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[revelio-obscurus]

Lectio Divina

January 9th, 2021

“Harry struggled against the ropes binding him, but they didn't give. He had to keep Quirrell from giving his whole attention to the mirror.” (Book One)

1. What is literally happening? What is the context?

Harry is struggling to free himself from the ropes around him, but it isn’t working. He does know, though, that he has to think of something so Quirrell will not focus his whole attention on the mirror.

2. What hidden symbols or meanings are in the text?

Powerful objects can be used by people with horrible intentions. It doesn’t matter who you are, if you are good/evil/neutral you have access to power. Harry thinks he is tied up and has no way to stop Quirrell (“It isn’t working”.) If you commit yourself to the powerful object, you will eventually figure out how it works. But whether you use it for good is up to you. Harry wants to find the stone. Find it, but not use it. That makes all the difference, and these ropes around him don’t actually matter at all in Harry gaining what he wants.

Sometimes, you may think that ropes are stopping you from something, but really the way you reach your goal has nothing to do with those ropes. 

3. How does this relate to your own life?

I feel like I have often seen myself tied up in ropes because of different things life has thrown my way. For example, as a trans and queer person, there are a lot of barriers and obstacles in my life that straight cis people don’t have to worry about.  I’m kept tied up and lower than straight cis folk with systemic oppression. But my way out of this bondage is going to be through my self-love and trust in what I can control. Like Harry, the way out of this situation, is not as clear-cut as it seems. He thinks he has to get out of the ropes, but he does not. He has to trust in what he knows and what he can control. And if he submits to that trust, this is an act of self-love which is powerful enough to destroy Quirrell. 

4. What does this text call you to do?

I am called to look at what is binding me, and to find a way to free myself that is not so obvious. Instead of struggling against the ropes that have me bound, I want to look into myself and trust what I know and can control. In this way, I see the ropes leaving me—even if in a way I least expect.

[revelio-obscurus]

Chapter 17/199 The Man With Two Faces

Today, we will be discussing Harry Potter through the theme of “Love.” How do we see “love” expressed or having an effect in Chapter 17 of the Harry Potter series? Of course, we have Harry’s mother’s love which is coursing through his veins and allows him to defeat Professor Quirrell (according to Albus Dumbledore)—this is perhaps the most obvious example of “love” we see in this section. But what about self-love? What about passion and desire? In this chapter, Harry again comes face-to-face with the Mirror of Erised, a magical object that shows us the deepest desires of our hearts (in other words: what we would most love to have or have happen to us). Finally, we will discuss the concept of making choices as it relates to love, self-love, as well as what we would love to have and have happen to us.��

What really stood out to me about today’s chapter was Harry thinking “I must lie” when Quirrell demands he look in the mirror and tell him what he sees. This is because I have been reading Book Five with my sister for months now, and in this book, he has the exact opposite statement carved into his hand by Dolores Umbridge: I must not tell lies.

What’s really messed up about Umbridge’s punishment, of course, is that Harry is not lying at all—and yet he is forced through this inhumane and torturous punishment. But through it all, what’s ironic is Harry sticks to his guns and continues to tell the truth, even as Umbridge is being rushed away by centaurs in Chapter 33 of that book.

I love that at the start of Book Five one of Harry’s father figures, Arthur Weasley, speaks to him before his trial, assuring him “the truth will out”! We don’t know if this will be the case, but Arthur works throughout the series to instill the values of truth and honesty in all of his children, including Harry. For example, in Book Three when he confesses his desire to tell Harry the truth about Sirius Black.

One might think, however, reading Chapter 17 of the Harry Potter series: “Okay, I get we shouldn’t tell lies. But in this case, shouldn’t Harry lie to Quirrell about what he sees in the mirror? Otherwise, Voldemort would know he has the Stone and he and his worthy follower would steal it.”

This is a good point. And we do see the benefits of lying throughout the series. One notable example is when Draco Malfoy lies to the other Death Eaters in Book Seven, saying he does not recognize Harry and this indisputably saves Harry from meeting his demise in Malfoy Manor (okay, it’s not certain whether he is “lying”, but I consider this canon). A second example would be when Severus Snape lies to Umbridge when Harry relays a secret message to him about Sirius during the Fifth Book—he tells Umbridge he has “no idea” what Harry is talking about, but later uses the secret information to round up the Order of the Phoenix.

That being said, if we turn back to this chapter, we discover that when Harry does lie to Quirrell, his efforts are for naught— Voldemort immediately calls him a liar and it leads to them meeting face-to-face anyway! Therefore, we can see that his lie did not help him avoid the inevitable. 

