We always come back to these two topics. The heroic acts and the values we or others have. Many of those we ignore during the chaotic daily life. Many of those values are quite clear in the world of J.K. Rowling through her completed characters and the meaning of magic in the story of Harry Potter. Let’s see some of them.
Love.
“Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living and especially those that live without love”.
The most powerful magic in the world, the mother of all values. It was the love that Lily had for her son, Harry Potter, that saved him from death and darkness. It was the love and dedication of Hagrid that helped him take Harry safely as a baby in Privet Drive 4, as well as later on, as a grown child to a safer place. It was the warm hug and love of the Weasley family that gave Harry the family he was missing until the age of 11. And of course, it was the love for studying that Hermione possessed that helped them all survive. Finally, the eternal love of Severus Snape for Lily Potter, which made him protect her son until the very end. The lack of love, however, is just as powerful, as it was shown clearly in the story of Tom Riddle. It drove him down the path of darkness and thus, he became Lord Voldermort.
Sacrifice.
“I am sorry too,” said Lupin. “Sorry I will never know him… but he will know why I died and I hope he will understand. I was trying to make a world in which he could live a happier life”.
The true, deep love is accompanied by sacrifice, which is shown through the little every day acts and up to the actual sacrifice of life. Thus, Lily Evans stepped in front of the Killing Curse and her own son, and a little before that, James Potter had sacrificed himself for his wife and his son. In a likely manner, Dobby, the sweetest and free creature, stepped between the knife of Bellatrix Lestrange and his friend, giving up his life for them. The bravery and the effort for a better world in which their son could have a good life, drove Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks in the battle of Hogwarts where they breathed their last. Seeing the eyes of the woman he had loved for years, even in the face of her son, Severus Snape died. Finally, for all those that were close and sacrificed themselves, as well as for all those innocents, Harry Potter chose to die in the Forbidden Forest from the curse of Voldermort.
Forgiveness.
“It’s not in the nature of a dementor to be forgiving.”
A world without forgiveness would be a world full of Demenotrs, a constant cold, a prison like Azkaban with people that have no soul. If we do not learn how to forgive, first ourselves, we are empty beings, just as if a Dementor follows us all the time. Sirius Black was accused and punished for the murder of his best friend, but he found justification and forgiveness from Harry Potter and Remus Lupin, his other lifelong friend. He lived the rest of his days as a hunter criminal and unfortunately, his innocence was never truly revealed in the world. An other misunderstood hero, Severus Snape, was accused for many things but he managed to keep his identity hidden and protect those he could, but never forgave himself for not protecting his one and true love.
Remorse.
“It’s you one last chance,” said Harry, “and it’s all you’ve got left… I’ve seen what you’ll be otherwise… Be a man… try… Try for some remorse”.
Maybe Voldermort never had the ability to feel love, but it was his actions and the worst of those that transformed him into what he became. During his course of life, he had the choice to repent. Finally, he never did but continued his crimes and becoming a soulless creaturee. For this reason, the little piece of soul he had ended up in the King’s Cross Station by the same curse that hit Harry in the Forbidden Forest, and according to Dumbledore, it was completely out of help. Someone, however, who surprised us with his remorse towards Harry was Dudley Dursley. At the end, before he departed with his family, he bid his cousin farewell by saying “I don’t think you’re a waste of space”, proving to us that it’s never too late for saying sorry.
