The Meaning of the Phoenix: Love’s Victory Over Death in Harry Potter

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Update: I knew a few months ago when I read about Garuda and the Nagas that I had read of Nagas somewhere previously. Found it: Felicity’s essay, Nagini as Horcrux (which turned out to be her most spot-on essay!).

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This essay is also available in audio form in PubCast #33.

From The Epic of Gilgamesh to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the question of death has been explored in the pages of literature, not least in mythological works. There is hardly a more universal human experience than death, and its chilling finality has caused fear in not a few hearts and minds. J.K. Rowling has said that death is “possibly the most important theme” in the books. Through the lens of mythological studies, Harry’s figurative death and resurrection as part of the Hero’s Journey can be seen book after book, and the theme of love’s victory over death is powerfully reinforced by the symbolism of the phoenix and Harry’s interaction with the series’ “Wise Old Man” (Dumbledore) and “Shadow” (Voldemort) archetypes.

The best place to start when considering the phoenix is Rowling’s own work, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. We’ll visit world mythology, of course, but Rowling’s own use of the phoenix gets primary consideration.

The phoenix is a magnificent, swan-sized, scarlet bird with a long golden tail, beak, and talons. It nests on mountain peaks and is found in Egypt, India, and China. The phoenix lives to an immense age as it can regenerate, bursting into flames when its body begins to fail and rising against from the ashes as a chick. The phoenix is a gentle creature that has never been known to kill and eats only herbs. Like the Diricrawl, it can disappear and reappear at will. Phoenix song is magical; it is reputed to increase the courage of the pure of heart and to strike fear into the hearts of the impure. Phoenix tears have powerful healing properties. (Scamander 32).

We see these characteristics clearly enough throughout the series. Harry first meets Fawkes on a Burning Day, so he becomes witness to a regeneration; this he sees again when the bird deliberately sacrifices itself for Dumbledore in the Ministry. The Phoenix song plays a powerful role in the series, twice frightening Voldemort (in Chamber and in Goblet) while simultaneously strengthening Harry. “One soft, wavering note” from Fawkes gave Harry the courage to tell the story of Cedric’s death, while the lament gave the Order the ability to grieve after the loss of Dumbledore at the end of Half-Blood Prince. Twice in the series, Fawkes’ tears healed Harry, once from certain death, the other time from the wound that led to Voldemort’s rebirth.

Fantastic Beasts includes a footnote on the XXXX rating the Ministry gives the phoenix (Scamander 32). “XXXX” generally means that the beast is “dangerous” while needing a “specialist” and a “skilled wizard” to “handle” (Rowling, Beasts xxii). The footnote explains that while the “dangerous” part of the rating does not apply to the phoenix, but that “very few wizards have ever succeeded in domesticating it” (32). This, of course, says tremendous things about Dumbledore.

You’ll note that Fantastic Beasts claims that the phoenix lives in China, Egypt, and India. The reference to Egypt is important, due to Egyptian mythology’s being the origin of the phoenix, in the form of the Benu bird, found in The Book of the Dead and “associated with the Egyptian sun-god Ra” (Lindermans, “Benu”). In Chinese mythology, the feng-huang is the phoenix parallel and represents “the primordial force of the heavens” (Lindermans, “Feng-huang”).

The reference to India is particularly fascinating. While Arabia (the location of the phoenix in Greek mythology) is conspicuously absent, this connection to Hindu mythology is interesting.

Garuda “is one of the three principal animal deities in the Hindu Mythology that has evolved after the Vedic Period in Indian history” (Sanyal). This Hindu version of the phoenix is attached to an intriguing story about its opposition to snakes. You see where I’m going with this. There’s more to the story than this, but the significant details are these:

The Story:

Kashyap, Garuda’s father, had two wives: Kadru, the elder, and Vinata, Garuda’s mother, the younger. There was great rivalry between the two wives. They could not stand each other. Once, they had an argument over the color of the horse… produced … just after the time of creation. Each chose a color and laid a wager on her own choice. The one who lost would become the other’s slave. Kadru proved to be right and, as part of the agreement, imprisoned Vinata in the nether regions, Patala, where she was guarded by serpents. The serpents are, according to another myth, the sons of Kadru herself.

Garuda, on hearing of his mother’s imprisonment, descended to Patala and asked the serpents to release Vinata. They agreed to do so and demanded as ransom a cup of amrita (ambrosia). So Garuda set off for the celestial mountain where the amrita was kept. Before he could get to the amrita he had to overcome three hazards set up by the gods to guard the celestial drink. First, Garuda came upon a ring of flames fanned by high winds. They roared and leapt up to the sky but Garuda drank up several rivers and extinguished the flames. Next, Garuda came upon a circular doorway. A very rapidly spinning wheel with sharp spikes on the spokes guarded it. Garuda made himself very small and slipped through the turning spokes. Lastly, Garuda had to defeat two fire-spitting serpents guarding the amrita. He flapped his wings rapidly and blew dust into the eyes of the monsters and blinded them. Then he cut them to pieces with his sharp beak. So Garuda finally reached the amrita and started to fly back with it to the nether regions but the gods anticipated his purpose and gave chase. Indra, king of the gods, struck him with his thunderbolt but Garuda proved a superior warrior and defeated the gods and continued unscathed on his journey to Patala.

When the serpents got the amrita they were overjoyed and released Vinata. Garuda got his mother back but he became an inveterate enemy of the serpents, the sons of his mother’s rival Kadru. The serpents, the Nagas, symbolized evil and that automatically invoked Garuda’s hatred. (Sanyal)

The phoenix has been a powerful literary and religious symbol for thousands of years. Originally a crimson and gold bird of ancient mythologies of Egypt and Greece, the phoenix lived for 500 (or 1461) years, and as its death approached, it built itself a “nest of aromatic wood,” set a fire, and “was consumed by the flames” (Lindermans, “Phoenix”). Out of the ashes, a new phoenix would rise, becoming a potent symbol of “immortality, resurrection, and life after death” (Lindermans, “Phoenix”).

As such, it achieved some prominence as a religious symbol. “Judaic lore mentions that the phoenix achieved its unique status as an immortal bird because it refrained from bothering the overburdened Noah during the Flood voyage” (Lindermans, “Phoenix”). As early as 96 A.D., the Christian bishop Clement employed the phoenix as a Christ symbol, calling it a “remarkable token” of Jesus’ resurrection as well as a future resurrection day (Clement 55). Subsequent Christian leaders followed this example, and by the Middle Ages the phoenix was referred to as a “resurrection bird” and “was used in heraldic devices and shields to represent the bearer’s hope of eternal life in Christ” (Granger 94).

Alice Mills, who notices the Christ symbolism, explains the mythical significance of the phoenix as it relates to other symbols utilized by Rowling, such as unicorn blood (also a Christ symbol) and the three-headed dog:

All of these mythic figures…are linked to the human longing to transcend time and death, whether by descending to the underworld and returning unscathed, or by magically gaining eternal life through the use of a talisman, or by being resurrected from the dead (Mills 4).

So there is deep, mythological significance here. Rowling takes mythology and uses it to her own advantage, in her own way. In fact, in an interview with Stephen Fry, she called British mythology a “Totally Bastard Mythology” because it’s such a combination of other mythologies, and then goes on to say that she takes lots of liberties with that mythology.

Let’s take a quick look at the three primary mythological archetypes of the series: The Wise Old Man, the Shadow, and the Hero, and their relationship to the overarching theme of love’s victory over death.

Wise Old Man
Dumbledore clearly fits the “wise old man” archetype, and he is the great teacher about death – calling it “the next great adventure” to “the well-organized mind” and assuring “Tom” that “there are worse things than death.” We learn from Deathly Hallows of course, that he is a wise teacher about death because he was once also tempted by immortality.

Fawkes the phoenix is Dumbledore’s pet, whose home is in his office and whom Harry unfortunately first met on a burning day (Rowling, Chamber 207). In this scene, Dumbledore describes the phoenix to Harry, and Rowling puts specific emphasis on the phoenix’s nature as a “faithful pet” (207, emphasis in original). One of the key elements of the phoenix symbolism is loyalty.

