Harry Pottergives us a rich tapestry of magical objects and characters, but one sinister creation is definitely due for a reexamination in time for the upcoming TV show. Based on J.K. Rowling’s books, theHarry Pottermovies began with 2001’sHarry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. From this movie onward, the Warner Bros. pictures laid out Rowling’s assortment of potions and spells, with one potion, in particular, giving me pause for thought: the love potion.TheHarry PotterTV showhas a chance to explore this potion further.
Potions inHarry Potterare inextricably linked to Alan Rickman’s portrayal of Severus Snape,Hogwarts' most complicated professor. Although Snape coveted the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher position, in many ways, his scary persona made him the perfect Potions Master. Rickman’s funereal Snape honored his role, illustrating the disturbing potential of his position, and his portrayal gave me fear when it came to potions.Harry Potteris a low fantasy story, butwitches and their cauldrons have always been associated with horror. The love potion, despite its name, might be the scariest concoction of all.
Love Potions Are One Of The Wizarding World’s Most Sinister Creations
Love Potions Eradicate Consent
Harry Potter’sDeathly Hallowsand Horcruxes may be incredibly ominous, but theHarry Potterbooks and movies both underestimated the horror potential of love potions. As far as sinister creations go, love potions are up there with the most sinister, when you think about it. As a kid readingHarry Potter, I was perfectly happy to be swept off my feet by the story and enjoyed the fun and frivolity of love potions for what they were. Consent was hardly a buzzword in the 1990s - how times have changed.
As a post-#MeToo adult rereading and rewatchingHarry Potter,love potions seem more roofie than recreation, proving the continued need for this dialogue.
The #MeToo movement has flown the nest of X- formerly Twitter, for anyone struggling to keep up with Elon Musk’s slowly encroaching world domination. The dialogue on informed and enthusiastic consent is, for the first time in human history, at the front of the Western world’s mind. It’s a shame it took cancel culture to get there, but at least we got there. We are now looking at the world through new eyes. As a post-#MeToo adult rereading and rewatchingHarry Potter, love potions seem more emotional roofie than recreation, removing a target’s free will and erasing any true feelings they might have for someone else.
The Harry Potter Books' Stance On Love Potions Is Confusing
The Books Have Mixed Feelings On Love Potions
Fantasy is fantasy and the real world is the real world and fantasy should be allowed its fun, butI am conscious of an inconsistency in the books' approach to love potions, inconsistency being a common flaw with Rowling’s writing. If Rowling’s lighthearted love potion stories were earlier and the darker ones were later, I would wonder if Rowling’s own idea of the concept had developed with her and sobered as the story grew. ButRon Weasley’s hilarious Romilda Vane relationship arcis in the same book as Harry finding out Tom Riddle’s upsetting origins.
I hope the intriguing and significant ramifications of this plot device are respected in the HBO show.
Both of these stories involve love potions, but one makes light of them and the other is a stark warning. Romilda Vane, in one of aHogwarts student’s more questionable decisions, intended her love potion for Harry Potter, but Ron drank it instead. Ron’s mooning over Romilda was framed as comedy, creating riotously funny scenes. Conversely, when Voldemort’s mother used a love potion to trick his father into conceiving him,the dangers ofHarry Potter’s love potion were laid bare. Like many things in her stories, it seems Rowling doesn’t cast judgment on this potion, simply viewing it as just world-building. But I hope the intriguing and significant ramifications of this plot device are respected in the HBO show.
The Wizarding World Isn’t Doing Enough To Curb The Use Of Love Potions
Love Potions Should Be Regulated
Call me a killjoy, butlove potions should be way more regulatedin the wizarding world. Hogwarts eventually banned love potions, but it took a while and even then, students easily got a hold of them. Fred and George Weasley gleefully sold love potions, sometimes to detrimental events. High school - or secondary school, if you live across the pond - is not something I ever wish to see combined with love potions. I’m not sure how Hogwarts coped. More to the point, I don’t ever wish love potions to be combined with anyone like Merope Gaunt (Voldemort’s mother).
TheHarry PotterTV show is being planned by HBO for release sometime in 2026.
Unfortunately, many people in the real world share Merope’s idea of consent. TheHarry PotterTV show should delineate right from wrong here, as those people can make no mistake about the folly of spiking someone’s drink with a harmless little “love potion.” But mostly, I want to see it better regulated becausea consistent approach to love potions in the TV show would refine the narrativeand make for better drama. Fantasy doesn’t need to abide by real-world morals, but I think the danger of not addressing the issue of love potions is a real point of concern.
The Harry Potter Remake Can’t Gloss Over This Problematic Creation
The HBO Show Should Acknowledge The Problem With Love Potions
The upcomingHarry PotterTV seriesshould make Ron’s love potion arc funny, like it’s meant to be, but insert a twist after the humor that sobers viewers as to the real danger of nonconsensual drugging. I’m not asking for a tight-lipped, neutered, suffocated version of the story that political correctness has throttled all joy from.We don’t need a whole “Ron is traumatized” arcor moral grandstanding from the dialogue. Some people do need things spelled out, but that would make poor viewing, and sex education isn’t in the screenwriters' job descriptions.
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This needs one sensitively handled moment, kept brief with earlier setup. Maybe Romilda left some labeled potion lying about and this moment shows what happens when someone with worse intentions than Romilda finds it. For it to be clear that this is a standalone scene rather than a storyline, it could be included in a montage showing other scenes of teen Hogwarts life, in all its horror and glory. Alternatively, some carefully administered dry humor from the lips of the eternally wiseHermione Granger could sarcastically indicate the darkness behind the gagthat is Romilda’s love potion. Either way, the longevity and impact ofHarry Pottermeans that now, it’s up to us and to writers to reevaluate it wisely.
Harry Potter
Cast
Harry Potter is HBO’s remake of the iconic Wizarding World film series that consisted of eight films between 2001 and 2011. Each season adapts a book from JK Rowling’s popular series and provides more book-accurate details than the movies did.
