Mercy and Forgiveness

The Christian idea of mercy and forgiveness is also seen in the Harry Potter series. First, Harry, Ron, and Hermione are constantly shown mercy for getting into the trouble that they get into. Their punishment is often times much less severe than it should have been. We see this when Professor McGonagall takes points from Gryffindor for their misdemeanors, but also awards them points back for the efforts and achievements that resulted from those misdemeanors. Secondly we see Harry show mercy and forgiveness to Pettigrew the rat in The Prisoner of Azkaban. He spares his life, not because he wasn’t guilty, but because Harry knew that it was not necessary to kill him and that he had another option, to forgo the desire for justice and show him this mercy and forgiveness we are talking about. Young readers see in Harry Potter that there is another option to justice. This option is mercy in addition it teaches them about forgiveness and what that means and how it is typically more beneficial than seeking revenge or holding a grudge.