The denouement of Goblet of Fire provides us with an intriguing scene that illustrates the connection between Dumbledore, Fawkes, and the theme of death. Rowling has explained that it was at Cedric’s death that Harry “really [felt] what death means” for the first time (Rowling, “F.A.Q.”). In that scene, Fawkes recognized the pain of death that Harry felt, because Fawkes immediately “left his perch, [flew] across the room, and landed on Harry’s knee” (Rowling, Goblet 694). Harry absolutely does not want to talk about it, but Dumbledore wisely presses him:

If I thought I could help you…by putting you into an enchanted sleep for a while…I would do it. But I know better. Numbing the pain for a while will only make it worse when you finally feel it (695).

As Harry realizes that he would have to tell the whole story of Cedric’s death right then and there, the interplay between Dumbledore and Fawkes continues: Fawkes “let out one soft, quavering note” that warms and strengthens Harry for the story he is about to tell (695). With the combination of Dumbledore’s words and Fawkes’s song, Harry learns how to begin to grieve Cedric’s death not by pushing it down, but by speaking and letting it all out. It’s painful, but simultaneously a “relief” for Harry to relive the night’s awful events (695).

In Half-Blood Prince, we learn that the connection between Dumbledore and Fawkes is so strong that when Dumbledore dies, Fawkes sings a very long lament and then “[leaves] Hogwarts for good,” just as his master had (Rowling, Half-Blood 632). When Dumbledore’s white tomb had burst into flames, Harry “thought…he saw a phoenix fly joyfully into the blue” (645). It seems quite obvious that the Dumbledore/Fawkes connection is a primary vehicle for what Rowling wants to teach about death, and Harry’s loyalty to Dumbledore connects him to the phoenix.

The Dumbledore/phoenix connection symbolizes resurrection and victory over death, but it is Dumbledore’s teaching that explains it. The lesson at the end of Book 1 about death being the next great adventure, the grief at Cedric’s death at the end of Book 4, the teaching about the mysterious power of love in the Department of Mysteries after Harry lost Sirius, and Dumbledore’s explanation of love as the “power the dark lord knows not,” and Dumbledore’s own willingess to die to protect the soul of his would-be killer, Draco all teach Harry about love and death, and they all prepare Harry to die well.

The Shadow and the Phoenix
Another important lesson of Dumbledore’s is that Voldemort’s greatest weakness lies in his inability to love and to see that “there are things much worse than death” (Rowling, Order 814; see also Half-Blood Prince 559, 566). Voldemort, the series’ “shadow” archetype, is key to understanding what not to believe about death. The name Voldemort, taken on by the young Tom Riddle, Jr. can literally mean, “willing death, flight of death, or flight from death” (Granger 108). Both ideas apply perfectly: he is simultaneously attempting to flee from death and willing death upon anyone who gets in his way.

Voldemort so despises and fears death that he has “gone further than anybody along the path to immortality” through certain “experiments” (Rowling, Goblet 653). We learn in Book 6 that these experiments are horcruxes, “wickedest of magical inventions” (Rowling, Half-Blood 381). They are so wicked because, in order to create them to keep one’s self alive, one must commit murder, “the supreme act of evil,” ripping one’s soul apart and placing the soul fragment into an object (497-98). Slughorn explaines to young Riddle that “death would be preferable” to an existence reliant upon a horcrux (497).

It is quite apparent that Riddle. did not agree. Even at the age of 11, Tom was convinced that someone who knew magic would be able to prevent death (275). The rest of his life is spent in pursuit of this goal, firm in his belief that “[t]here is nothing worse than death” (Rowling, Order 814). So determined was Voldemort to never die, that he was willing to live a “cursed life” by drinking unicorn’s blood, become less and less human, and kill anyone in his path to achieve his goal (Rowling, Sorcerer’s 258).

It is also evident that Voldemort has nothing but disdain for sacrificial love. He called Lily Potter’s sacrifice “foolish” and challenged Dumbledore directly on his belief that “love is more powerful than [Voldemort’s] kind of magic” (Rowling, Goblet 653; Half-Blood 444). Voldemort is so unconvinced of the power of love that he thinks his use of Harry’s blood, in which the “old magic” that he had “forgotten” resides, for his rebirth will counter its power and give him victory over Harry (Rowling, Goblet 652-53). The twinkle of victory in Dumbledore’s eye is now understood. Lily’s sacrifice of love for Harry, and Harry’s willingness to sacrifice himself out of love for the rest of the world just like his mother did, was the key to Voldemort’s downfall (696).

Since sacrificial love connects us to the theme of choice, we can also see Voldemort’s weakness in this area. As Dumbledore explains, the prophecy need not have been acted upon, but Voldemort “created his worst enemy” out of fear, making a “grave error” in marking his equal and establishing his own vanquisher, the one with power he knew not (Rowling, Half-Blood 510). In other words, Voldemort believes the prophecy to be necessarily fulfilled, because of his own fear of death, and therefore chose to act upon it when, in reality, he could have walked away. Because he did not understand the power of choice, “he not only handpicked the man most likely the finish him, he handed him uniquely deadly weapons” (510). Voldemort’s fear of death and inability to comprehend love will be his own undoing.

There are a few connections we can establish between the phoenix and Voldemort which give us a symbol for the defeat of the one who wills and flees from death. Three times the phoenix symbol is present and active in the thwarting of Voldemort’s plans: in the chamber of secrets, as a result of the priori incantatem effect, and in the Ministry in his attack on Dumbledore.

Harry, Fawkes, and Resilience
Misty Hook argues in her essay, “What Harry and Fawkes Have in Common” that Harry’s suffering throughout the series has been necessary, primarily because the character it produces in Harry makes him able to confront Voldemort.

In order to defeat Voldemort, Harry must show resolve and the determination to do what must be done no matter what the cost to himself. Thus, while Harry’s humanity and capacity for love could have blossomed in the arms of loving parents and caretakers, it is only through Harry’s multiple losses and his ability to be positively molded by his grief that he has discovered the toughness it will take to achieve victory over Voldemort. As such, Harry’s grief is like a phoenix: it burns him up only to help him emerge a stronger, better person (Hook 92).

Harry’s ability to love was created by multiple phoenix-like moments, beginning with the loss of his parents, continuing through mistreatment at the Dursley house, and being re-lived year after year as he progresses through trials, losses, and the figurative death and resurrection sequence of his journey.

This morning, John Granger made the statement that Harry died and rose again every single book. If you were wondering what on earth he was talking about, I’m going to conclude this with an overview of that. He’s done excellent work on this, and I think it’s a good way to finish things up here. As Misty Hook notes, Harry and Fawkes are very alike. Here is Harry’s death/resurrection pattern, book by book:

In Philosopher’s Stone, Harry figurative descends into the Underworld, passing by the three-headed dog Fluffy, a “comical version of the three-headed dog Cerberus that guards the path to the underworld in Greek myth” (Mills 3). In battle with Quirrellmort, which can almost be seen as a figurative battle for eternal life over the stone, Harry “knew all was lost, and fell into blackness” (Rowling, Sorcerer’s 295). He awakes again in the hospital wing with Dumbledore watching over him. When Harry asks how long he has been out, Dumbledore replies, “Three days” (296). It is hard to miss the resurrection imagery there.

In Chamber of Secrets, Harry once again makes a descent, this time to do battle with a great serpent, the basilisk. Once again we see a clear reference to death, as Harry is succumbing to the basilisk’s poison (Rowling, Chamber 321). But as Riddle pronounces Harry’s death, and Harry is blacking out, he is saved by the healing tears of the resurrection bird, Fawkes the phoenix, and once again ascends victorious (321).

In Prisoner of Azkaban, after a descent underground where Sirius’ identity is revealed and a return to the surface, Harry is once again on the edge of death as the Dementor begins to perform its soul-sucking kiss on him. The text holds two clear references to death prior to the kiss, and Harry hears his mother’s final screams as it begins; once again, he was saved, this time by his own patronus charm, which appeared in the form of a stag (Rowling, Prisoner 384-85, 411). It is important to point out that in the absence of the phoenix symbol, a stag is present. The stag is also a medieval Christ symbol which represents new life because of its cycle of losing and re-growing its antlers (Granger 95).

