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Harry Potter Moral Analysis

The importance of having and keeping friends!

At the core of everyone who is on this planet is based on how they grew up and what they were taught to have their morals or beliefs in.  It is important to have beliefs because it is what defines us as human beings.  Everything you watch, do, or see tries to persuade you to believe in something or do something.  The world of Harry Potter tries to persuade you to believe in something.  So what is the main “Moral” belief that Harry Potter is trying to convince its viewers to believe in?

The main belief that Harry Potter is trying to convince people to believe in is the importance of keeping and maintaining friendships and relationships.  Without the relationship Harry Potter has with his wizarding family, friends, and leaders and/or Professors, he never would have defeated Lord Voldemort in the end. I believe that having relationships is key to everything that we do.

Harry Potter is a story about a boy who is destined to be the “chosen” one who will defeat the Dark wizard, Voldemort.  The first people he meets after Hagrid showed up on his 11th birthday and told him he was a wizard is Ron and Hermione.  That moment when he met them on the train to Hogwarts will be the start of a long and lasting friendship and that will be his greatest strength when in the last movie, he finally defeats Voldemort.  He also establishes a relationship with many of the Professors at Hogwarts who also help him along the way to becoming what he is destined to become.  

Friendship is the greatest strength any of us can have.  Without friends, we will be lonely and sad or even miserable.  The whole story of Harry Potter is about how important it is to have friends and relationships.  The moments i have chosen to talk about to prove that Harry Potter is about the importance of maintaining and keeping friendships and relationships are: 1) the end of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone during the house points ceremony, 2) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban when Dumbledore asks Harry and Hermione to go back in time to rescue Sirius Black, 3) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix when Voldemort takes over Harry's body, 4) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1 when harry tries to run off on his own, 5) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 when Neville stands up to Voldemort, and 6) in part 2 when snape dies.  I will explain each of these and break them down to show how friendship and relationships are what Harry Potter is trying to persuade you to believe in.  

At the end of the first movie, Dumbledore announces that there are some last minute house points to award based on recent events.  Hermione got 50 points for using her intellect and brain to help her friends when they were in danger, Ron got 50 points for playing the best game of chess which ended up helping Harry get to the stone and stop Voldemort, Harry got 60 points for his love and courage to stand up against an evil threat, and Neville got 10 points because Dumbledore said that “it takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies, but it takes more courage to stand up to your friends!”  Gryffindor ends up winning the house cup for the first time in many years.  This scene is so magical because it proves that without friends, no one would have succeeded.  If Hermione wasn’t smart, Ron would have died by the devil’s snare.  If Ron wasn’t good at chess, everyone would have lost and died by the chess pieces.  If Harry didn’t have courage to stand up to Voldemort, Voldemort would have gotten the stone and probably would come back to life and kill everyone in the first movie. It was Harry’s friendship with Ron and Hermione that helped him win and survive.

In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Dumbledore asks Harry and Hermione to go back in time to rescue Sirius Black.  He also tells them “If you succeed tonight, more than one innocent life may be spared.”  They end up saving Buckbeak the Hippogriff and Sirius Black.  This was important because Sirius Black is Harry’s Godfather.  Harry establishes a relationship with him and later in the other movies Sirius is the one person Harry can turn to to help him when he needs it.  If they hadn’t gone back in time to save him, Harry would never have had someone he can talk to and to help him when he needed it most.  He establishes a fantastic relationship with Sirius in the short time he knew him.  

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is when things start to get darker and scarier in the Harry Potter world.  Voldemort has returned and is wreaking havoc on the wizarding world.  Harry Potter and his friends and the Order are in a battle with Voldemort’s followers when one of the followers kills someone close to Harry.  Harry chases after that person and ends up disarming them and is standing over them when Voldemort shows up and tries to persuade him to kill the person and get revenge.  Harry says no and then Voldemort uses magic to take possession of his body and tries to kill him.  Earlier in the movie Harry is worried that he is very similar to Voldemort because he can do the same things as him and he is afraid that he will become like him.  He is about to give up and let Voldemort win when Dumbledore shows up and tells Harry that it isn’t how Voldemort and him are alike, it is how they are different and Harry uses there difference to take his body back and to get rid of him.

