No Choice

It couldn't be helped.
It was my only option. 
It’s not my fault. 
It was my only choice.

One of the many joys that comes from graduating college is the opportunity to reread books that I haven’t touched since high school. Visiting extraordinary places, renewing relationships with characters, and musings over themes are some of my favorite activities – especially when those themes and characters embrace principles that I already know to be true.

Fiction can have a profound impact on our worldview; it can confirm and strengthen, or it can weaken and destroy. If this impact is ignored, we are not practicing biblical discernment. In fact, we are being incredibly foolish. Not one fictional story is immune; as I travel back through the Harry Potter world, I am further convinced of this fact.

Warning: Spoilers 

My favorite book in the Harry Potter series is without a doubt Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Yet, book three, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, makes a serious ethical statement. Therefore, it well-deserves a second look. J.K. Rowling’s story affirms an important message: there is no excuse for sin. None. The Harry Potter saga is a powerful vehicle for demonstrating this truth. The scene is set; Peter Pettigrew is corned by his old friends, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Having at last found Pettigrew, Sirius and Remus proceed to confront their former friend for betraying James and Lily Potter, Harry’s parents, to Voldemort.

 “‘You sold Lily and James to Voldemort,’ said Black, who was shaking too. ‘Do you deny it?’

Pettigrew burst into tears. It was horrible to watch, like an oversized, balding baby, cowering on the floor. ‘Sirius, what could I have done?’ The Dark Lord… you have no idea… he has weapons you can’t imagine… I was scared, Sirius, I was never brave like you and Remus and James. I never meant it to happen… He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named forced me –‘

‘DON’T LIE’ bellowed Black. ‘YOU’D BEEN PASSING INFORMATION TO HIM FOR A YEAR BEFORE LILY AND JAMES DIED! YOU WERE HIS SPY!’

‘He – he was taking over everywhere!’ gasped Pettigrew. ‘Wh - what was there to be gained by refusing him?’

‘What was there to be gained by fighting the most evil wizard who has ever existed?’ said Black, with a terrible fury in his face. ‘Only innocent lives, Peter!’

'You don’t understand!’ whined Pettigrew. ‘He would have killed me, Sirius!’

“THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED!’ roared Black. ‘DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS. AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!’” (p.374,375)

Wow. Doesn't Sirius shame us all? How many times do we try to excuse ourselves with the defense of Peter Pettigrew? How many times do we sear our consciences by catering to our sin? Having read Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban three times, I am struck by this story’s capacity for biblical truth. The question is: Are we paying attention?