In Goblet of Fire, the death/resurrection scene takes place, appropriately, in a graveyard. After Voldemort is reborn, he “attacks Harry with a spell that certainly is meant to call to mind the sacrifice of Jesus, the Cruciatus Curse” (Grimes 113). As the subsequent duel ensues, and once again Voldemort explains his intentions to kill Harry, his Avada Kedavra curse meets Harry’s Expelliarmus charm, and the Priori Incantatem effect links the two phoenix-core wands (Rowling, Goblet 668). Harry hears the same phoenix song he had heard when Fawkes came to his rescue two years prior in the Chamber of Secrets, and he is once again saved from certain death in the presence of the phoenix symbol (664-69)

In Order of the Phoenix, Harry descends into the Ministry and has to deal with the “very arbitrary and sudden death” of his godfather, Sirius (Rowling, “J.K. Rowling”). Facing Voldemort’s killing curse once again, Harry, entirely unable to defend himself this time, is saved by Dumbledore and Fawkes, the latter having to swallow a killing curse, burst into flames, and be reborn from the ashes (Rowling, Order 815).

In Half-Blood Prince, Harry has forced Dumbledore to drink the green potion of fear and death, and is at the point of knowing for certain that he’ll be dragged underwater to become another inferius, when “red and gold flames” erupt around him. This is an obvious Dumbledore/Fawkes connection, and Harry rises from the underground once again, having been saved from death.

In Deathly Hallows, there is no subtlety to the matter. It is masterfully done. Fawkes is gone, but she maintains her fire imagery in some interesting ways. For example, after Mad-Eye’s death, everyone is looking around at each other suspiciously. Who’s the sneak? Harry calls Dumbledore to mind, remembers the way he trusted, and then does what – he takes a drink of firewhiskey and immediately feels strength and courage (Rowling, Hallows 80). We suddenly see a very decisive, very Dumbledore-like Harry in that moment, who simply will not let them be divided (80).

The death and resurrection scene, chapters 34-36, whatever else you think of Deathly Hallows, is secured this series a place in the list of classics. Plot details and contradictions will be forgiven in light of this masterfully written section of the story. Chapters 34-36 was the whole point of this series. Rowling wrote the previous 6.9 books for these three chapters.

One of my commenters at swordofgryffindor.com said that she out-did C.S. Lewis here. One of the most moving portions of the whole Narnia series is Aslan’s walk to the Stone Table with Susan and Lucy. Harry’s walk through the forest with his deceased loved ones outdoes Lewis on this, and I would have never guessed he could be outdone.

Lewis’ series, despite is obvious flaws and glaring plotholes, will always be a classic. In the way that Rowling has written the theme of Love’s Victory Over Death, she has accomplished the same. Oh, we’ll find plot holes, detail problems, and the like. But she did it. She wrote the classic epic fairy-tale myth of our time, and she did it with that powerful theme symbolized by the phoenix: The one who lives a life of true, genuine, self-sacrificial love and who trusts wholeheartedly in the self-sacrificial love of Another on their behalf, has no reason to fear death.

Bibliography

Clement. “The Letter of the Church of Rome to the Church of Corinth, Commonly Called
Clement’s First Letter” in Early Christian Fathers ed. by Cyril C. Richardson.
New York: Touchstone, 1996. pp. 43-73.

Fry, Stephen and Rowling, J.K. “’Harry Potter and Me’ (BBC Christmas Special, British
version).” BBC, 28 December 2001.” Accio Quote. 08 February 2005. 12
May 2006.

Fry, Stephen and Rowling, J.K. “J.K. Rowling at the Royal Albert Hall, 26 June
2003.” Accio Quote. 10 April 2005. 12 May 2006.

Granger, John. Looking for God in Harry Potter. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 2004.

Grimes, M. Katherine. “Harry Potter: Fairy Tale Prince, Real Boy, and Archetypal
Hero” in The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter. ed. by Lana A. Whited.
Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press, 2002. pp. 89-124.

Hook, Misty. “What Harry and Fawkes Have in Common” in The Psychology of Harry Potter. Ed. by Neil Mulholland. Dallas: Benbella Books, Inc., 2006. pp. 91-104.

Lindermans, Micha F. “Benu.” Encyclopedia Mythica. 22 June 1997. 3 August 2007.

Lindermans, Micha F. “Feng-Huang.” Encyclopedia Mythica. 16 January 2004. 3 August 2007.

Lindermans, Micha F. “Phoenix.” Encyclopedia Mythica. 09 June 2004. 12 May 2006.

Mills, Alice. “Archetypes and the Unconscious in Harry Potter and Diana Wynne
Jones’s Fire and Hemlock and Dogsbody” in Reading Harry Potter: Critical
Essays. Ed. by Giselle Liza Anatol. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2003. pp.
3-13.

Rowling, J.K. “F.A.Q.” J.K. Rowling Official Site. n.d. 12 May 2006.

Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. New York: Scholastic, Inc.,
1999.

Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. New York: Scholastic, 2007.

Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. New York: Scholastic, Inc., 2000.

Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. New York, Scholastic Inc., 2005.

Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. New York: Scholastic, Inc.
2003.

Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. New York: Scholastic, Inc., 1997.

Sanyal, Sumanta. “Garuda.” Encylopedia Mythica. 29 March 2005. 1 August 2007.

Scamander, Newt. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books, 2001.

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In researching the phoenix for my Prophecy 2007 presentation, I was struck by Newt Scamander’s (JKR’s) description of where the phoenix lives from Fantastic Beasts:

It nests on mountain peaks and is found in Egypt, India, and China. (p. 32)

Egypt I knew about; the Bennu from the Book of the Dead is the original mythological phoenix. China I expected to see, because I’ve read about the Feng-huang. But I was sure, before ever turning to Fantastic Beasts, that I’d find the location of the phoenix to be “Egypt, China, and Arabia.” After all, Greek mythology, which Rowling taps on at least one occasion (with Fluffy), claims that as the home of the phoenix.

So I had to go digging for the India reference, and what I found was fascinating. Garuda “is one of the three principal animal deities in the Hindu Mythology that has evolved after the Vedic Period in Indian history” (Sanyal). This Hindu version of the phoenix is attached to an intriguing story about its opposition to snakes. You see where I’m going with this. You can read the whole story here, but the significant details are these:

• Garuda must fly to a celestial mountain to retrieve ambrosia in order to release his mother from the captivity of snakes.
• On the way, Garuda passes three tests, one of which is a battle against two “fire-spitting” snakes in which he “flapped his wings rapidly and blew dust into the eyes of the monsters and blinded them.” You see the parallel to the battle with the basilisk in Chamber, of course.
• The serpents from which Garuda rescued his mother were the Nagas, Hindu symbols of evil and clearly the inspiration for Voldemort’s snake, Nagini.

Looks like I need to spend more time with Hindu mythology.  The image above is a picture of Vishnu and Lakshmi riding Garuda, circa 1700.  Click on it for a larger image.

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…Johnny’s got a good summary post on Phoenix symbolism.

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Calling all critics and editors! I’m considering re-working this essay (which I previously included on this site as an attachment) for publication and/or presentation at conferences. It was written for a 200-level college course, so it needs, perhaps, some refocusing and enhancement. I’ve formatted it for a blog post, and I’m looking for serious input. No need to get all worried about my feelings; tell me what needs to change about this essay. What needs revision? What needs to be expanded? What are the strengths and weaknesses? Am I way off anywhere? Your responses are greatly appreciated.

From The Epic of Gilgamesh to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the question of death has been explored in the pages of literature, not least in mythological works. There is hardly a more universal human experience than death, and its chilling finality has caused fear in not a few hearts and minds. J.K. Rowling has said that death is “possibly the most important theme” in the books (Rowling, “Harry Potter and Me”). So what does she want us to learn about death?

That this theme is central to the books can be seen in the multitude of plot twists, words of wisdom, and symbols, not the least of which is the phoenix, that speak directly to the issue of death. Ultimately, Rowling wants to teach us that a life lived out of sacrificial love makes death not something to be feared, but “the next great adventure” (Rowling, Sorcerer’s 297).

Working primarily in mythological categories, I intend to investigate how Rowling teaches this theme. We will begin by exploring the symbol of the phoenix and how it relates to the theme of death. All of the subsequent content will be linked to this central symbol. We will then hear various “perspectives on death” from the series’ three most prominent archetypes: the wise old man (Dumbledore), the shadow (Voldemort) and the hero (Harry Potter). I will then argue that Harry progresses through a figurative death and resurrection cycle in each book, teaching him, in effect, to live and die well. After exploring the first five books along the lines of this figurative death/resurrection motif, I will conclude with Half-Blood Prince, since it serves to springboard us into the final book and is so incredibly significant, being the real rising point of Harry’s status as hero.