This scene is super important because it is the best scene that proves the importance of relationships.  When Dumbledore tells him to use the differences he has flashbacks of his family and friends and all the good things in life.  He tells Voldemort that he will never win because he has no one that loves him, he has no relationships, and he uses people to do his bidding.  He also tells him that he feels sorry for him because he has no one to love or anyone that loves him. This proves that without relationships, we will never succeed in life.

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1, everyone had just escaped the Death Eaters and someone close to Harry died and someone else got injured really bad.  Harry decides he has had enough of people he cares about getting hurt, so he decides to leave and do things on his own.  Ron catches him trying to leave and stops him.  Ron basically says you can’t do this alone, i’m coming with you but we are leaving after the wedding, and that we can’t do this without Hermione and that they wouldn’t last 2 days without her.  This proves the point about friendship basically by the fact that Ron straight up tells him, you need us to help you and that you can’t do it alone. He tells Harry that he needs people in his life and that he can’t be a lone wolf.  In the end, without Ron and Hermione’s help, Harry would have never found all of the Horcruxes and defeated voldemort in the end.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 is the conclusion to the Harry Potter world.  In this scene Harry and just died by the hands of Voldemort and Voldemort is showing off what he did and tells Hogwarts to give up and anyone who joins him will be spared.  Neville walks up and stands up to Voldemort.  He tells everyone at the school that just because Harry is dead and the fight may be over, we can still keep Harry in our memories and in our hearts and that he wouldn’t want everyone to give up and that they still need to fight and defend the school.  This scene is important because of the relationship Harry had with Neville and the people in the school, it gave them the courage to keep fighting and to never give up hope.  This just shows how important relationships are and why we need them.

The last one is also from part 2.  Professor Snape had just been attacked by Nagini, Voldemort’s pet snake.  Harry finds him and tries to help him.  He basically tells him no it’s too late and Snape gives him a memory and tells him to go to the Pensieve in the office and to watch the memory.  Harry does and he finds out that Snape had been his friend and protector all along.  He loved his mom and it was Snape that sent the doe patronus into the woods and helps him find the sword that is used to defeat the Horcruxes.  Snape was a double agent and he ended up being one of the good guys all along.  In that moment Harry realizes that Snape was one of the good guys and that he was someone he could have trusted all along. This is important because it teaches that sometimes people do the wrong things for the right reasons.  Most of the time it isn’t ok for someone to do this but sometimes there is an exception to the rule.  Snape had a relationship and love for Harry’s mother and he uses that love to help Dumbledore and uses the love to actually be a protector to Harry while he was at Hogwarts.  It explains why Snape was so harsh on him in class.

Whenever you are in a situation where you are trying to be persuaded to believe in something there is a question that almost always comes to mind, Should i accept the message or reject it? Then based on your answer why? Or why not?  Well i’m here to tell you that you should accept the message that Harry Potter is trying to tell you, that friendships and relationships are a good and healthy thing.  Why?  Well everyone has bad days.  Everyone gets lonely or depressed.  Even if it is one person that you are close to and that is the only person you can lean on when times get tough, you need to have someone who will be in your corner.  Without friends or relationships, we will never get anywhere in life.  We need people that we can count on and to be able to turn to when times get tough.  We need relationships.  We won’t be able to function as a society without them.  Harry Potter is a very good example of how important it is to have relationships and to have friends.

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Harry Potter Funny Scenes

Top 5 Scenes in Harry Potter!

Harry Potter is a story about a boy who at a very young age, was orphaned by a dark wizard by the name of Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes).  Voldemort lost his power trying to kill young Harry and his family.  Along the way on Voldemort’s quest for revenge and regaining his power, Harry finds love, friends, and family who then uses them as his weapon, armour and shield to defeat He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named once and for all.  

Harry Potter is a 7-book series and later turned into an 8-movie series.  Amidst all the drama and evil that occurs in the world and life of Harry Potter, there are many comedic scenes and moments.  While there are many many moments to choose from, I would like to give you the top 5 comedic scenes in the world of Harry Potter starting with #5.

#5: “Troll in the dungeon!”

