Last week, a conservative rendition of J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” emerged on the Internet, sparking outrage from Potter fans everywhere. The author, known simply as Grace Ann, said she felt compelled to pen her own version of the Potter novels because she recognized the moral values in the stories but did not want her children to “turn into witches” by reading the original books. Grace Ann posted the first nine chapters of her mediocre novel on fanfiction.net, and in the weeks since its original posting it has been shared on websites like Reddit and Americans Against the Tea Party.
Although the new version maintains a similar structure to that of the original Harry Potter books — an orphan boy is rescued from his cruel aunt and uncle by a giant named Hagrid and whisked away to a school called Hogwarts — the details of the story could not be farther from Rowling’s original version. The characters are flat, the setting is underdeveloped and the themes of friendship and morality are desperately enforced. Albus Dumbledore is a pastor rather than a headmaster; Hermione is the simple-minded daughter of a preacher rather than a complex female lead; Ron Weasley is rude and cruel rather than compassionate and humble. This version is a far cry from Rowling’s original novels.
Although Grace Ann’s original intentions in writing the chapters seem to be innocent enough, her version of Harry Potter is a poor representation of conservatives and of Christians. Not only is her work poorly written and disorganized, it also presents false information about Christianity. Grace Ann depicts God as a Santa Clause figure who grants wishes to those who believe in him. In chapter two, Harry asks Hagrid how they will get to Hogwarts, to which Hagrid simply responds, “We will pray.” After asking God to take them to Hogwarts, the two are whisked away from the Dursley’s dreary household and magically transported to Hogwarts.
While this particular scene will not dramatically turn Grace Ann’s children into witches as she states the original Harry Potter books will, it will give them a very false perception of how the God of the Bible treats his creation. This implies all one must do in order to get what he wants; is to simply needs ask God for it. While prayer is an important component of the Christian relationship with God, it is more complex than making rudimentary requests to God.
The problem with depicting God as a simple wish-granter is it teaches her children that undesirable circumstances can be fixed with a quick word to the man upstairs. This flawed instruction renders her children incapable of dealing with suffering because they will believe prayer is sufficient to immediately fix all their problems. When they encounter suffering, their faith will be shattered as will their relationship with their mother, who is the one who taught them how to “pray.”
Although Grace Ann includes excerpts from scripture at the end of every chapter, it is clear she only takes the Bible at face value and gives little regard to context. She expects her children to live in a world of sin, but not confront it. She expects them to be above classic works of children’s literature and to not interact with those who believe differently from them, as shown in chapters five and six of her story in which Harry encounters and rejects Catholics, woman-haters and hippies. Grace Ann holds unrealistic expectations for her children and condescending views toward those who perceive the world differently than she.
My advice for those who are intrigued by Grace Ann’s work: don’t let one woman’s narrow-minded interpretation of Christianity define the religion. Research her work the same way you would research any other sketchy information. Grace Ann obviously doesn’t tolerate good literature, and the general public should not tolerate her ignorance by accepting her worldview as truth.