The phoenix has been a powerful literary and religious symbol for thousands of years. Originally a crimson and gold bird of ancient mythologies of Egypt and Greece, the phoenix lived for 500 (or 1461) years, and as its death approached, it built itself a “nest of aromatic wood,” set a fire, and “was consumed by the flames” (Lindermans). Out of the ashes, a new phoenix would rise, becoming a potent symbol of “immortality, resurrection, and life after death” (Linderman).

As such, it achieved some prominence as a religious symbol. “Judaic lore mentions that the phoenix achieved its unique status as an immortal bird because it refrained from bothering the overburdened Noah during the Flood voyage” (Linderman). As early as 96 A.D., the Christian bishop Clement employed the phoenix as a Christ symbol, calling it a “remarkable token” of Jesus’ resurrection as well as a future resurrection day (Clement 55). Subsequent Christian leaders followed this example, and by the Middle Ages the phoenix was referred to as a “resurrection bird” and “was used in heraldic devices and shields to represent the bearer’s hope of eternal life in Christ” (Granger 94).

Alice Mills, who notices the Christ symbolism, explains for us the mythical significance of the phoenix as it relates to other symbols utilized by Rowling, such as unicorn blood (also a Christ symbol) and the three-headed dog:

All of these mythic figures…are linked to the human longing to transcend time and death, whether by descending to the underworld and returning unscathed, or by magically gaining eternal life through the use of a talisman, or by being resurrected from the dead (Mills 4).

Since the symbol of the phoenix does relate quite powerfully to the theme of death, we see its frequent use in the Harry Potter novels. As we continue through the rest of the argument, we shall see how the phoenix illustrates and reinforces Rowling’s theme of love’s victory over death.

Dumbledore clearly fits the “wise old man” archetype for the Harry Potter series, and his guidance on the question of death is perhaps his most significant contribution to Harry’s development. His conversation with Harry at the end of Sorcerer’s Stone about death being “the next great adventure” to “the well-organized mind” is a set up for his words of wisdom throughout the rest of the series (Rowling, Sorcerer’s 297).

Before progressing to these words, however, we do well to consider his connection to the phoenix. Fawkes the phoenix is Dumbledore’s pet, whose home is in his office and whom Harry unfortunately first met on a burning day (Rowling, Chamber 207). In this scene, Dumbledore describes the phoenix to Harry, and Rowling puts specific emphasis on the phoenix’s nature as a “faithful pet” (207, emphasis in original). This is an extremely important word, as we will see when considering Harry’s relationship to Dumbledore and Fawkes later on.

The denouement of Goblet of Fire provides us with an intriguing scene that illustrates the connection between Dumbledore, Fawkes, and the theme of death. Rowling has explained that it was at Cedric’s death that Harry “really [felt] what death means” for the first time (Rowling, “F.A.Q.”). Upon entering Dumbledore’s office after the tragedy of the third task, it seems as though Fawkes recognizes the pain of death that Harry feels, because Fawkes immediately “left his perch, [flew] across the room, and landed on Harry’s knee” (Rowling, Goblet 694). Harry absolutely does not want to talk about it, but Dumbledore presses him:

If I thought I could help you…by putting you into an enchanted sleep for a while…I would do it. But I know better. Numbing the pain for a while will only make it worse when you finally feel it (695).

As Harry realizes that he would have to tell the whole story of Cedric’s death right then and there, the interplay between Dumbledore and Fawkes continues: Fawkes “let out one soft, quavering note” that warms and strengthens Harry for the story he is about to tell (695). With the combination of Dumbledore’s wise words and Fawkes’s song, Harry learns how to begin to grieve Cedric’s death not by pushing it down, but by speaking and letting it all out. Though it is painful, it is simultaneously a “relief” for Harry to relive the night’s awful events (695).

In Half-Blood Prince, we learn that the connection between Dumbledore and Fawkes is so strong that when Dumbledore dies, Fawkes sings a very long lament and then “[leaves] Hogwarts for good,” just as his master had (Rowling, Half-Blood 632). When Dumbledore’s white tomb had burst into flames, Harry “thought…he saw a phoenix fly joyfully into the blue” (645). It seems quite obvious that the Dumbledore/Fawkes connection is a primary vehicle for what Rowling wants to teach about death; we will see below how Harry’s loyalty to Dumbledore connects him to the phoenix.

The Dumbledore/phoenix connection symbolizes resurrection and victory over death, but it is Dumbledore’s teaching that explains it. There is much that Dumbledore teaches Harry about death. Harry learns that death is not the worst thing that can befall a person (Rowling, Sorcerer’s 297). He learns that if faced with the choice to do what is right or what is easy, to “Remember Cedric Diggory,” who died at the hands of Voldemort (Rowling, Goblet 724). He learns much about how to grieve (Rowling, Goblet 695; Order 823-34).

Ultimately, the lesson that Dumbledore wants to teach Harry over and over is that it is only love that holds the power to conquer death. We find this taught significantly in three places: the final Dumbledore/Harry conversations in Books 1 and 5 and at the end of Dumbledore’s teaching about horcruxes in book 6.

At the end of Book 1, we begin to learn something of the mystery of how Harry survived Voldemort’s killing curse. Dumbledore explains that it was Harry’s mother’s sacrificial love that “left a mark” that saved him from death (Rowling, Stone 299). Somehow, though it is in no way explained, Lily’s willingness to stand in Voldemort’s way to protect her son and be killed in the process protected Harry from death.

After another four years has passed and just after Sirius’s death, Dumbledore, regretting that he had not told Harry more of his story earlier, continues to explain this phenomenon. Calling it “ancient magic,” we almost hear echoes of Calvary in his explanation that it was her “shed blood,” which runs still through the veins of Harry and Aunt Petunia, which continues to protect Harry, especially when he lived at the Dursleys (Rowling, Order 836). After explaining the prophecy made by Trelawney so many years ago, Harry is quite convinced that, as an average wizard, he does not have “power the dark lord knows not” (843). Dumbledore disagrees, of course, and says:

There is a room in the Department of Mysteries…that is kept locked at all times. It contains a force that is at once more wonderful and more terrible than death, than human intelligence, than forces of nature. It is also, perhaps, the most mysterious of the many subjects for study that reside there. It is the power held within that room that you possess in such quantities and which Voldemort has not at all…It was your heart that saved you (843-44).

This mysterious power, one that is so fascinating, wonderful, and terrible that it must be perpetually locked, resides in Harry’s own heart. The power, of course, is love, and Dumbledore presses the point even further in discussing the prophecy with Harry in Book 6. By this conversation, it is apparent that Harry does not yet understand that “the power the dark lord knows not” is love, and he is “impatient” and “let down” when the discussion of his ability to love is raised by Dumbledore (Rowling, Half-Blood 509). But Dumbledore is adamant on the point that Harry’s ability to love, his being “pure of heart” is his greatest protection against Voldemort (511).

While we will have to wait for the final installment to learn exactly how love has victory over death, there are a few things we can say in summary about Dumbledore’s teaching. There is a definite link being made by Dumbledore between love and choice. In Dumbledore’s first lesson on death, he explains to Harry, who is baffled that the Flamels would choose to give up the stone and die, that the stone’s ability to give eternal life is “really not such a wonderful thing,” because humans have a “knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them” (Rowling, Sorcerer’s 297). Dumbledore also explains to Harry that his “mother had a choice” when it came to her dying for him (Rowling, Half-Blood 262). And in the prophecy discussion, Dumbledore is “impatient” and “agitated,” something very rare for Dumbledore, in trying to get Harry to realize that it is not the prophecy itself that makes the future happen, but the choices made by both Voldemort and Harry (509-512). Hence, Dumbledore want us to understand that it is the choice of sacrificial love that gives one victory over death.

Another important lesson of Dumbledore’s is that Voldemort’s greatest weakness lies in his inability to love and to see that “there are things much worse than death” (Rowling, Order 814; see also Half-Blood Prince 559, 566). Voldemort, the series’ “shadow” archetype, is key to understanding what not to believe about death. The name Voldemort, taken on by the young Tom Riddle, Jr. can literally mean, “willing death, flight of death, or flight from death” (Granger 108). Both ideas apply perfectly: he is simultaneously attempting to flee from death and willing death upon anyone who gets in his way.

