Only 16 days and 14 hours until the release of the next Harry Potter book as I write this.
Lately, I've been way too serious about the Iraq war. I've talked about how we basically needed to invade Iraq because its the bullseye of the Middle East. I've debunked some myths about the war. I've talked about the Euro. I've looked at the numbers to try to see if Iraq is getting worse or better. I've looked at the Downing Street memos.
Enough! It's time to take a break, and be a little silly.
I'm going to talk about the last Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix while I wait for the next one, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
The plot of the book is that despite a child getting killed in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by Voldemort, the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge refuses to believe that Voldemort has come back. So he sets out to discredit Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter with the help of the Daily Prophet. The Daily Prophet begins printing stories about how Dumbledore has gone senile, and how Harry Potter has been driven mad.
Meanwhile, Voldemort is up to no good. Without the support of the Ministry of Magic, the fight against Voldemort is driven into the shadows; the Order of the Phoenix is the organization Dumbledore creates to fight Voldemort and his followers.
With Dumbledore basically in hiding, the Ministry of Magic appoints a new headmaster, Dolores Umbridge, to oversee Hogwarts. She proceeds to undermine the entire Defense against the Dark Arts curriculum, as well as harass Harry for his claim that Voldemort is back. This forces the students to turn to Harry for instruction, which ends up working quite well given Harry's extensive experience.
The wizarding world goes along with this, because really, Voldemort is so scary a topic that no one really wants to believe he has really come back.
The book ends when Voldemort attacks the Ministry of Magic, forcing even the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge to recognize that he's baaack.
That's the plot. But what is really going on? Glad you asked...
This book series is an allegory of the War on Terror.
Voldemort represents both Saddam Hussien and Osama Bin Laden, that is, the threat of terrorism against the West. Dumbledore represents Uncle Sam as personified by George Bush, and Harry Potter represents Britian, specifically Tony Blair. The first 4 books are sort of a history of terrorism in that Voldemort makes a few attacks here and there, but only Harry and Dumbledore really realize the danger. So the various attacks against the US and UK by Al Queda are will represented. The 4th book ends with Voldemort killing a child this represents 9/11; it should be the wake up call for the entire wizarding world that Voldemort/Terrorism is a problem they need immediately gear up to fight, they have killed the innocent.
Wizards, like all humans, don't want to believe that. Enter Cornelius Fudge and the press, which would rather believe that Dumbledore (George Bush) is crazy/senile. This of course closely parallels world opinion of US and UK actions in the War on Terror. The Ministry of Magic is a bureaucracy, and so represents the interests in London, Washington, and the UN who would prefer to just refer terrorism to a committee.
Enter Dolores Humbridge (Hans Blix) the classic bureaucrat. She not only denies all possibility that Voldemort could be back, she actively seeks to undermine Harry, Dumbledore, and any ability of the students to defends themselves.
Dumbledore and Harry are forced to go it alone, and so Dumbledore (Bush) creates the coalition Order of the Phoenix. Rowling's choice is interesting here, because Dumbledore is the most powerful wizard (as Bush is the most powerful man), but Harry (again, Britain) has the most experience in fighting Voldemort/Terrorism. Even though Dumbledore is the most powerful wizard, the only wizard Voldemort truly fears, we all know that it will be Harry (Britain) that saves the day. In fact, there are rumors the Dumbledore dies in the 6th book; perhaps Rowling expected Bush to lose the election?
At any rate, despite the obstacles put up by Dumbledore's secrecy, the bureaucracy's maneuverings, and the tide of public opinion the evil of Voldemort leads him to another attack directly on the Ministry of Magic, much like Al Queda has begun attacking other Arab nations. So finally, world opinion public opinion swings the other direction, and Europe the wizarding world signs up for the War on Terror War against Voldemort.
I wonder what will happen in Iraq the next book.
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