Alex Whalen
11/15/08
Junior Theology

Harry Potter and Philosophy: A Summary
The chapter starts as with the virtues of Hogwarts. Each house has its own place in the world. Gryffindor was for the bravest, Ravenclaw the cleverest, Hufflepuff the hard workers, and Slytherin those with great ambitions. The point of the section is that it is odd that Harry goes to the house of the bravest since he experiences much fear in every book. The feelings of fear are different for every person in the series. Almost all of the characters have outside problems, but it is Harry, who feels fear in his stomach, heart, and mind. Thus leads us to what is courage since by these defining moments he is what seems to be a weakling. The author says that, “Courage is doing what’s right, not what’s easy.” Courage is a virtue that all other virtues rely on in order to be exhibited properly. Harry has the courage to stand up for his friends and to his enemies in all the books. This is what makes him courageous, it is not what others see but what they can only perceive what is going on the inside. For all of his showings of courage, Harry has a set of guidelines the are: “prepare for the challenge, surround yourself with support, engage in positive self-talk, focus on what is at stake, and take appropriate action.” A person with courage does these things. Military soldiers always prepare, have support of officers and fellow soldiers, and give themselves self-talk; they focus on what they have to do to make life better for everyone, and then they act out on this build up of courage. Harry Potter does the same thing for all of his missions within and outside of Hogwarts. Harry like all great heroes has to take a step of faith. This step is sometimes the only thing that can save you and the ones around you. When vulnerable to the things around us, we have to be able to put on foot in front of the other and keep moving on. This is hard but if you have belief and trust in yourself and you can do anything.