It’s not the first time that Harry Potter has been equated to the Trump administration; Trump himself has been equated to Voldemort (though maybe a better comparison would be Cornelius Fudge?), Betsy DeVos to Umbridge, and Jeff Sessions to the Death Eater Antonin Dolohov. In fact, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is very much about a group of teenagers (and some supportive adults) working against a government that is willingly avoiding the truth that’s right in front of their face.
What brought this to the forefront of my mind was a quote that’s circulating around Facebook today, in light of what happened with Brett Kavanaugh yesterday:
“You have heard from an eyewitness,” Dumbledore interrupted. “If you still doubt her truthfulness, call her back, question her again. I am sure she would not object.”
“I–that–not–” blustered Fudge, fiddling with the papers before him. “It’s–I want this over with today, Dumbledore!”
“But naturally, you would not care how many times you heard from a witness, if the alternative was a serious miscarriage of justice,” said Dumbledore.
Did that just give you chills? Yeah, me too.
Ineffective Governments
One of the main focuses of Order of the Phoenix is the ineffectiveness of the government, and how the press contributes to this ineffectiveness. Cornelius Fudge refuses to believe Harry and Dumbledore as they claim that Voldemort is back, choosing to believe that this is some ploy for Dumbledore to get more power.
The scene described above is slightly ironic (spoiler alert) because it’s because of the government (cough, Umbridge, cough) that he was even put in a situation to use magic in the first place. Fudge, Umbridge, and the Daily Prophet are all working together in order to take down Harry’s credibility as far as they can. Sound familiar?
These parallels just make me want to re-read the series all the more (it’s on my list for this month!). Though it’s been over ten years since the last book came out, these books stand the test of time because they keep being relevant.
Fandom as Resistance
Though you may feel helpless as you watch all these terrible things unfold in the American government, there are groups of fans worldwide gathering together to fight against the corruption we’re seeing everyday. The Harry Potter Alliance is one of these organizations that has been around for a while, and they’ve even created fandom forward curriculum that gives you structure to fight back based on all your favorite fandoms.
Like your favorite characters in Harry Potter, you can fight against the injustices that you see in the world. The most important is to get out and vote this November, but you can also talk to your representatives, support organizations that support victims, and even get out and protest. Exercise your right to voice your opinion. As Harry Potter showed us, banding together can wipe out evil.
Wands up.