Voldemort so despises and fears death that he has “gone further than anybody along the path to immortality” through certain “experiments” (Rowling, Goblet 653). We learn in Book 6 that these experiments are horcruxes, “wickedest of magical inventions” (Rowling, Half-Blood 381). They are so wicked because, in order to create them to keep one’s self alive, one must commit murder, “the supreme act of evil,” ripping one’s soul apart and placing the soul fragment into an object (497-98). Slughorn explaines to young Riddle that “death would be preferable” to an existence reliant upon a horcrux (497).

It is quite apparent that Riddle. did not agree. Even at the age of 11, Tom was convinced that someone who knew magic would be able to prevent death (275). The rest of his life is spent in pursuit of this goal, firm in his belief that “[t]here is nothing worse than death” (Rowling, Order 814). So determined was Voldemort to never die, that he was willing to live a “cursed life” by drinking unicorn’s blood, become less and less human, and kill anyone in his path to achieve his goal (Rowling, Sorcerer’s 258).

It is also evident that Voldemort has nothing but disdain for sacrificial love. He called Lily Potter’s sacrifice “foolish” and challenged Dumbledore directly on his belief that “love is more powerful than [Voldemort’s] kind of magic” (Rowling, Goblet 653; Half-Blood 444). Voldemort is so unconvinced of the power of love that he thinks his use of Harry’s blood, in which the “old magic” that he had “forgotten” resides, for his rebirth will counter its power and give him victory over Harry (Rowling, Goblet 652-53). The twinkle of victory in Dumbledore’s eye upon learning this suggests something different, something that, alas, we do not yet know (696).

Since sacrificial love connects us to the theme of choice, we can also see Voldemort’s weakness in this area. As Dumbledore explains, the prophecy need not have been acted upon, but Voldemort “created his worst enemy” out of fear, making a “grave error” in marking his equal and establishing his own vanquisher, the one with power he could never know (Rowling, Half-Blood 510). In other words, Voldemort believes the prophecy to be necessarily fulfilled, because of his own fear of death, and therefore chose to act upon it when, in reality, he could have walked away. Because he did not understand the power of choice, “he not only handpicked the man most likely the finish him, he handed him uniquely deadly weapons” (510). Voldemort’s fear of death and inability to comprehend love will be his own undoing.

There are a few connections we can establish between the phoenix and Voldemort which give us a symbol for the defeat of the one who wills and flees from death. Three times the phoenix symbol is present and active in the thwarting of Voldemort’s plans: in the chamber of secrets, as a result of the priori incantatem effect, and in the Ministry in his attack on Dumbledore. We will examine these in greater detail below, as we consider our hero’s escape from death.

Much of what Harry has learned about death has already been covered by looking at Dumbledore’s teaching, since most of that was directed at Harry. Suffice it to say that Harry’s entire life has been affected by many deaths, not least his parents, Sirius, and Dumbledore himself. While much could be said about all of this, there is an intriguing aspect of Harry’s yearly journey that is part and parcel of his development and that speaks volumes to the issue of love’s victory over death. In short, Harry passes through a figurative death and resurrection every year at Hogwarts (Granger 22). Three (Books 2, 4, and 5, and arguably a fourth (Book 6 – see below), of these cycles have been passed in the presence of the phoenix symbol.

Before proceeding through each year, we must look at Harry’s connection to the phoenix. The first obvious connection lies in his wand; it has a phoenix core, a reality that becomes significant in the death/resurrection scene of Goblet of Fire (Rowling, Goblet 663). Perhaps Harry’s most profound connection to the phoenix, however, comes in his loyalty to Dumbledore. This is illustrated in two distinct places in the series. In Book 2, it is clear that it is Harry’s loyalty to Dumbledore as he stood face to face with Riddle that called Fawkes to the rescue (Rowling, Chamber 332). In Book 6, Harry recounts to Dumbledore Scrimgeour’s accusation that Harry was a “Dumbledore’s man through and through,” to which Harry responds in the positive. Upon hearing this incredible statement of loyalty, Dumbledore is silenced, but Fawkes responds with “a low, soft, musical cry” (Rowling, Half-Blood 357).

Now let us move briefly though the death/resurrection cycle of each book. A common pattern will be noticed: In each scene, there will be a “descent” representing death (except for Goblet, where the graveyard serves as an appropriate substitute); there will be at least one clear reference to death; and Harry will narrowly escape in the presence of a life/resurrection symbol.

In Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry figurative descends into the Underworld, passing by the three-headed dog Fluffy, a “comical version of the three-headed dog Cerberus that guards the path to the underworld in Greek myth” (Mills 3). In battle with Quirrell/Voldemort, which can almost be seen as a figurative battle for eternal life over the stone, Harry “knew all was lost, and fell into blackness” (Rowling, Sorcerer’s 295). He awakes again in the hospital wing with Dumbledore watching over him. When Harry asks how long he has been out, Dumbledore replies, “Three days” (296). It is hard to miss the resurrection imagery there.

In Chamber of Secrets, Harry once again makes a descent, this time to do battle with a great serpent, the basilisk. Once again we see a clear reference to death, as Harry is succumbing to the basilisk’s poison (Rowling, Chamber 321). But as Riddle pronounces Harry’s death, and Harry is blacking out, he is saved by the healing tears of the resurrection bird, Fawkes the phoenix, and once again ascends victorious (321).

In Prisoner of Azkaban, after a descent underground where Sirius’ identity is revealed and a return to the surface, Harry is once again on the edge of death as the Dementor begins to perform its soul-sucking kiss on him. The text holds two clear references to death prior to the kiss, and Harry hears his mother’s final screams as it begins; once again, he was saved, this time by his own patronus charm, which appeared in the form of a stag (Rowling, Prisoner 384-85, 411). It is important to point out that in the absence of the phoenix symbol, a stag is present. The stag is also a medieval Christ symbol which represents new life because of its cycle of losing and re-growing its antlers (Granger 95).

In Goblet of Fire, the death/resurrection scene takes place, appropriately, in a graveyard. After Voldemort is reborn, he “attacks Harry with a spell that certainly is meant to call to mind the sacrifice of Jesus, the Cruciatus Curse” (Grimes 113). As the subsequent duel ensues, and once again Voldemort explains his intentions to kill Harry, his Avada Kedavra curse meets Harry’s Expelliarmus charm, and the Priori Incantatem effect links the two phoenix-core wands (Rowling, Goblet 668). Harry hears the same phoenix song he had heard when Fawkes came to his rescue two years prior in the Chamber of Secrets, and he is once again saved from certain death in the presence of the phoenix symbol (664-69)

In Order of the Phoenix, Harry descends into the Ministry and has to deal with the “very arbitrary and sudden death” of his godfather, Sirius (Rowling, “J.K. Rowling”). Facing Voldemort’s killing curse once again, Harry, entirely unable to defend himself this time, is saved by Dumbledore and Fawkes, the latter having to swallow a killing curse, burst into flames, and be reborn from the ashes (Rowling, Order 815).

While the first five books follow this yearly death/resurrection pattern, Half-Blood Prince deviates, and although the change is slight and subtle, it is also significant. Upon my first reading of the novel, Harry’s descent into the cave with Dumbledore seemed to fit the pattern perfectly. He is pulled by an inferius, a reanimated corpse, backward toward the water, and it is said that Harry “knew there would be no release, that he would be drowned, and become one more dead guardian of a fragment of Voldemort’s shattered soul” (Rowling, Half-Blood 576). The injured Dumbledore comes to the rescue with “crimson and gold” fire, clearly calling to mind the phoenix, especially considering Dumbledore’s connection with Fawkes (576). In a sense, Harry is resurrected from certain death just as the phoenix is – out of the flames.

