Farewell to Harry

July 14 at midnight the final Harry Potter film hit theaters nationwide, marking the end of an era of storytelling and the maturity of a generation of readers and viewers who grew up with the young wizards and witches of Hogwarts. In celebration, the library blog points you to some engaging resources from around the web.

A great starting point is the Harry Potter wiki, which includes detailed sections on the books, films and characters. Mugglenet.com is self-identified as the No. 1 Harry Potter site on the web. According to whom, it's not clear, but the site certainly has lots of goodies for Harry fans: news, parodies, songs, games, themes, timelines, trivia, and lots of other things. The Leaky Cauldron proclaims itself to be "the most trusted name in Potter", providing readers with news updates on the films' stars, essays, and even craft how-tos. The Harry Potter Lexicon gets a vote as being the other potential go-to site, with its rich trove of information on everything Harry Potter. Another great resource is Accio Quote!, listed as the largest archive of J.K. Rowling interviews on the web. My personal favorite fact from this site: Rowling was inspired to have a different Defense Against the Dark Arts professor each year by the constant drummer "changes" in This is Spinal Tap.

Controversies

Because of its overwhelming popularity, the Harry Potter series has been the subject of numerous controversies since it first appeared in book form. The most contentious had to do with religion. Many religious groups raised objections to the Rowlings' work at one time or another, most alleging that the series promoted satanism or values that ran counter to those they espoused. Wikipedia's entry on Religious debates over the Harry Potter series provides an excellent overview of the variety of these concerns. In this country we are most familiar with those people contending that the books and films promote anti-Christian values, a debate nicely reproduced in this CBN website, which leaves readers free to draw their own conclusions. Most of us are probably less aware of concerns raised in Islamic nations and the Greek Orthodox church, or that a minor uproar was created when the final novel went on sale on the Sabbath in Israel. Nor are we likely to be aware of the Wiccans' response to claims that these works promote their religion, all of which the Wikipedia entry covers. An interesting related argument has arisen from those who contend that Rowling should have included more religion in her books, saying that her books are too secular in nature, unlike say, the Narnia books of C.S. Lewis.

If the religious controversies took center stage, they certainly weren't out there alone. Commentators on both the right and the left felt that the book argued in favor of the other side of the political spectrum. The books were claimed to be libertarian,  felt to be failed examples of multiculturalism, arguments in favor of capitalism, or favoring a rejection of conservative policies. One particular hot button moment was Rowling's comments regarding Albus Dumbledore's sexuality. Answering a young girl's question during a book talk, Rowling said that the Head of Hogwarts Academy and the most powerful wizard for the forces of good was gay. Not surprisingly, a firestorm of media response ensued. Wikipedia's page on the Politics of Harry Potter provides lots of information on this as well as other topics. For a quick sense of the opposing perspectives, check out these two: Dumbledore: A Lovely Outing from Entertainment Weekly and Gay Dumbledore: Somewhere Jerry Falwell is Smiling.

Magic

Much of the appeal of the Harry Potter books and films comes from the magical alternate reality that J.K. Rowling has created. Who wouldn't be fascinated by textbooks that come alive, chocolate frogs that actually hop about, or garden gnomes with a bit of life to them? For those interested in learning more about the true history of magic, as opposed to its fictional counterpart, the library can offer some suggestions. Students, staff and instructors have online access to the Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology, which provides full text entries on everything from Abracadabra to Zombie. The California Science Center has an excellent online exhibit, the Science of Illusion, that explores the history of magic as well as explaining some important illusions with the help of Penn and Teller. The online site MagicTricks.com has both a Library and a Museum where you can browse through information about performance magic.

Magic and Science

The Science of Illusion site gives a suggestion of some of the relationships between the Harry Potter books and the history of science. The National Library of Medicine brought some of these into sharper focus with a traveling exhibit called: Do Mandrakes Really Scream? Magic and Medicine in Harry Potter. The web site remains available for viewing. The Alchemy Web Site offers users a wealth of information on the early era of chemistry, with its considerable ties to Harry Potter's potions courses. Much to the surprise of many, a scientist who many today regard as the epitome of classical reasoning, Isaac Newton, spent more than 30 years of his life studying and transcribing alchemical (or chymistry) texts.

Witches then and now

In this country, we are most familiar with notions of witchcraft in relation to Salem, Massachusetts and the notorious witchcraft trials held there. But those were hardly the first persecutions of people on charges witchcraft. Douglas Linder's web page, A Brief History of Witchcraft Persecutions Before Salem chronicles these events in Western culture beginning with Exodus. This site is part of Linder's impressive Famous American Trials web site, which includes the Salem Witchcraft Trials as one of its featured events. Two other great sites about the events in Salem include the Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and National Geographic's interactive site, Salem Witch-Hunt, where users follow the story of one participant. Unfortunately for these witch suspects, their life was far different from the one depicted in Rowling's stories. If you're interested in learning more about real witches today, check out The Witches' Voice, a self-described "proactive educational network providing news, information services and resources for and about Pagans, Heathens, Witches and Wiccans." For general information, check out ReligiousTolerance.org, one of the very best resources on the web for information about different religious beliefs and issues. Their information on Wicca can be found here, while their index to their information on all faiths can be found here.

Quidditch

Rowling's books introduced an entirely new sport to the world: Quidditch. Although apparently ill-suited to the world of Muggles, as non-magical humans are called, because competitors fly on brooms and one of the three balls used during the game is a small, gold, self-propelled one with wings and a mind of its own called a snitch, Quidditch has become a competitive sport in the real world. This article from the New York Daily News outlines the last year's world cup, while International Quidditch Association provides the rules of the game, Muggle style. Check the Lexicon site above for Harry's Wizarding World version.