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The idea that the Three Brothers in Deathly Hallows are story pointers to the Dark Lord, Severus Snape, and Harry Potter was discussed here in the weeks after the book’s publication in 2007. Alan Jacobs, however, I think was the first to publish the idea (if only as a hint) in his Christianity Today review of the series finale, ‘The Youngest Brother’s Tale.’

Many readers have already exclaimed that Harry’s final quest marks him as a clear Christ figure. This is wrong, seriously wrong, and I think J. K. Rowling goes out of her way to tell us so. People (characters in the books as well as readers) think that Harry is a unique person of unique power, but at a dozen points in the series we are clearly shown that he is not: he is called the Chosen One, but he is chosen by Voldemort, and Dumbledore emphasizes to Harry the sheer contingency of this choice. The work of the Cross is done by Christ alone; Harry always has help. (It’s worth emphasizing that while each of the Horcruxes is destroyed, each is destroyed by a different person.) At his moment of agony Christ was abandoned; at the end of his quest Harry is supported and comforted. [click to continue…]

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Shared Text: Nerds and Geometry Exams

by John 26 January 2012

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Shared Text: Hogwarts as Lure to Hook High School Seniors

by John 20 January 2012

Share Some fictional characters get their invitation to the perfect school by owl. For you, there’s this e-mail from Kenyon College. If your sense of humor and your sense of wonder inform everything you do, just go to owls.kenyon.edu, where you can learn more about Kenyon, one of the country’s best liberal arts colleges. (And [...]

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The Man in Black: Alan Rickman Interview and Oscar Prospects

by Elizabeth 19 January 2012

Share Back in December, John Granger and I had the opportunity to chat on Middle Earth Network Radio with delightful host Dave Kale on the subject of the DVD extras offered with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. Though we really enjoyed (and discussed at great length) the segment on both female characters [...]

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HuffPost: Should J. K. Rowling Win the Nobel Prize?

by John 14 January 2012

Share The Huffington Post yesterday put up a fun, provocative article, Should J. K. Rowling Win the Noble Prize? I urge you to read the whole thing and share your thoughts in the comment boxes below. Here are three thoughts off the top of my head about this article and the possibility that Ms. Rowling [...]

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Pubcast tonight on Middle Earth Radio Network

by Elizabeth 9 January 2012

Share Join Dave Kale, George Naylor, and yours truly for a live pubcast as we look back over at the Harry Potter events of 2011!

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Hedwig Mania Over Influx of Snowy White Owls in US

by John 8 January 2012

Share I confess the story here about the great number of Great White Owl sightings in the United States didn’t really excite me. I’m not a ‘birder’ with a life list so the possibility of seeing birds that are a relatively rare sight in the lower 48 didn’t stir me to reschedule vacations so I [...]

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Happy New Year! Welcome to HogPro, MuggleNet Friends!

by John 31 December 2011

Share 2011 was a wild ride, wasn’t it? Harry Potter fandom experienced the  ’end of the beginning’ when the last movie adapted from the Hogwarts Saga was released [for a longish explanation why this is an 'end of the beginning' rather than a 'beginning of the end,' read Harry Is Here to Stay]. The Hunger [...]

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HogPro on YouTube: Eyes, Rings, and Trios from the Vault

by John 31 December 2011

Share MuggleNet ran an interview with me yesterday and, while writing a ‘welcome’ post for Muggletonians that drop by via the article’s link to this site, I found a bunch of YouTube promotional videos of me from other web sites as well as me talking at various conferences and schools. Here below, as an example, [...]

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