I think it’s interesting to see how we can go from “I must lie” to “I must not tell lies” from Book 1 to Book 5 and how, more often than not, Harry feels called upon to stand up and tell the truth—even if his voice shakes. Or even if he’s standing alone.

What’s immensely powerful about this scene in Chapter 17 is that Harry doesn’t even resort to using any magic or knowledge he is aware of to fight back against Quirrell and Voldemort. He actually is in such grave danger, that his body reacts instinctively: “Quirrell raised his hand to perform a deadly curse, but Harry, by instinct, reached up and grabbed Quirrell’s face.” Our instinct is something we find at our very core, as animals. We all naturally react to the environment around us just as our fellow animals do, and in times of danger, we are sent into “fight or flight” mode which is deeply encoded in our DNA. In my opinion, our instinct, as it is revealed to us during life-and-death scenarios, is one of the most honest and truthful things in this universe.

And what is the result of Harry’s instinctive grabbing of Quirrell’s face? “Quirrell rolled off him, his face blistering too, and then Harry knew: Quirrell couldn’t touch his bare skin, not without suffering terrible pain.”

We know from Dumbeldore’s explanation later in the chapter that it was Harry’s mother’s love running through his veins that made it impossible for Voldemort, and therefore Quirrell, to touch Harry. It was the magic of this love that made it possible for Harry to escape the villain’s clutches.

Or was it?

Or maybe I should say, “Was it just his mother’s love?”

Was it really only his mother’s love that saved him?

This was Harry’s first time in his living memory coming close to death. He realizes the urgency of the situation right away, which is astounding for an 11-year-old child. He knows that if he doesn’t find the Stone, he is going to be killed. He knows that if Voldemort finds the Stone because of him finding it, he’s going to be killed. He knows that Voldemort is lying when he says that his parents died begging for mercy. (Note: his mother did die begging him to not kill Harry, this is true, but the way he is presenting the story to Harry is a lie in and of itself because of all the gaps and holes amongst his presentation of events). 

When Quirrell destroys his own hands after trying to strangle Harry (they became “burnt, red, and shiny”) Harry knows that the only thing he can do is trust in what he knows to be TRUE (and not a lie). “His only chance was to keep hold of Quirrell, keep him in enough pain to stop him from doing a curse.” This submission to what is true is what allows his body to react on instinct, thus saving his life. One could also say that submitting to what is true is an act of self-love. Harry refuses to fight against what he knows to be true and trusts in himself, letting go to instinct. And that acceptance and trust in oneself is a powerful act of self-love that, in addition to his mother’s love, saves him in this scene.

**

Chapter 17 re-introduces us to Quirrell as a man with two faces. And in life, we also have two (or more) faces. But how often do we see our “true” faces reflecting back at us when we look in a mirror? What would we see if we looked into the Mirror of Erised? And when we see that, will we lie to ourselves or others about what we see? Many great people have lied while looking into the Mirror of Erised, for example Albus Dumbledore in Chapter 12 and Harry himself in this very chapter. And what do they gain from these lies?

Going back to our theme about “Love” today, I feel as if I’m being called to look into the Mirror of Erised myself—to find out who I really am, what I truly love and desire in my life. And when I look in the Mirror, I’ll then be faced with several choices. Do I lie to myself or to others about what I see? Do I keep it a secret for now because I don’t think others are ready to know? One might argue that’s why Dumbledore lies about seeing a pair of wool socks in the Mirror. Harry didn’t need to know what Dumbeldore’s deepest desire was at that moment. And Dumbeldore doesn’t have to share what he sees—but the fact that he chooses to lie instead of telling the truth highlights another very important point. Even wixen as wise as Dumbledore sometimes listen to that inner voice that whispers: “I must lie.” For whatever reason—and that reason might be justifiable or not. But either way, it is YOUR choice whether to lie, keep something to yourself, or tell the truth.  

It is our choices that makes us who we are, far more than our abilities. Today, I see many opportunities to make choices. I can look into the Mirror of Erised, or not. I can lie to myself about what I see, or not. I can lie to others, tell the truth, or say nothing to them about what I see. I can keep staring longingly at the Mirror, or I can take small steps towards my deepest desire in the real world.

When I imagine myself standing in front of the Mirror of Erised, I see myself reading, scribbling with a quill, making connections between books, films, songs, plays, art, and real-life experiences. As I start to understand the world and myself more and more, I am collecting my ideas and thoughts into stories, essays, and articles—sharing them with the world. In the Mirror, I see myself tying parchment to the legs of owls and sending them off into the world. I don’t always know who’s going to receive my writing. I only hope that whoever does can glean something meaningful from the words and start to understand the world and themselves just a little bit more.