Actually, there is no trouble with Harry. The Potter books are at worst, harmless, and at best, a positive influence for kids, to get them reading again and to encourage them to ponder the values of loyalty and friendship, good and evil, and the pitfalls and promises of growing up. And for growups, too, there is nothing wrong with a little fantasy and escapism and the feeling of being at home in a highly detailed but completely imaginary landscape that still may have something to teach us about the real world, whatever that is. But there is something else going on here, and I can't quite put my finger on it.

The last Harry Potter book came out yesterday to a truly extraordinary reception from its fans, among them my wife who has eagerly followed the series from the beginning and has developed an intimate familiarity (some might say an obsession) with this particular alternate universe. In fact, she was up all night reading it and now, 50 pages short of the end, she is now sleeping and will probably spend all day in bed to make up for it. Our copy arrived by USPS in the middle of a raging thunderstorm, I felt sorry for the poor postman. Again, I wish to make clear that I am not being critical of JK Rowling's work. For one thing, I've never read it, although I have seen the films. I'm sure the books are just as entertaining and well written, and perhaps touch other themes than magic and fantasy. But what has generated this unprecedented excitement, this exaggerated fervor? And keep in mind, this craze is not just in the English-speaking world, it seems to have wide appeal all over.

Let me put forth my own theory, totally unsusbstantiated except by my own prejudices, but it's my story and I'm sticking to it. I believe the Potter phenomenon is about reassurance. In spite of its base in magic, this is a world with rules, and they are rules which can be learned and harnessed to bring about the kind of results we are all familiar with and that we all want. Their is no moral ambiguity in this world, there is clear good and evil. It is also a world where the authorities (Hogwart's staff) genuinely care for their charges and are deserving of respect and obedience. Sure, our heroes are always breaking the rules, but they are not punished, and they usually do so for only the best and most noble of reasons, and they are always justified, succeed and are dutifully rewarded. It is a world just enough like the real world of childhood and adolescence to be recognizable, but different enough to be desirable. And even though I don't know the final end of the series, I suspect the good guys will win, perhaps at great cost, but at a cost which can be born, nonetheless. And if Potter is utimately about reassurance, what are we being reassured of?

Is there anything wrong with this? Of course not, most children's books are built upon a similar formula. What I find amazing is how this particular retelling of an old tale has gripped the imagination. I sense parallels to Tolkien as well, and perhaps someone more familiar with both universes could respond with some observations on this. Are Harry and Frodo parallel characters? Are Dumbledore and Gandalf the same, or just great-grandsons of Merlin? As a Hispanic born and raised in the USA, I am very much aware of the iconography and mythos of the ancient British Isles (and Northern Europe) in both of these works, but I am also separate enough from that cultural tradition to recognize its origin and to understand it is not a fully global vision of the legendary past, but a culturally and geographically limited one.

Rowling, like Tolkein, tell us more about ourselves than they do about Magick Britain or Middle Earth. But the insights, although drawn from the past, may not persist. The Ring Trilogy had a huge influence on the 60s Revolution (although I never read it, indeed, I had only the vaguest idea what is was about until I saw the films). It seems to be creeping back into the public consciousness today with the films. But it is the Potter series which has captivated today's youth, and it is not clear it will continue as a cultural force into their future. Cultural phenomena like this tend to have unexpected consequences, the Beatles left a much greater legacy than their music, they changed the world in totally unexpected ways. Harry Potter and his friends may have some magick for our futures too.