           This quote is from Professor Quirrell (Ian Hart), one of the teachers at Hogwarts, in the first movie “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.”  In the movie, it is Halloween at Hogwarts and everyone is in the great hall eating dinner.  As they are eating Professor Quirrell Bursts into the room screaming “troll in the dungeon..., troll in the dungeon..., there’s a troll in the dungeon!”  Then he pauses, catches his breath and then says “I thought you all oughta know.” He then passes out on the floor. There is a brief pause and then everyone in the room starts to panic and freak out.  

           It is funny because it is kind of awkward to be honest.  Everyone is minding their own business and eating and out of nowhere, he barges in says his thing then just passes out.  When i watch it i start to laugh when he passes out and then laugh even harder when the pan shot of the room shows everyone screaming and panicking.  The reason why i laugh harder because it shows a close up shot of Ron (Rupert Grunt) and while he is freaking out, he is still shoving his face with food and i even think he grabs some food to go.  It is a classic scene that everyone loves and that's why i noted it in this list.

#4: “Follow the butterflies!”

           Next on the list is a quote by Ron Weasley from the second movie “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.” In this scene Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) and Ron are under the cloak of invisibility in Hagrids (Robbie Coltrane) Hut.  The Minister for Magic shows up to take Hagrid to Azkaban, the Prison for wizards.  Hagrid is the only one that knows Harry and Ron are there in the hut and as he is being taken away he speaks out loud saying “if anyone has any questions all they would have to do is follow the spiders.”  After the minister and Hagrid leave, Harry and Ron take off the cloak and Ron starts to complain and freak out because he hates spiders.  He says “Spiders, Spiders, Why does it have to be spiders? Why couldn’t it be follow the butterflies!”

I love this scene. It’s a classic in the Harry Potter universe. It is funny because of all the things he could say, he chooses butterflies and he kind of says it with a high pitched voice.  Plus he is kind of a wimp.  Nevertheless, it is noteworthy to mention in this list.

#3: Umbridge Questions Professor Snape.

           This one is from the fifth installment “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.”  Changes are being made at Hogwarts in this movie and one of those changes is the Ministry of Magic has sent one of their own to keep tabs on Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) and Hogwarts,

Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton).  When she first arrives, one of the first things she does, by order of the minister for magic, is to evaluate all teachers working there.  When she gets around to questioning Professor Severus Snape (Alan Rickman), the actors threw in a little commentary that is worth noting. Umbridge asks “You first applied for the defense against the dark arts position, is that correct?’  Snape then says “Yes” with a resounding tone.  Then Unbridge asks the obvious question “but you were unsuccessful?”(in the potions classroom mind you).  He then pauses and says with almost hatred in his voice “Obviously.” Then as she leaves the classroom Ron is snickering and laughing and professor Snape hits him in the back of the head before he continues teaching his lesson.

           I like this scene mostly because of the context of the situation.  Umbridge, I assume, knew the answers to the questions and yet she still asks them.  Especially the “You were unsuccessful?” one.  It was more of a rhetorical question and probably one that got put into the script to be funny.  Also as you are watching this scene and laughing, i think they threw in the part where he hits Ron with the book just for fun.  

#2: Pincers

           This scene is one of my favorites and it almost tied with my number one scene which i will share with you in a minute.  It is from the sixth installment “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.” Professor Dumbledore has asked Harry to get a certain memory about Voldemort from a professor that taught him when young Voldemort a.k.a. Tom Riddle (Frank Dillane) was at Hogwarts, Professor Horace Slughorn (Jim Broadbent).  Earlier in the movie Harry had won a Luck potion from the professor and decides to use it to get the memory.

           When Harry is out looking for the professor, he runs into him cutting tentacular leaves for academic purposes.  Harry then gets an idea and decides to invite the professor to join him to go see Hagrid (most likely from the luck potion, and some might say his conscious or gut).  When they get to Hagids we find that his friend Aragog, the talking spider, has died and Hagrid is in mourning. They bury the spider and during the ceremony Hagrid is talking about how its the eyes that freak most people out and how people misunderstand them.  While he is speaking  Harry interrupts him and says “and the pincers,don’t forget the pincers!” and then he makes a noise with his teeth like pincers grabbing something.

It is funny because Harry was probably high from the luck potion and so he kind of just spitted out whatever was on his mind.  It is definitely a comedic relief especially right after a tender moment.  Also there is speculation that Daniel Radcliffe, the actor that plays Harry Potter, was drunk when he shot this scene and when people are drunk they spout out random stuff so this may have not even been part of the script but they kept it in anyway.   

