What If Harry Potter Had Been a Girl?
Almost a year ago, I came across a documentary on Netflix chronicling the life events of J.K Rolling titled “Magic Beyond Words.” At first, I’ll admit, I was quite apprehensive. As an avid lover of Harry Potter, and someone who is still to this day in deep mourning over the series concluding, I was instantly drawn to the concept of anything Harry Potter related. However, as far as Netflix is concerned, having watched my fair share of mediocre documentaries, I did not want one of my all time favorite adaptions to be in some way tainted. I approached the start screen, excited, with mounting anticipation, ready for anything. Since I couldn’t afford to fly to my hometown of Orlando any time soon and experience Harry Potter World, naturally this had to be the next best thing. I had heard of J.K Rowling’s miraculous “rags to riches” story, but had never personally invested any kind of time or effort in to researching the topic further. After about twenty minutes in, I found myself to be pleasantly surprised and humbled. Why you make ask? Because Harry Potter was J.K Rowling. This amazing, complex, and inspiring character wasn’t a random, fathomed being after all. Harry Potter was, in every essence, the male version of Rowling herself during her adolescence.
Once the movie ended, I found myself in a deep reflection regarding what I had just witnessed. The story, although intriguing, left me angered and bewildered. Why did I feel this way? Once humbled, I was now left confused, and unsatisfied. Soon, I found the little feminist inside of me growling with hunger. Each and every one of the characters in her novels had been meticulously chosen from events that occurred in her own upbringing, and each personality was inspired by real life encounter. Harry Potter, the magical childhood hero who has inspired so many, became a morphed image, now crushed and dismantled. If Harry Potter had been inspired by J.K Rowling as a child herself, why wasn’t Harry Potter a girl?
Now, maybe I am being over dramatic, or even overly sensitive. Contrary to popular belief, as a self proclaimed feminist, I am not solely pro-female power. I am not going to throw an angry pink pitch fork up in to air, and claim gender oppression or even our ever lastingly capitalistic society. I promise, I won’t even throw my bra at you. I am pro-equality. It didn’t bother me that Harry Potter was a male, for so many truly great characters are. What bothered me was the fact that Rowling had to represent her character as a male to make him more relatable in some way, more likeable even. If Harry Potter had been a girl, would we have taken to him in the same way? Would we have rooted, or cheered for him so intently? If Harry Potter had been a girl, would he have even been famous, feared, or admired? Or would she have been made out to be a victim, rather than a hero?
I can almost envision it now,
“Oh, that poor, poor helpless girl whom Voldemort so brutally attacked!”
Take Hermione Granger for example, or as I commonly like to refer to her as, my idol. We are first introduced to Hermione in Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone, and to some of us, she may even come on quite strong in the beginning. She is smart, fearless, and knows exactly what she wants out of life, and moreover, out of Hogwarts. And this isn’t because of some deep-rooted need to be just as good as the boys, either. Hermione is smart because it is just who she is, and despite being consistently viewed as a “do-gooder,” she is sassy and breaks down social barriers. After all, what is more intimidating than a fearlessly smart woman? Hermione would have made a great female protagonist, and I can’t help but feel that Rowling put all of this in to Hermione on purpose. She didn’t want her to be a weak, feeble, run of the mill character, and she succeeded enormously in this endeavor.
And the truth is, Harry and Ron would have been pretty down and out on many occasions if it wasn’t for her intellect or rational input. From vicious trolls, to man eating vines, Hermione is definitely who you would want to be standing beside in a sticky situation. So why is Hermione simply the friend, and not the hero? With so much thought and personality placed in to Hermione, one would think that she would have been a great Harry Potter. More fitting, even. Let’s be real here for one second, and remember, this is coming from someone who absolutely adores the series. Harry is just a regular, kind of basic boy. He has no extraordinarily qualities, and the few that he does have he obtained from Voldemort during their first encounter. He isn’t even book smart, or exceptionally magic savvy. Hermione, the “mud-blood,” is a natural born leader, an intellect, a real hero. But she is consistently trying to prove herself, not just because of the fact that she is muggle born, but because first and foremost, she is a girl.
In a way, I feel that the character of Hermione is something in which displays Rowling’s conflictions within herself. That feeling of being proud to be a woman, but also being afraid to be too smart, too powerful, or too outspoken. She then cleverly relayed these personality traits on to Hermione, possibly even to depict her own vision of her childhood self. A talented, witty, divorced writer who could not even use her real name because of her gender. Had she been simply “Joanne Rowling,” would she have sold as many books? Would people have taken her seriously, or taken interest in her at all? Granted, this all may be personal speculation, even a bunch of hufflepuff. However, so many of these questions will forever remained unanswered for me. I’ll admit, I would love to ask J.K Rowling why her own self inspired story was changed and altered to reflect a pro-male society. I would eagerly jump at the opportunity to ask her why Hermione is so strong, and why the male characters in her book are so visibly inferior in potential. Was this purposeful, and did she simply have to adjust to the current day and age? Since Harry Potter could not be a girl, did she make up for these qualities in Hermione?
I have spent almost four months of my life reflecting on classic British novels, from the past until present. I have seen vast transformations in the way we view women, from suppressed and pathetic inferiors, to strong and courageous friends. However, when I reflect on how far we have come in this society, or in literature for that matter, as a woman, I worry that we still have leaps and bounds to go. So I’ll ask again, what if Harry Potter had been a girl? If the answer results in the book being any less magical, any less interesting, or the character simply being mentally altered in some way, than we still have miles to walk before we as modern day women are truly equal. When a great author is forced to alter a self-based character, or even her own name, to appease the society in which we inhabit, we might as well still be living in the Renaissance. Print the name of a woman as a hero on the front of a book, and let our little girl’s dream of being something other than a friend, mother, girlfriend, or sidekick. Now wouldn’t that be magical?
