Better Out than In: Healthy and Unhealthy Desires in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Part 4

The climax of healthy, other-focused desires in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone takes place far below Hogwarts when Harry, on Voldemort's orders, once again stands before the Mirror of Erised. Harry has just been thinking, “What I want more than anything else in the world at the moment...is to find the Stone before Quirrell does. So if I look in the mirror, I should see myself finding it – which means I'll see where it's hidden!” (362). 

Harry does not want to use the Stone either to make gold or extend his life. He does not want to give the Stone to anyone else for reward or fame or power. He merely wants to find the Stone to protect the whole wizarding world from a reinvigorated Voldemort. There could hardly be a more unselfish, healthy desire than that, and because Harry is thinking far more about others than about himself, when he looks into the Mirror, his desire is fulfilled. The Stone lands in his pocket (363). 

Throughout Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling reflects on the nature and value of human desire. By presenting the desires of various characters, Rowling shows that unhealthy desires are those that turn a person inward and hinder or even break relationships while healthy desires focus outward and strengthen bonds between people. It may be difficult at first to determine whether a given desire is healthy or unhealthy, but its true character is ultimately revealed by how much the desire in question considers the well-being of other people. Perhaps, in the end, Rowling is inviting her readers to examine the deepest desires of their own hearts and to consider what they would see if they peered into the Mirror of Erised.