[This is the fifth essay in a series on numerology in the Harry Potter books. The previous essay -- "Harry Potter Numerology: Four (Instability)" -- was published on September 16, 2012.]
Having looked at unity and opposition (One and Two), stability and instability (Three and Four), we are skipping a few numbers in order to focus on those that appear to be most significant to J.K. Rowling. The next of these is Seven.
The Number Seven was sacred to many ancient cultures, including the Babylonians, Egyptians, Hebrews, Maya, Chinese, Japanese, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, and medieval Europeans. The sevenfold path of the soul’s journey to blessedness is an almost universal idea across world religions, including Mithraism, Sufism, Siberian shamanic cults and many more (Schimmel, 145). Ancients and medievals observed the proliferation of important sevens in the heavens: seven visible planets (the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Mars, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn); the moon changed phases every seven days (thus the seven-day week); the seven stars of the Big Dipper were used to find north; the seven stars of the Pleiades signaled seasonal changes (Colbert, 269-270). Plato saw the Divine in the movements of the seven planets, seven orbits and seven stars, while Pythagoras thought that seven notes made up the divine harmony (the major scale in Western music is made of seven notes). St. Augustine considered the number seven to be a sign of perfection (Colbert, 271-74).
The Number Seven is key in the wizarding world, too. Famed arithmancer Bridget Wenlock was “the first to establish the magical properties of the number seven” (Colbert, 269). “Septima” — as in Hogwarts’ Arithmancy Professor “Septima Vector” — is Latin for “seven”. And Tom Riddle called seven “the most powerfully magical number” (HBP, XXIII: 498).
“Hogwarts Professor” John Granger calls Seven “the number of transcendence or divinization” because the alchemical process is completed in seven stages, combining the seven planetary elements (78-80). Alchemical “distillations, for instance, usually had to be performed 7 times” (Schimmel, 152), and incantations had to be repeated “seven times, or in groups of seven, or on the seventh day of the seventh month, and so on” (Colbert, 275). The Half-Blood Prince’s Potions book instructed Harry to “add a clockwise stir after every seventh counterclockwise stir” (HBP, IX: 190).
What all these various sevens have in common is the idea of completion. In Genesis, the world was completed in seven days. The moon completes a phase-change every seven days. Shakespeare summed up a man’s life in seven ages (As You Like It, II: vii, 381-82). The spiritual seeker completes her journey on a seven-fold path, and the alchemist’s work is completed in seven repetitions.
A Hogwarts education is completed in seven years. Harry’s story was completed in seven volumes, and his Quidditch team was complete with seven members. Voldemort’s little soul-splitting project was only complete when he’d made seven horcruxes. The Number Seven in Harry Potter, then, represents the completion of an undertaking, the arrival at a destination long sought.
Sources:
Colbert, David. “How Did Seven Become the Most Magical Number?” Magical Worlds of Harry Potter: A Treasury of Myths, Legends and Fascinating Facts. Rev. ed. New York: Penguin, 2008. 269-275.
Granger, John. Unlocking Harry Potter: Five Keys for the Serious Reader. Wayne, PA: Zossima Press, 2007.
Schimmel, Annemarie. The Mystery of Numbers. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
Shakespeare, William. As You Like It. The Riverside Shakespeare. [1st ed.] Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1974. 369-402.
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{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
Cool post, Kris!
And off the top of my head there are seven Weasley children.
Well, technically the world and the cosmos were created in six days. But the point is taken, since the seventh day is a day of rest and could therefore be seen also as a day of completion or as part of the whole totality of the week.
Interesting post. Some things to think about.
Very true, cbiondi, and the Weaselys weren’t complete until they got their daughter. And yes, revgeorge, I do count the day of rest a the completion of the original week (the weekends are certainly the completion of my weeks!). There are many other HP sevens I didn’t mention that are equally interesting (and many more non-HP sevens, like the “Seven-Year Itch” in a marriage, the sabbatical year for a university professor, etc. sabbatical & Sabbath both have “seven” at their root).
I am not a number conspiracy person – ie seeing a reason for every number in the HP books, but these discussions have really enlightened me. I have never seen a reason for the 9 3/4 platform choice. Does anyone have thoughts on that?
my comment sounded rather denigrating- it wasn’t meant that way. I meant I am learning about the significance of choosing certain numbers within a story- especially reading “Repotting HP” and discovering even the number of times something is mentioned is worthy of note. It’s like unpacking a clown car- the insights keep coming.
