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...He turned away from the painted portraits, thinking now only of the four-poster bed lying waiting for him in Gryffindor Tower, and wondering whether Kreacher might bring him a sandwich there...
DH, pg. 749

The above quote is an example of the confused moral nature of this book and the series.

All of the Harry Potter locations have a significant Celtic, Roman or Saxon background. I interpret this as the Wizarding World being the last remnants of the Druids. They are still fighting the many invasions of England in a sense and also the new world the non-magical people have built in the interim.
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Not only does Harry hold a piece of Tom's soul inside him, but also his mother Lily.
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The fact that 6A/LJ caved in to a group of extremists, has me angry.

This was a group that could not determine the difference between real criminals and Fiction. They seek to censor anything they find objectionable for what they determine to be our safety. They seek to take away our rights, all the while telling us they are setting us free.

It is up to all of us to fight them.

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ETA: Dominionists are not only American. They exist around the world. Please send me links about the fight against Theocrats in your country and I will post them.

Vernon is a man who is extremely invested in our world. He has a nice job and a nice family even if Harry is dragging him down. He has a vacation home in Majorca. He throws cocktail and dinner parties. Meanwhile Petunia herself enables this "passing" behavior. They are trying to "pass", you know. As a normal, muggle family. Everything about them screams just "normal" folks.

In the past, we have just read this as a sign that the Dursleys are a muggle family and saddled with the magical Harry. But after going over the first book, this impression begins to fall apart. Why?

Its that lighthouse hideaway that gives it away.
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"Tell me, how have you been communicating with Rosmerta? I thought we had all methods of communication in and out of the school monitored?"

"Enchanted coins," said Malfoy, as though he were compelled to keep talking, though his wand hand was shaking badly. "I had one and she had the other and I could send her messages-"

Isn't that the secret method of communication the group that called themselves Dumbledore's Army used last year?" asked Dumbledore....

"Yeah, I got the idea from them," said Malfoy, with a twisted smile.
HBP, pg. 589, JK Rowling

( I got the idea of poisoning the mead from the Mudblood Granger as well. I heard her talking in the library about Filch not recognizing potions. )

It just occurred to me that treating Tom Riddle's Horcruxes as an anomalous event is just plain wrong. The answer to this obsession has been in the books for quite some time. It has just been missed.
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Before Albus Dumbledore began his endgame, he made sure to complete his earthly affairs. The most important being protecting the hidden leader.
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Every up and coming leader needs money. That monetary support needs backers. Riddle's campaign to be ruler certainly took this need into account. After all, he is a Muggle and extremely aware of the tides and ebbs of monetary flow.
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In my last essay, I suggested that Harry Potter would have some echoes of Hercules visit to Hades. In the process, Riddle may use him as a dupe to retrieve the sacred objects of the Eleusinians and their Goddess Persephone. Objects that allow Persephone to travel in and out of the veil, unharmed. Her Deathly Hallows that consist of the Golden Serpent, an Egg, A staff and the Seeds of Demeter. Harry has all he needs to undertake this journey and his final struggle may not include his using force on Riddle. Perhaps all that is required is that he be present and survive.

But lets explore more Greek influences in Harry Potter as well as other mythology.
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The Veil Room in the DOM is presented as an amphitheatre. Supposedly the adherents to the DOM mysteries sit and listen to the voices coming from beyond the curtain.

But they are not content to just sit and listen.
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Peter d'Apona, born near Padua in 1250, wrote several books on Hermetic sciences and was accused by the Inquisition of possessing seven spirits (each enclosed in a crystal vessel) who taught him the seven liberal arts and sciences. He died upon the rack.http://www.alchemylab.com/history_of_alchemy.htm

...the Minsitry of Magic keeps tabs on witches and wizards who can become animals; there's a register showing what animals they become, and their markings and things... POA, J.K. Rowling

When did the WW start to use the Dementors as a police force?

As of now, no specific dates have been given for their first appearance or use as enforcers. But I think that they must have appeared whenever The Improper Use of Magic Office started to keep their registry of Animagus Wizards and Witches. In order for the Dementor guards to be successful, wizarding kind must be kept in the dark about their weak points.

Dementors do not recognize animals.
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"It is true, however, that those who have mastered Legilimency are able, under certain conditions, to delve into the minds of their victims and to interpret their findings correctly."
(OOTP, pg. 531)

( From this point forth , we shall be leaving the firm foundation of fact )

I'm gearing up to finish my latest essay so it won't be long now.

But I wanted to discuss some meta-ish ideas.

These books are first and foremost children's fairy tales. Rowling is attempting to aim for the same satirical style of Roald Dahl or even adult writer, Tom Sharpe. I think many times she succeeds but sometimes hits a wall. Satire wants to roam free and burn at will. The hero fantasy genre leans towards overearnestness. So what do we have? An overearnest hero wandering lost in a funhouse carnival. Harry has real danger about him but the WW is unable to empathize with him. Its fantasy meets reality.
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It always makes me giggle when fandom gets all righteous about law and order in the HP series.

Because there is no order only its facade.

The Wizarding Folk live in a Dictatorship, if not that, then an Oligarchy.

There is no justice in the WW. Only what its "leaders" want done and will keep them in power.

Fudge dropped the ball? Cover Up, Scapegoat him and pull in someone new. That someone is an unelected official.

Which brings me to this main evidence of disenfranchisement of ordinary wizarding folk as well as the non-human magical races.

In the 6 years that Harry has been in the WW, there have been NO ELECTIONS. Even someone as self-absorbed as Harry would have noticed a major election for Minister of Magic. Nor has there been any mention of an election historically.

The Wizarding World is a non-democratic and despotic Dictatorship. Is it any wonder that they can't get it together to fight Tom Riddle?

Discuss.

Magic is getting weaker in WW. The regular wizard or witch in the streets doesn't realize this, life is the same as it always has been. But for the Warlocks or Alchemists who remember the power the WW once had, its distressing. How are they to continue their studies of the Great Work? Especially without the power they need. What they have to work with is mostly unstable.
( Wizards much older and cleverer than you have devised our new program of study. )

Hey, HP fans.

If you want a quick and easy intro lesson of Alchemy than rent Jim Henson's Dark Crystal. It covers all the basic symbology: from duality, the harmony of the spheres, astrology, the marriage of sun/moon, the destruction of the Snake by brother & sister (wink, wink), Hermes/Mercury and Quintessence.

Henson did a lot of research before he created the story. The world was whole before he even added his hero.

ETA: Henson revisited the same imagery again in Labyrinth