Scott Moore, associate professor of philosophy and director of the “Great Texts Program” at Baylor University, suggested to me an alternative reading of the death/resurrection motif for Half-Blood Prince, which I find quite intriguing and a useful consideration with which to conclude my thoughts here. Upon reading my thoughts on Half-Blood Prince, he offered the following:

On resurrection: I think that there are (at least) two ways of reading this. The more plausible is that Harry and the reader must experience the full weight of Dumbledore’s death. If there is to be a resurrection here, we will have to wait until the next book. As the disciples wondered what would become of them without the Christ, so the Order of the Phoenix awaits a new day without Dumbledore. I think JKR wants us to experience the full horror of Dumbledore’s death. A less persuasive (but still possible) interpretation is that we do get a figurative death and resurrection of Harry when Dumbledore freezes Harry, Harry is forced to watch the entire saga play out as if he were dead (he can’t do anything about it), and only coming back to life after Dumbledore dies. In both cases, the Christ symbol present is the Phoenix with his mournful lament. Remember, it was the song of the Phoenix which sustained Harry in the graveyard at the end of HP4. I expect we’ll hear it one more time. (We are, of course, not done with Dumbledore. Not only does Harry remember his words that he will never be gone as long as there remain those who are faithful to him, but also all of the previous Headmasters of Hogwarts have their portraits hanging in Dumbledore’s office. They all speak and are pledged to assist the current Headmaster. I wouldn’t be surprised if Harry gets more advice and consolation from Dumbledore’s portrait in HP7) (Moore, quoted in Prinzi).

The first option is quite intriguing to me, and I think it encapsulates what Rowling would like us to understand about death through Harry, Dumbledore, Fawkes, and (negatively) Voldemort. Dumbledore’s death is perhaps the most traumatic event to have taken place thus far in the series. Moore is correct in saying that “Harry and the reader must experience the full weight of Dumbledore’s death.” Indeed, this is exactly what Dumbledore encouraged in Harry at the ends of Books 4 and 5 – the strength that comes from experiencing grief, from letting one’s heart feel so much love for someone that it hurts desperately to lose him or her. But in grief, there is hope, which is represented by the phoenix and the song he sings. There are worse things than death, and there is resurrection after, leading the “well-organized mind” to “the next great adventure.” As Half-Blood Prince closes with the death of Dumbledore and the mournful lament of Fawkes, a white tomb in flames and a phoenix rising, a hero – Harry Potter – is rising as well.

The real tragedy, the thing “worse than death,” is found in someone like Voldemort, who so fears death that he would rather have a less-than-human, cursed life than live a full life and die. Voldemort, despite his incredible magical skill, is ultimately a coward. Harry, “a true Gryffindor” is learning through Dumbledore, Fawkes, the negative example of Voldemort, and through his yearly experience of passing through the figurative death/resurrection experience the courage to live a self-sacrifical life of love (Rowling, Chamber 334). He is becoming “ Dumbledore’s man through and through,” and Dumbledore’s death has led him not to despair, but to courage and action against Voldemort (Rowling, Half-Blood 649).

Clement. “The Letter of the Church of Rome to the Church of Corinth, Commonly Called
Clement’s First Letter” in Early Christian Fathers ed. by Cyril C. Richardson.
New York: Touchstone, 1996. pp. 43-73.

Fry, Stephen and Rowling, J.K. “’Harry Potter and Me’ (BBC Christmas Special, British
version).” BBC, 28 December 2001.” Quick Quotes Quill. 08 February 2005. 12
May 2006.
Fry, Stephen and Rowling, J.K. “J.K. Rowling at the Royal Albert Hall, 26 June
2003.” Quick Quotes Quill. 10 April 2005. 12 May 2006.

Granger, John. Looking for God in Harry Potter. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 2004.

Grimes, M. Katherine. “Harry Potter: Fairy Tale Prince, Real Boy, and Archetypal
Hero” in The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter. ed. by Lana A. Whited.
Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press, 2002. pp. 89-124.

Lindermans, Micha F. “Phoenix.” Encyclopedia Mythica. 09 June 2004. 12 May 2006.
Mills, Alice. “Archetypes and the Unconscious in Harry Potter and Diana Wynne
Jones’s Fire and Hemlock and Dogsbody” in Reading Harry Potter: Critical
Essays. Ed. by Giselle Liza Anatol. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2003. pp.
3-13.

Prinzi, Travis. “Christ Symbol and Resurrection in Half-Blood Prince.” Sword of
Gryffindor. 21 September 2005. 12 May 2006.

blood-prince/>

Rowling, J.K. “F.A.Q.” J.K. Rowling Official Site. n.d. 12 May 2006.
Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. New York: Scholastic, Inc.,
1999.

Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. New York: Scholastic, Inc., 2000.

Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. New York, Scholastic Inc., 2005.

Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. New York: Scholastic, Inc.
2003.

Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. New York: Scholastic, Inc., 1997.

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Perhaps I came at the question of Dumbledore’s goodness or badness from a rather naive point of view: there appears to be a really large amount of debate as to whether Dumbledore is good, evil, or manipulative. I’ve spent more time reading some of the work. I’ve been troubled by some of it; Dumbledore does seem a little “shady” at times, I’ve always thought that. But evil? Or even manipulative? Let’s see if we can take a look at Albus Dumbledore’s actions and see if we really do find a good, wise old wizard who occasionally makes a monumental mistake, rather than an evil old man who intentionally manipulates children.

Dumbledore under Scrutiny

It’s come to the point where we can possibly find as much conflicting evidence about Dumbledore’s character as we can about Snape’s – though we might want to say the Dumbledore side is weighted towards “good,” and the Snape weighted towards “bad.” Of course, everything we come at, whether we’re thinking about Dumbledore or Snape or any other character, must be considered with the Harry filter in mind. We see things through Harry’s eyes and experience.

But we dare not turn that into a mandate to always conclude that if Harry believes it, it’s probably wrong. He was correct about Malfoy in Half-Blood Prince, was he not? It’s just possible that Harry believes Dumbledore is a great wizard and hero, and that he is also right about that belief.

It’s the Harry filter that most Evil!Dumbledore or Manipulative!Dumbledore are blaming for his good reputation. Dumbledore is Harry’s hero, and he respects him; therefore we all love Dumbledore, and are blind to his faults.

Codswallop, in my opinion. We can find just as much anger and disdain at Dumbledore through the Harry filter as we can awe and respect, and I might even argue that J.K. Rowling intended to (mis)lead us to significant doubts about Dumbledore through the Harry filter with the end of Half-Blood Prince. After all, it turned out Harry was correct all along – Dumbledore was foolish to trust Snape, right? Right? You see how confusing this all gets.

So we can’t argue that Harry’s awe and respect for Dumbledore is fooling everyone into thinking he’s good when, in some form or another, he’s bad. I mean, Harry hated the guy straight through Order of the Phoenix.

I think Evil!Dumbledore theories (i.e., Dumbledore is really on Voldemort’s side) can be just thrown out the window. There can’t be a well-constructed one out there. J.K. Rowling might be willing to call Dumbledore the “epitome of goodness” if he can be a bit manipulative at times, though with good motives; she wouldn’t have deliberately lied about a really sinister character.

But various versions of Manipulative!Dumbledore exist, and they’re based on some good canon evidence. Let’s look first at Philosopher’s Stone, shall we? From an essay complaining that Dumbledore is a “callous and manipulative old coot,” we get this statement:

I’ve had major reservations about the old coot ever since his little House Cup switcheroo in the first book…

That was quite the little trick, wasn’t it? A former Gryffindor who happens to be the present Headmaster just happens to deem it proper to award just enough points to his old house to let them win. Yes, that sounds a bit suspect. And then you’ve got the whole problem of his manipulating all the events of Book 1 so that inexperienced, 11-year-old Harry has to have a showdown with Voldemort/Quirrell. And then the poor, innocent lad thinks well of Dumbledore for staging such a meeting:

I think he sort of wanted to give me a chance. I think he knows more or less everything that goes on here…It’s almost like he thought I had the right to face Voldemort, if I could….” (PS/SS-17).

But we adults know better. Dumbledore loves to scheme, manipulate, and put children’s lives in danger to accomplish his own purposes. Poor, impressionable Harry just doesn’t realize this.

Now let’s revisit these two items. The first one is really stretching, and the writer of the quoted essay has no need to be quite so suspicious. Who has one the House Cup the many years prior? Oh, right – Slytherin. And who was the Headmaster during those years? Could you speak up, please? Yes, thank you – Albus Dumbledore. So perhaps the old man wasn’t being a “manipulative coot” after all. Maybe descending into the depths of the castle to fight Voldemort and save the world really is worth enough points to win the cup. It’s not like that happens every year at Hogwarts. (At least until Harry shows up, anyway.)