#1: Professor Mcgonagall and the Trio

           This scene is my favorite one of them all and it deserves to be number 1.  It is also from the sixth installment “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.”  In the prelude to this scene; the trio Harry, Ron, and Hermione (Emma Watson) are in Hogsmeade and one of their classmates get cursed by a necklace and they just happen to be in the wrong place in the wrong time.  They get taken to Professor Mcgonagall’s (Maggie Smith) Office and she wants to question them.  She asks the trio “Why is it when something bad happens, it's always you three?” Ron then replies for the trio, “Believe me, Professor, I've been asking myself the exact same thing for the past six years.”

           This one is my favorite because the way Ron says it, it is funny and when you think about it, its true.  Everytime something goes wrong at Hogwarts, at least ⅔ or all 3 are somehow involved.  Ron almost kind of throws Harry and Hermione under the bus.  Some friend he is, haha.

           Well, there you have it.  This is my top 5 comedic moments in the fantastic world of Harry Potter.  Keep in mind that this is my opinion of what the top 5 scenes should be/are.  If you believe there is a funnier scene and would like to comment and let me know, please do so.  I will take a look and if i agree with you, i’ll go ahead and change my top 5.  Hope you all have enjoyed this list of the top 5 comedic moments in the world of Harry Potter!

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Harry Potter Movie Review

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is a two part finale to the harry potter universe.  It is an adaptation to the deathly hallows book written by J.K. Rolling.  The movie was released in 2010 and was directed by David Yates.  The movies are about Harry, Ron, and Hermione going out into the world on their own and they are looking for objects called Horcruxes, which are objects that trap part of your soul so you can live forever.  Voldemort has split his soul into seven pieces and has put all of them into different hidden objects. If Harry, Ron, and Hermione don’t find these horcruxes and defeat Lord Voldemort, he will take over the world and spread his darkness to all.

Overall, the movie was well done and well made.  The actors chosen by director David

Yates were well suited to their roles that they were chosen to fill; specifically the roles of Dolores Umbridge, Hermione Granger, and Voldemort, played by Imelda Staunton, Emma Watson, and Ralph Fiennes respectively.  These actors portrayed their roles how they were supposed to in a way that J.K. Rolling wrote in the books and intended for them to be on the big screen.  Of course these three actors/actresses are not the only ones that made the movie as good as they are, but these actors are the ones that really stepped up and took on the challenge of portraying the characters as they were intended to be.

In the book, Dolores Umbridge is supposed to be this strict, arrogant, pompous person.  Imelda Staunton takes this into her acting and portrays it excellently.  For example in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Dolores is the head of the wizarding registration committee.  She brings in a women who is supposedly a muggle-born (someone who is not born with wizarding parents) and accuses her of stealing her wand from another wizard.  Even though this wizard did not steal her wand,  Dolores still wanted to punish her because she was muggleborn and Dolores doesn’t like muggleborns and she thinks they all should be locked up.  She tries to do everything in her power to be controlling and powerful over everyone else.  That is part of her personality, and Imelda takes that and amplifies it in the film, really living up to the character that is so bad she makes your skin crawl.

Of the trio: Harry, Ron, and Hermione; Hermione is the smartest.  She is witty, she thinks of everything.  Harry and Ron wouldn't last 2 days without her.  Like Sirius Black says in the 3rd installment, “she really is the smartest witch of her age!”  In the Deathly Hallows there are a number of examples of where she thinks of everything that needs to be done so that they can defeat the dark lord: Voldemort.  First one is she has added an extension charm to her bag and she has created a to go bag for her, Ron, and Harry as well as needed essentials that they may need.  Another example is she always knows where to go and what to do.  If she doesn’t know what to do, she will stop and do nothing and figure out a solution no matter what.  Emma Watson was an excellent choice to play the part of Hermione.  She takes what J.K. Rolling wanted to show and uses it to her advantage and makes it her strength and without Hermione Granger, they would have not succeeded.   

In conclusion, this movie has been enjoyable to watch.  There was a little of everything, from drama to happy and funny moments, to sad and dark and distasteful moments.  David Yates did an excellent job in directing this movie.   This is one to watch over and over again.