better Out than In: Healthy and Unhealthy Desires in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Part 1

Albus Dumbledore sits on the floor with Harry Potter before the Mirror of Erised and, as usual, teaches an important lesson. The Mirror, he explains, “shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts....However, this mirror will give us neither knowledge or truth....It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live...” (265). Dumbledore knows that desire is part of the human experience. Every human heart is always longing for something that looms just out of reach like an elusive Golden Snitch. 

In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling explores the nature and value of human desire. As her characters confront their deepest desires, Rowling invites readers to perceive that unhealthy desires turn a person inward and have negative effects on relationships while healthy desires turn a person outward and stimulate connections with others although the difference between the two may not be initially apparent.

The theme of desire emerges in the very first chapters of the book with the Dursley family. The Dursleys have all sorts of unhealthy desires that focus their attention on themselves and hinder their relationships with others. Vernon concentrates on success and power in his job and spends a lot of time yelling at his coworkers to emphasis his superiority (4). Petunia is a first rate snoop who wants to know everyone else's business but only in order to pass on juicy bits of gossip rather than to help anyone (1, 7). Dudley, even from his babyhood days, wants exactly what he wants exactly when he wants it. Spoiled by his parents, Dudley grows up learning that his desires are law, and he is quick to throw selfish tantrums when he does not get his way (16, 28). 

The Dursleys have one desire that is greater than all the others: they want nothing to do with magic (2). This desire keeps them far away from Pentunia's sister, Lily Potter, and her family until the day one-year-old Harry literally shows up on the Dursleys' doorstep. From that point on, the Dursleys try their best to stamp the magic right out of Harry (45). They seem to feel if they oppress him enough, he will somehow grow up “normal.” Of course, their desire backfires and leads to more conflict with the wizarding world than they could ever have imagined, even if they approved of imagination. 

Another example of unhealthy desire appears in the Mirror of Erised. When Harry discovers the mirror, he encounters his deepest desire: to know his family (259). At first, this desire seems normal and even healthy. The orphaned Harry would naturally want to see his family often and learn more about them. Harry, however, soon becomes obsessed with the Mirror and its images. At breakfast the day after he first looks into the Mirror, Harry cannot eat. He stops caring about discovering Nicholas Flamel or figuring out what the three-headed dog is guarding. “What did it matter if Snape stole it really?” he wonders (260). 

Harry turns even more inward after his second visit to the Mirror. He does not care to play chess with Ron or visit Hagrid. He gets irritated with Ron when the latter expresses his concern about the Mirror and tells Harry not to go out again at night (263). All Harry can think about is his desire to see his family again. If he had not met Dumbledore on his third visit to the Mirror, Harry might have become one of the people who “have wasted away” in front of the Mirror, “entranced by” the vision of their desires but dismissing the real world and real people in the process (265).