As I look
around me, there’s a feeling churning inside, a feeling hard to describe in a
few words. The scene unfolding around me should be one I'm unfamiliar with, because I
haven’t really seen it before. But strangely, it feels familiar. Part of that
familiarity lies in the pages of history that I read as a child, pages that horrified
me and made me question the basis of humanity.
Recently,
however, I stumbled across a post that made me realize that another part of the
familiarity lies in the pages of a book I grew up with, a book that was my companion
for almost a decade, perhaps longer: Harry Potter.
In this
post, I’m going share a summary of a particular set of events that unfolded in
the books, events that in some ways feel eerily similar to the world I’m part
of today.
*****
The book
focuses on a group of people who have the power of magic. These witches and
wizards live among the non-magic folk, who they refer to as muggles.
The larger
wizarding community, for many years, aimed hard to co-exist among the muggles.
This meant going out of their way to ensure that muggles didn't find out that
there is something called magic. This was done to prevent a possible mayhem
from breaking out, and to keep the peace between the two communities.
But there
were also many witches and wizards in the magical world who chafed against these
restrictions. They hated the limitations of not openly being able to do magic
in front of the muggles. They believed, that as wizards, their place was one high above that of muggles. This wasn't a relationship of equality; after all, they knew they were more powerful. Why bother pretending to be equals when in reality they could easily overpower
the muggles and finally live the lives they had wanted to? Why appease this group of people, when what they really wanted was to show muggles their true place in the world?
One day, a powerful wizard emerged, who told them
what they longed to hear - magical folk deserve a higher place in society
compared to these filthy muggles, and that's what they were going to get. No
more pretences, no more politeness, no more appeasement. It was time to show
the muggles where they belonged. The words
struck a chord - he was, after all, speaking to their heart's deepest desires; desires that until this point they had been forced to subdue. This wizard - Voldemort - gained many followers, all ready to shed pretences and show their power in all its force.
And so it
began. It started slowly. Whispers, secret meetings, detailed planning. Small
disappearings. Inexplicable murders. Voldemort's followers slowly took over top
positions of power. People who questioned and spoke up soon found smear
campaigns launched against them in newspapers. They were accused of spreading
fear in what was otherwise a peaceful time. Their titles were stripped away.
They were presented as lunatics, or power hungry morons just looking for
attention from the media. And the wizarding community, as often happens with
the rest of us, began to see them through this image. Their supporters thinned,
while the supporters of Voldemort continued to grow.
And then,
one day, Voldemort came out of the shadows. All his pieces were in place. He
took over the Ministry of Magic, and finally unleashed his plans.
Muggles were
killed, left, right and centre. This time, pretence wasn't needed. Whispers
were unnecessary. A new slogan took over: 'Magic is Might'. A statue was
installed at the centre of the ministry, depicting wizards sitting on scores of
ugly, twisted muggles: finally shown at what ought to have always been their
rightful place.
Hogwarts,
the school of magic, also changed. The subject 'Muggle Studies', which students
used to take to learn more about muggles, now was used to tell students about
how muggles were stupid and dirty, and how they had viciously driven wizards
into hiding. The subject now also became mandatory.
It wasn't
just muggles though.
The
wizarding community was made up of different kinds of people. Some people had
several generations of magic in their family line. Some, were 'half and half':
one parent was a witch or wizard, while another was a muggle. Some, were born
to muggle parents, and were often referred to with the slur 'Mudblood', or
meaning 'dirty blood'.
Some people
- particularly the ones following Voldemort - believed that only the first kind
- the pure blood - were true witches and wizards, and only they should be
allowed to practice magic. Everyone else, was an 'other'.
Once
Voldemort came to power, all the magic folk born to non-magic parents were
rounded up. A muggle-born registration commission was set up, and they were made
to present themselves in court to prove that they were, in fact, true witches
and wizards. Research was presented which said that magic could only be passes on
by blood, which meant that any wizards born in non-wizarding households must have
taken magic by force. Many were charged with having stolen wands, and the fact
that they could use the wand was not considered evidence of them being magic
folk. Those that were unable prove their ancestry were sent to prison. Many of
them were taken; many others tried to flee. Some succeeded, but most did not.
Every week, the list of names of the people who had died kept increasing.
Anyone who
tried to fight or resist the new regime was killed. No one really knew who to
trust, or who was on which side. A small group emerged, trying to thwart
Voldemort at every step. But they were small, compared to the supporters of
Voldemort. Their numbers thinned, and resistance began to look futile.
A large
chunk of the masses chose not to take sides. Many of them were the ones who initially had denied vehemently that anything was wrong, and had smeared anyone who had tried to say otherwise. They preferred to live in the belief that everything was okay, and all this unnecessary criticism was only spreading distrust and fear. Now, they did what they could to keep their
families safe, refusing to take a stand until it was almost too late....
*****
The story
above continues, but perhaps that's for another day. Today, it's not about what
happened next. Because at the end of the day, Harry Potter was a fictional tale
written for children. The ending given in that book doesn't necessarily reflect
the ending that our world has seem multiple times over in the history books.
The pages of
our future are yet to be filled, and whether they reflect the world of a
children’s fantasy novel or the grim history of our world might just depend on us.
Note 1: The post above was inspired from a similar post I read by someone comparing the world of Harry Potter to today. Don't remember who had shared it, so can't share the link.
Note 2: The description of events above is based on my memory of the books from many years earlier, so might not be 100% accurate in the details.