That leaves us with the second example – Dumbledore sending a kid who’d known nothing about magic until just 9 months ago to face the most terrible Dark Wizard in a long time. But let’s get something straight – stories like this are about the underdog. And J.K. Rowling’s being a postmodern writer increases that theme exponentially. It just might be possible that with Albus Dumbledore, she has written a character that actually believes children are more capable than adults give them credit for. Wasn’t it he who said, “Old age is foolish when it underestimates youth”? (HBP-26)

Having demonstrated two alternate – and probably better – readings of Dumbledore than the “Manipulative Old Coot” crowd might suggest, there’s a much better way of going about this than swatting down each alleged manipulation. By carefully observing two key “Dumbledore” themes – loyalty and love – we can easily demonstrate that a Manipulative!Dumbledore reading is entirely inconsistent with Albus’ character and the plotline itself.

Dumbledore’s Man Through and Through

Unquestionably, Dumbledore values loyalty to himself. This strikes us as being a tad arrogant, perhaps. But there’s magic – good magic – involved here. The first key “loyalty to Dumbledore” text comes in Chamber of Secrets, when Harry’s strong words in favor of Dumbledore call Fawkes to the rescue, resulting in the demise of Diarymort. Dumbledore had clued him in to this when he was taken from the school with the famous line that he would never truly be gone as long as there was someone loyal to thim there. So in our first example, loyalty to Dumbledore results in the triumph of good over evil.

Then we have Half-Blood Prince, in which Harry is established as “Dumbledore’s man through and through.” There are three distinct references to this: (1) Harry’s first meeting with Scrimgeour, (2) Harry’s conversation with Dumbledore, and (3) Harry’s last meeting with Scrimgeour. The three are significant.

The first one establishes the fact: Harry is loyal to Dumbledore. It’s also tied to Dumbledore’s political values, which are very significant to understanding his character; Dumbledore is clearly an advocate for the oppressed, a sort of postmodern who is deconstructing the metanarrative of the supremacy of wizards. He is concerned for injustice, but as I’ve argued before, he is a slow, gradual change kind of politician, not a revolutionary. This is an important link between Harry and Dumbledore – Harry has learned that the statue in the ministry “told a lie,” and, as the great uniter of the magical brethren and the four Hogwarts houses, he must follow Dumbledore’s lead in this.

The second reference is with Dumbledore himself, and please note: it takes Dumbledore by surprise. Look, if Dumbledore is the master manipulator, I can’t imagine him responding this way:

“He accused me of being ‘Dumbledore’s man through and through.’”

“How very rude of him.”

“I told him I was.”

Dumbledore opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again. Behind Harry, Fawkes the phoenix let out a low, soft, musical cry. To Harry’s intense embarrassment, he suddenly realized that Dumbledore’s bright blue eyes looked rather watery, and stared hastily at his own knees. When Dumbledore spoke, however, his voice was quite steady.

“I am touched, Harry.” (HBP-17)

This is not the response of either an intentionally manipulative old coot or a previously manipulative man who is now having regrets. In case you think the Albus is just an incredible, on-the-spot actor, please note the musical response of Fawkes, which is significant – whenever loyalty to Dumbledore is shown, Fawkes responds. The phoenix symbol is not an evil one, and that is an essential point. Fawkes, as a character in the plot and, more importantly, as a symbol in the narrative, is always linked to the defeat of Voldemort and the downfall of all that is evil. This symbolism is so crucial it deserves its own essay, but suffice it to say that Rowling did not create a vital connection between a manipulative, deceitful man and the series’ most important symbol of goodness and virtue (download the essay at the bottom of this post for an introductory look at the meaning of the phoenix symbol).

The third reference is the clincher in the argument. Let’s step back and look at where the final chapter of Half-Blood Prince fits into the story as a whole. For six books now, the great alchemist Albus Dumbledore has been watching over Harry’s life – the wise, old wizard guiding his student, the hero of the story. At the end of Book 6, the wise old man dies, and the hero emerges, finally ready to take on this “heroic task” on his own. This is classic storytelling. As the hero emerges after his six years of preparation for his task, he is identified by this one key self-understanding: “Dumbledore’s man through and through.”

Now you have to step back and consider this question: As the hero emerges after 6 years under the tutelage of the wise old man, is it realistic to think, from a storytelling point of view, that he has emerged identifying himself “through and through” with a manipulative, lying, scheming man? Take the bird’s eye view; think as the author would: you’re writing the story, teaching your hero to be a hero, growing up his character to a certain point, and you choose to identify him with nothing but deception and manipulation? Doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. (This is particularly detrimental to the theory that Albus is the one who let the prophecy leak to Voldemort, manipulating those events and, in effect, killing James and Lily.)

The point in all of this is rather simple: Rowling has not given us a hero who is loyal to a deceitful, manipulative mentor. The focus on loyalty to Dumbledore, reinforced by the phoenix symbolism, is simply nonsensical if Dumbledore is a “manipulative old coot.” Nobody wants a hero modeled after such a person.

In Part II, we’ll look at a more nuanced, and perhaps more sympathetic view of Dumbledore – but one that is ultimately as problematic: the view that Dumbledore, though a well-intentioned and honorable man, made the blunder of a lifetime by manipulating the initial Trelawney prophecy in order to bring Voldemort down.

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Over time, as I read and re-read the Chronicles of Narnia and the Harry Potter books, I want to draw the parallels between Aslan and Gryffindor and highlight their status as Christ symbols. Let’s lay the initial groundwork.

Aslan is the manifest Christ symbol of Lewis’ Narnia books. Son of the Emperor over the Sea and sacrifice on behalf of the traitor Edmund, raised to life and to victory over the evil White Witch, Jadis, he is clearly a representation of Christ, “the Lion of the tribe of Judah.”

Rowling, being a great lover of Lewis’ Narnia series, would certainly be quite aware of this well-chosen imagery. Placing Harry in Gryffindor house is clearly no coincidence; positing the griffin against the serpent of Slytherin is just as deliberate. Let’s dissect “Gryffindor” for a moment.

A griffin is a two-natured creature: body of a lion with the head of an eagle (see Wikipedia entry). “Dor” should be read “d’or,” as in the French of “of gold” (Granger, 92), making “Gryffindor” literally mean, golden griffin. But you’ll notice that the “coat of arms” symbol used for Gryffindor house is consistently a lion and not a griffin, something the Wikipedia entry for “Griffin” refers to as “odd.” So we have, then, a golden lion as the context for Harry’s “family” at Hogwarts.

The connection with Narnia should be obvious: In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, for example, a “flat gold image of Aslan the Lion” is mounted on the wall above the door of Lucy’s cabin on the Dawn Treader. Perhaps Rowling’s use of a golden lion rather than a griffin for the coat of arms is not so “odd,” but rather a deliberate pointer to Lewis’ Narnia series, and more importantly, to Christ Himself.

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For years, believers in Christ have been captivated and inspired by the resurrection of Aslan in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Aslan explained that it was the result of the deeper magic from before time. Lewis, of course, was not trying to portray what we might call “pagan” or “occulting” magic. He was using magic as a literary tool, communicating the power and reality of resurrection in the midst of the natural world.

J.K. Rowling has also used resurrection imagery in every one of the Harry Potter books thus far. Here is a brief summary of what we have seen:

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – In the book’s climax, Harry travels down into a secret place in Hogwarts where he meets Professor Quirrell, who just happens to have Lord Voldemort sticking out of the back of his head. After Quirrell wastes away by contact with the sacrificial love of Harry’s mother, the brief battle with the remains of Voldemort sends Harry into darkness for three days, after which he wakes up. (Notice, of course, the “three days.”)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – Harry travels underground and defeats a giant snake, but in the process is poisoned by its bite and is near death. Fawkes the Phoenix, who had been called to Harry’s aid and helped in the defeat of the basilisk, drops tears into Harry’s wound and heals him.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – After another underground battle, Harry saves himself, Hermione, and Sirius Black from the Dementor’s kiss by conjuring a Patronus Charm that takes the form of a stag.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – The final battle takes place in a graveyard, where Harry is saved by the song of the phoenix and temporarily wins his battle with Voldemort.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – In Dumbledore’s battle with Voldemort (I love that Dumbledore calls him, “Tom”), Voldemort releases the death curse, but Fawkes the Phoenix once again comes to the rescue, swooping down and swallowing the death curse, dying, and then being reborn from the ashes.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – Resurrection in this book is more complicated and less obvious than the others. I have written about it at length here.

