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Good point! The rewards are (Constantly!) going to the rule-breakers, who had already disregarded the "stated rules" of the School and (fellow "adults").

Though, of course, the rule-breakers (evil ones) are condemned first.

A smiley face for you from your friendly neighborhood milblog!

Sorry I've missed most of the discussion today, but I did want to say re: Harry Potter, that I have to side with Hobbes on this.

Rowling's stories are about magic. Who uses magic?

She had to talk about witches in the story as those are the only ostensibly human creatures who use magic.

She could have used faeries or elves as the protagonists, but then it would not have been the same story, a story of a boy who was burdened by his ordinaryness, "I'm just Harry..." -- until he discovered some hidden strengths.

It's a story about growing up, which means that you may occasionally have to break the rules that have been laid down, if something more important, like someone's life, is on the line. Grown-ups make these decisions all the time -- it is growth for children to face the dilemma and choose the right course.

Had J.K. chosen to write about flying, she might have used birds ... "Jonathan Livingston Seagull", but she chose magic. And why?

Because many people today treat the world around them as if it were one of magic anyway, treating the map as the territory, and imbuing artifacts with arcane mystery.

She wanted to teach them about magic, not about witches.

Insofar as they think about magic, people tend to think that there is good magic and bad magic. She goes to great pains to try to illustrate that love and sacrifice are stronger than greed and lust for power. And you'll note that none of those four things are inherently magical.

Many are put off by the apparent corollary between the power of magic, and the power of spirituality. Does God use magic?

We teach our children with crayons and bright images before we deal with long words in black and white -- it is no more complicated than that.