ReveLife comments-inspired post again :-P There was an entry about how fiction stories shape our views of Christianity and I mentioned HP. (Luckily, all hell didn't break loose.)
And today I was just wandering around the internet and come across the word "winky" which all fans know if the name of an HP character. So I thought about her for a minute and that's where this came from...
Background for non HP readers:
1. House elves are considered property of wizards and are generally mistreated (read: beaten, berated, and occassionally beheaded).
2. Dobby is a house elf who was owned by the evil Malfoy family. Eventually Harry tricks Mr. Malfoy into freeing Dobby. Dobby is overjoyed and spends the rest of his life following Harry around trying to pay him back. Harry never asked Dobby to do so and even though Dobby is extremely annoying on more than one occasion, Harry is always kind toward Dobby.
Dobby has a little bit of a problem though: due to years of being forced to punish himself for the enjoyment of the Malfoys every time he made a mistake, he still occassionally tries to do so. Harry is forever stopping Dobby from strangling himself, throwing himself in the fire, or bashing himself over the head.
*******SPOILER BOOK 7************
Over the years Dobby gets better about this but he continues to do everything he can for Harry. Finally, in the end of the series, Dobby has enough confidence in himself and enough faith in Harry that he barges into the Malfoy Manor in order to help Harry once again. He defies the evil Death Eaters that used to have control over him and utlimately dies helping Harry and his friends escape.
********END SPOILER*************
3. Winky is a house elf who used to be owned by the Crouch family. Not quite as bad as the Malfoys, but definitely not good people either. She is unceremoniously fired/freed and Dobby takes her to Hogwarts to give her a home and try to take care of her. She unfortunately has more trouble adapting and winds up drunk most of the time, constantly punishing herself for her past mistakes and crying 24/7.
4. Kreacher is a house elf owned by the incredibly creepy and mostly evil Black family. (Kreacher in and of himself is another lesson in Christianity, so I'll skip most of the details for now.) Kreacher spends most of his page time fighting Harry Potter, even helping Voldemort secure more power and getting Harry's father's best friend (and Kreacher's owner) killed. However, Harry wins Kreacher over with his understanding and his refusal to "own" a house elf (the ownership got passed to him when Sirius died). Kreacher changes from a crusty, angry elf who dressed in a filthy towel and perpetually muttered curses to himself, to a happy bright-eyed elf who wore clean white towels and happily served Harry and his friends. In the end, Kreacher is seen leading the house elves into battle screaming "Fight! Fight! Fight for my Master, defender of house elves! Fight the Dark Lord!"
To me, the three house elves can represent three different Christians. (NOTE: This example doesn't encompass every type of Christian).
You have Dobbies, who were always relatively good people. They become Christians but are overwhelmed by the mistakes they made and continue to make. It takes them a long time to accept grace and learn to forgive themselves, even though they know Christ is continually offering grace. Because of their love for Christ and His grace, they work tirelessly to please him (even if sometimes they get it wrong) and ultimately give their lives in service to Him (but you don't have to die to be a Dobby, that was never Dobby's plan after all).
Then you have Winkys. Winkys never quite get over their past. They accept Heaven but never accept the grace that will allow them to live a full life.
Finally, you have Kreachers. My favorite. Kreachers come from the other side. They faught on the side of evil so long you might think they were evil. But all the while they are being hurt by the people they are fighting alongside. All it takes is that show of mercy and grace and they are completely won over. They happily change their entire life and they take that passion they had and redirect toward the side of right. They have the most to fight for because they know what will happen if the dark side wins.
Obviously not a perfect analogy, because it was never intended to be taken this way. It's just what I got out of it.
I think I will write more. I love Harry Potter and love talking about it and I think far too many Christians see "wizard" and "Dark Lord" and "Lumos!" and assume nothing good or true could possibly come from them.
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