No worries, didn’t sound denigrating. I’m often asked “Did Rowling (or Tolkien, Lewis, etc) really put all that stuff in the books, or are these just things other people want to see there?” And I’ll admit, I’ve seen some pretty wild theories about what a book “means”, but I think a good test of a literary theory is if it is clearly supported by the text, author comments, etc. And that’s what I’ve tried to show in this essay series, that by looking at specific and repeated examples in the texts, readers can discern clear patterns of the way certain numbers are used. From Rowling’s own comments, we know what she thinks about the Number Four, and can see how that is manifested in her books. But of course, I’m not a mind-reader and don’t know what she really intended with her use of numbers. I can really only talk about what I see. Others may see something else. Glad you’re enjoying the essays!
Kris, this is just cool. As an amateur stargazer, I just learned a lot I’d never noticed about the sevens in the sky.
The Pleiades are well up now in the late evenings, which makes me want to get my telescope out–they’re one of the prettiest sights the stars can offer a little home lens.
Kathleen, the only significance I’ve ever seen in Platform 9 3/4 is that it’s humorous, the fraction typical of the Wizarding World’s sideways perspective on life. But I’m not a number expert myself, and couldn’t say beyond that.
With respect to Platform 9 3/4, I was thinking along the lines of Jenna. It sort of represents “seeing the gaps” or the space between the things that most people notice. We typically number things by whole numbers, so no one would think to look in between 9 and 10. Whether there is something special about 9 and 10 (so that a space between them might be significant), I don’t know.
In logic, this “seeing in between” amounts to detecting the “fallacy of false alternatives.” This is when you can see a new possibility that others have left out of their disjunctive syllogism. For example, politicians love to say things like “Look, it’s either policy A or B. My opponent upholds policy A, which is awful. I uphold policy B, so vote for me.” They are at a loss when you pipe up and say, “But what about policy C, which is better than A or B???” Policy C is like Platform 9 3/4–the alternative that many others either don’t notice or don’t want you to notice.
thank you for the thoughtful responses. Reminds me a little of Stephen Covey’s point in last book about third alternatives- seeing between the lines and having a third solution be something better than the first 2 offered. Doesn’t work in all things I know. The whole “what muggles notice” and “what they don’t notice” is a fascinating – especially since I just listened to HP’s smarmy uncle gleeful at dropping him off, abandoning him at the station because he knew it was malicious. Never had any intention of helping Harry, just making him look like a fool, preconceived notions.
So I read this article last week at the same time I read an NT Wright sermon about the gospel of John. Crazy connection- the gospel of John has only 7 signs that he uses intentionally to show the glory of Jesus as the Christ, the 7th sign being that of the cross. It was a strange juxtaposition of my worlds, but then reading this essay made me wonder if that’s why John works so well as literature, why it seems to fit together- there really is something inherently magical and whole about the number 7.
Harry also has 7 adult mentors from whom he draws strength- James, Lily, Sirius, Lupin, Dumbeldore, Molly and Aurthur. While there are certainly more adults in his life, these 7 are the ones he trusts the most implicitly, who he looks to for advice and guidance. Is that too much of a stretch?
And the final family units- Harry/Ginny, Ron/Hermione make up 7 as well.
I read not too long ago (and I’m afraid I can’t remember where) that an old goddess or possibly Druidic queen was buried under King’s Cross station and the site seems to be somewhere inbetween paltforms 9 and 10. It’s a sacred magical site. I’ll look it up.
Also I wrote an essay once about Harry making 7 important trips into the Forbidden Forest where I believe he internalizes his most important lessons from the experiences he has there.
So I have looked up the King’s Cross station info. The area of the station was previously known as Battle Bridge, site of a major battle between the Romans and the indigenous Briton tribe called the Iceni who were led by their warrior queen Boudica. She died in that battle and is believed to be buried in the vicinity of Platforms 9 and 10. She is a folklore heroine, like Joan of Arc and therefore it is a sacred site.
Nana, interesting info on King’s Cross station.
Do you still have your essay on the trips into the Forbidden Forest? It might be something we could re-post here. It sounds interesting.
I could dig it out and polish it off. Where/how would I submit it?
I can contact you privately & give you my email address.
And then you would post it on this website? I would like that.
Yes, on this site. It shouldn’t be a problem. We’ve done lots of guest essays in the past.
ok you can email me. Can you see my email address?
Just sent you a note. Thanks!
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