A philosophical exploration of the entire seven-book Harry Potter series Harry Potter has been heralded as one of the most popular book series of all time and the philosophical nature of Harry, Hermione, and Ron's quest to rid the world of its ultimate evil is one of the many things that make this series special.

FOREWORD BY TOM MORRIS xi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: Some House Points I’d Like to Award xv Introduction: Harry Potter and the Enchantment of Philosophy 1 PART ONE THE HORCRUX OF THE MATTER: DESTINY, IDENTITY, AND THE SOUL 1 The Soul in Harry Potter 7Scott Sehon 2 Sirius Black: Man or Dog? 22Eric Saidel 3 Destiny in the Wizarding World 35Jeremy Pierce PART TWO THE MOST POWERFUL MAGIC OF ALL 4 Choosing Love: The Redemption of Severus Snape 53Catherine Jack Deavel and David Paul Deavel 5 Love Potion No. 9¾ 66Gregory Bassham 6 Harry Potter, Radical Feminism, and the Power of Love 80Anne Collins Smith PART THREE POTTERWATCH: FREEDOM AND POLITICS 7 Patriotism, House Loyalty, and the Obligations of Belonging 97Andrew P. Mills 8 Dumbledore’s Politics 113Beth Admiraal and Regan Lance Reitsma 9 Dumbledore, Plato, and the Lust for Power 128David Lay Williams and Alan J. Kellner PART FOUR THE ROOM OF REQUIREMENT: A POTTER POTPOURRI 10 Is Dumbledore Gay? Who’s to Say? 143Tamar Szabó Gendler 11 Choices vs. Abilities: Dumbledore on Self-Understanding 157Gregory Bassham 12 The Magic of Personal Transformation 172S. Joel Garver 13 Just in Your Head? J. K. Rowling on Separating Reality from Illusion 185John Granger with Gregory Bassham 14 A Pensieve for Your Thoughts? Harry Potter and the Magic of Memory 198Amy Kind 15 A Hogwarts Education: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly 212Gregory Bassham PART FIVE BEYOND THE VEIL: DEATH, HOPE, AND MEANING 16 The Real Secret of the Phoenix: Moral Regeneration through Death 229Charles Taliaferro 17 Beyond Godric’s Hollow: Life after Death and the Search for Meaning 246Jonathan L. Walls and Jerry L. Walls 18 Why Harry and Socrates Decide to Die: Virtue and the Common Good 258Michael W. Austin CONTRIBUTORS: The Hogwarts (for Muggles) Faculty 271 THE MARAUDER ’ S INDEX 279

Is it always wrong to use a love potion? Is death something to be feared . . . or ”mastered”? What can Severus Snape teach us about the possibility of redemption? Is love the most powerful magic of all? J. K. Rowling's wildly popular Harry Potter books may appear to be simple children's tales on the surface, but like Hogwarts, they conceal many hidden chambers, trapdoors, and perplexing secrets. Drawing on all seven books in the Harry Potter series, The Ultimate Harry Potter and Philosophy offers a powerful brew of insights about good and evil, love, death, power, sacrifice, and hope. Is it true, as Dumbledore says, that our choices reveal far more about us than our abilities do? Is there an afterlife, and what might it be like? Here's a Pensieve for your thoughts. So take a healthy slug of Baruffio's Brain Elixir and join Bassham's Army of talented philosophers in exploring the mind-stretching deeper questions of the Potter books and films.