Every book’s climax so far has contained a figurative/symbolic death (3 days in darkness; underground battles; graveyard; death curse) followed by a resurrection (being saved from death, as Granger says, “in the presence of a Christ symbol”). I don’t know if it’s proper to say that Harry is intended as the Christ figure, nor Dumbledore. But the symbolism is clear enough. The phoenix, being the “resurrection bird,” has been used as a Christ symbol since the second century. The Philosopher’s Stone is a Christ symbol, as is the stag (remember that in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the Pevensies find their way back to England by hunting a white stag, which Lewis well knew was a medieval Christ symbol). The resurrection theme marks one of the most powerful parallels between Narnia and Hogwarts.

For further reading on this, see John Granger’s Looking for God in Harry Potter.

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The appearance of the stag in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is a compelling symbol, utilized powerfully in many fantasy fiction favorites. We see it in the King Arthur stories as well as Chronicles of Narnia (see below). But what does the symbol mean, and why does J.K. Rowling choose the multiple uses (James Potter’s Animagus form, and Harry’s Patronus) of the stag symbolism?

John Granger points us, via C.S. Lewis, to the use of the stag in medieval times as a Christ symbol. He explains that the antlers of the stag came to represent regeneration, in that they would “break off and grow back, tying the animal symbolically to the tree of life and the Resurrection” (Granger, Looking for God in Harry Potter, p. 95). Granger continues:

Given this correspondence, it is no accident that when Harry first sees the stag Patronus who saves him from the dementor’s kiss – the living, soulless death worse than death – he sees it “as a unicorn” [another symbol for Christ].

Lest you think Granger has gone off the deep end, recall that C.S. Lewis, a student of the Middle Ages, utilized the same imagery in the obviously Christian book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. You will recall that it is the hunt for the “White Stag who would give you wishes if you caught him” that resulted in their return to their own world after becoming kings and queens in Narnia (Harper Collins: 1978, p. 203).

Howard Pyle utilizes the white stag imagery in his telling of the Arthurian Legends. In the final section of The Story of King Arthur and His Knights, an adventure ensues upon the hunting and killing of none other than a white stag. The adventure threatens to take King Arthur’s life, but he ends up defeating the evil sorcerer with help from an apparently old, ugly woman. This woman demanded as thanks for her help that she be taken back and allowed to marry whichever of the knights of the Round Table that she chooses.

Her choice turns out to be Gawaine, who willingly sacrifices himself for the King by marrying the old woman, bringing shame upon himself. After their wedding, the woman reveals herself as one of the immortal laides of the lake who gives up her immortality in order to be with him. And as she reveals herself, she is quite beautiful, and not an old woman at all.

As an interesting side note, the symbol on Sir Gawaine’s shield is a Gryffin.

Finally, there may be some keys to the storyline in the symbolism of the stag. Godric of Finchale was a medieval hermit and saint (though never officiall canonized) who is well-known for his protection of animals, and particularly his hiding a stag from hunters, as one legend tells it. We know that Harry has thus far been called “a true Gryffindor” by Dumbledore, a Gryffindor himself. We also know that the final installment is going to involve an early trip to Godric Hollow. All this may lend a little more weight to the belief that Harry is Godric Gryffindor’s heir.

See Phyllis H. Morris’ essay, Harry Potter: The Truest Gryffindor of All? for other interesting parallels between St. Godric the stag protector, and the Harry Potter novels.

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Once you hit page 500 of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, it would take a heart attack to tear your eyes away from the pages that remain, and even then, you’ll probably be dragged to the cath lab clutching the book in your hands. As soon as the pace picked up around the chapter on horcruxes, I began searching for the resurrection scene and the accompanying Christ symbol (see point 8 in this Granger article if you don’t know what I’m talking about). Having learned early on in the book about the inferi and not having encountered them yet, I expected them (being dead, you know), to figure heavily into the resurrection scene.

As Harry and Dumbledore descended into the cave to eliminate the locket horcrux, I sensed resurrection scene, and indeed, all the elements were there: underground setting, figurative death, self sacrifice, and escape from death. The only thing that was missing (or so I thought) was a Christ symbol. In my “initial thoughts,” I suggested Dumbledore as a possibility, but what threw me there was that Rowling had yet to use a human as a Christ symbol for a resurrection scene. In the first 5 books, the Phoenix was used 3 times, the white stag once, and the Philosopher’s stone once. But John Granger has convinced me that Dumbledore could serve as a Christ figure. Very interesting read, that article. So there’s option number one for our resurrection scene – underground cave, inferi, and Dumbledore.

Granger shocked (and initially appalled) me at the idea that Snape may serve as the Christ figure of Half-Blood Prince. But if you’re convinced Snape is on the good side still (and I am), the idea has some merit. “Half-Blood Prince,” as Granger notes, could perhaps refer to “Double-Natured King.” In that case, the resurrection scene would include the near-killing of Harry by the Death Eaters and Snape’s rescuing of Harry in that moment. This is an awful notion to some Harry Potter fans, since a good number of readers hate Snape with the same passion as Harry. (Rowling is brilliant at making us feel whatever Harry feels and taking his side in all things). But if indeed Snape is on the good side (a thesis I’ll work on in a later post), then certainly he is making quite the sacrifice in giving up his life to be a spy among the Death Eaters. Snape makes option number two.

Granger admits in his article But Obviously Dumbledore is not Jesus that these options for Christ symbol are not like the ones Rowling previously used, and so he suggests Buckbeak, the two natured hippogriff who drives Snape away at the book’s climax, as an alternative. But this rests on the assumption that Snape is evil. And furthermore, Snape was not attempting to kill Harry at the time. This renders this particular suggestion highly unlikely. Buckbeak is our doubtful option number three.

If left with only those three choices, I think I’d go with the first. Scott Moore from Common Grounds Online suggested one or two other possibilities in a comment at my other blog, one of which I find very attractive, and neither of which I’ve heard anywhere else yet. I’ll include his two suggestions here for your consideration:

On resurrection: I think that there are (at least) two ways of reading this. The more plausible is that Harry and the reader must experience the full weight of Dumbledore’s death. If there is to be a resurrection here, we will have to wait until the next book. As the disciples wondered what would become of them without the Christ, so the Order of the Phoenix awaits a new day without Dumbledore. I think JKR wants us to experience the full horror of Dumbledore’s death. A less persuasive (but still possible) interpretation is that we do get a figurative death and resurrection of Harry when Dumbledore freezes Harry, Harry is forced to watch the entire saga play out as if he were dead (he can’t do anything about it), and only coming back to life after Dumbledore dies. In both cases, the Christ symbol present is the Phoenix with his mournful lament. Remember, it was the song of the Phoenix which sustained Harry in the graveyard at the end of HP4. I expect we’ll hear it one more time. (We are, of course, not done with Dumbledore. Not only does Harry remember his words that he will never be gone as long as there remain those who are faithful to him, but also all of the previous Headmasters of Hogwarts have their portraits hanging in Dumbledore’s office. They all speak and are pledged to assist the current Headmaster. I wouldn’t be surprised if Harry gets more advice and consolation from Dumbledore’s portrait in HP7.) 

I find the first idea very attractive, and the second one at least plausible (though I agree, not as likely). The advantage to these possibilities is that Rowling would remain consistent in her use of non-human Christ symbols, utilizing the phoenix once again. A resurrected Dumbledore will not happen, as Rowling herself has said (though there are some who believe he’s not even dead to begin with), but as Scott points out (and I agree), it’s very feasible that we’ll see Dumbledore again in Book 7. And if there were ever a time for her to break the normal pattern and extend the resurrection scene, it would be between books 6 and 7. Book 6 did not end in like format compared with the rest of the series.

Whichever option we choose, JKR breaks her regular resurrection and denouement form in Book 6. For those who are in agreement with Granger’s basic thoughts on the resurrection theme/outline of the books in the series, which option seems best to you? Or do you have another?

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