Persistence.
Determination.
Steadfastness.
These are all cliched words that I looked up in the thesaurus to help me round up my thoughts around the theme of perseverance in Harry Potter. The word “perseverance” to me is just a reminder of the stiff words I encountered in middle school English class when we were exploring a fictional character’s qualities and motivations in a story. I think of it as one of the words that I would highlight in my canned essay responses to questions that were prompted artificially, answered mechanically and rehearsed mindlessly.
By writing this piece, I hope to spark a new meaning to this word that will help me see its positive connotations.
Now, what prompted me to write this essay? I have just finished listening to a Harry Potter and the Sacred Text podcast episode in which Vanessa Zoltan and Casper Ter Kuile explore one of the chapters of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban through the theme of optimism. They recount Harry’s efforts to learn how to produce a Patronus, and examine the kind of happy memories and sparks of optimism that have to be brought to the surface in order for one to muster up enough power to produce a Patronus. Revisiting these scenes made me embark on a journey of self-exploration of what my own reaction would have been like if I’d been tormented by Dementors and trauma as Harry was.
I have had a recent flash of insight on how the power of a happy memory could help Harry (or anyone, really) defeat the tides of darkness that threaten to sweep us under from time to time. As a teenager, when I was reading the books for the first time, the concept of a happy memory as a powerful tool was a cool plot point that I glossed over. As an adult, recognizing the strength of this tool was nothing short of an epiphany.
Delving a little deeper into the books now, I find that I’d missed a lot of underlying meaning into Harry’s relationship with the Patronus charm. In the later books, Harry becomes famous for something that he could, for once, be unabashedly proud of — his ability to produce a corporeal Patronus. Although he is admired by schoolmates and adults alike for this magical skill that he acquired at the tender age of thirteen, they do not acknowledge that he must have worked hard to accomplish it, and treat it as perhaps a result of his inherent magical power. Given the horrors and trauma in his past, it must have taken significantly more from him than the average witch or wizard to produce this representation of powerful optimism by summoning up the strongest memory of happiness that he could. When I recall his Patronus charm lessons with Lupin, it strikes me that Harry had shown not just magical prowess, but also a sheer level of grit and persistence to be able to embark on and continue with this effort.
What prompts Harry to ask Lupin for lessons to repel Dementors? As Casper and Vanessa pointed out in their podcast, Harry’s struggles with facing the Dementors had been peppered with shame and a perceived lack of masculinity and strength right from the very beginning. But what began as just a nagging discomfort in the back of his mind quickly transformed into a big problem that he needed to overcome — the Dementors showed up at a Quidditch match and caused him to have a horrific episode, leading to his team’s defeat. Losing his consciousness, falling from his broom in front of the whole school and finally, the most significant impact of his episode — losing a Quidditch match for the very first time — seem to have spurred Harry into action to conquer this vulnerability.
I am in awe of this solution-oriented side of Harry. If I’d been in his shoes, would I have leaped into action as he had done? Or would I have drawn on different sources of comfort such as faith and optimism that my teachers would protect me from having to face Dementors again? Was it Harry’s innate distrust of authority — a product of his abusive upbringing — that makes him decide to take up matters into his own hands? Either way, Harry demonstrates the incredible power of self-help and taking control, that ultimately end up saving his life more than once.
The second quality that Harry displays in his journey to produce a Patronus — the ability to ask for help. The trio had, up until this point, shown themselves to be self-sufficient to the point of ridiculousness. Harry and Ron flew a car to school in their second year rather than stop and think and request for help. I think it’s remarkable that Harry reaches out to Lupin, despite the latter’s protests that it was advanced magic beyond his years, and pleads with him for guidance. At this point, Harry did not even know about Lupin’s close relationship with his father, or that he may have a special fondness for Harry. In Harry’s shoes, I may have shut myself down, or resolved to attempt it on my own, by convincing myself that it was not part of Lupin’s job description to give me extra lessons, and he would have to give up significant portions of his free time and energy for this. But by reaching out to Lupin for instruction, Harry shows growth and vulnerability, and teaches me that it is okay to seek help, even if there is a possibility of being turned down.
The third and most obvious quality that I want to explore is Harry’s persistence. I wonder at the amount of courage that he has to summon up, while reliving his past trauma over and over again as he fights to produce a strong enough Patronus. I would have expected some level of self-preservation to kick in at some point — all this distress for a Quidditch match? Is it really worth it? In hindsight, his efforts pay off in the long-term, as Harry and his friends are attacked by a horde of Dementors near the end of their third year, and his Patronus is the thing that saves their lives. In fact, the rewards for his persistence multiply, as he goes on to save lives through the rest of his journey, and even manages to teach his friends to protect themselves from these dark creatures. Ultimately, the Patronus as a guardian reveals that something so pure and powerful could not have been achieved with a feeble wave of a wand. The reward is indeed proportional to the amount of work one puts in.
One final point that I would like to bring up is the revelation in the end that it was not Harry’s father who came back to save him from the Dementors as he thought: it was actually his future self. What seemed to be a cool time-travel twist to the tale, holds a deeper meaning now. Harry explains to himself that the unlikely conjurer of the Patronus that saved them was his father. It may have just been a nod to how much he resembled his father, or a recognition of his deep-seated and unacknowledged need to have a trustworthy adult protector for himself. But the fact that his saviour was actually his future self reveals a very stirring idea — that only we can protect and save ourselves. However much we may yearn for a parent, a partner or a friend to shield us from harm, ultimately the decision to save ourselves in whatever way we can, comes from within.
On that note, I will wrap up with John William’s moving theme for the Prisoner of Azkaban movie — the Patronus Light.
