Christianity in Harry Potter's Wizarding World: The Chamber of Secrets Part 2

Ghosts

The Death-day party for Nearly Headless Nick is mostly celebrated by ghosts. This is the place where we are first introduced to the character of Moaning Myrtle, a ghost whose history is important to the story. In fact, I think there is an important detail about her that is relevant to the wizard's understanding of spirits/ ghosts. Moaning Myrtle spends her time floating around the place where she died. While she may venture off around the Hogwarts grounds here and there, for the most part she is hanging out next to the toilet where she spent her last moments physically alive. We do not know where any of the other ghosts die or why they hang out at Hogwarts, but we can better understand the wizard's viewpoint on ghosts and the soul in the afterlife by observing this little detail.

Also at the Death-day trio, not only do the trio run across the Fat Friar ghost, but they also see the ghosts of "gloomy nuns". While this does not necessarily paint a decent picture of nuns, it does help us realize that wizards have such an associated history with Catholic Christianity that not only are they acquainted with the men of religious orders, but also the women religious as well, giving them a more balanced understanding of Christianity.

Saint

In both the book and the movie, while Ron and Harry are disguised as Crabbe and Goyle, Malfoy bitterly refers to Harry as "Saint Potter". In The Sorcerer's Stone post, I mentioned how Ron used the word saint and described two different ways it can be, for lack of a better word, defined. There was the general understanding of saint being a term for good, virtuous people. Then there is the word saint in the Catholic Church, which is a title given to members of the community of Heaven that we pray to intercede for us. It seems that Malfoy is referring to Harry in the second instance as in St. Potter, just like St. Catchpole.

Now, this could mean several different things. Draco Malfoy and Ron Weasley both seem to have an understanding of what a saint is, though Ron's might come from a more generalized or Protestant view of sainthood while Malfoy may have been brought up from a more Catholic perspective. Or, both of them probably understand the two definitions of saint and use them interchangeably. Or, Malfoy thinks that, in the eyes of others, Harry seems to be such a noble, virtuous goody-two-shoes that most everyone at Hogwarts reveres him in the manner that they would a holy figure. In any case, the way that Malfoy uses the word "saint" in this scenario helps the reader see a wider picture of the wizard's connection to and understanding of Christianity.

Btw, if Harry Potter really were a saint, what would he be the patron saint of? Broomsticks? People tormented by dementors? Scars?

Soul

When Harry encounters Tom Riddle in the Chamber of Secrets, Riddle explains his interactions with Ginny. While explaining the way that Ginny would write in the diary, Riddle says "So Ginny poured out her soul to me, and her soul happened to be exactly what I wanted". Now, this is not necessarily a literal statement. This sounds similar to the way people would figuratively say "He really poured his soul into that song" or "He poured his heart out confessing his love for her." However, since this is a magical world, we cannot rule out that somehow Ginny may have accidentally been putting some of her soul into the diary, since the memory of Tom Riddle (a.k.a. Lord Voldemort) got stronger the more she became attached to the diary.

What exactly does Tom Riddle mean when he talks about Ginny's soul? As Ginny poured more of her "soul" into the diary, she became weaker while Riddle became stronger. In fact, Ginny is on the verge of death and Riddle, who we learn is just a memory magically attached to the diary, is on the verge of becoming alive before Harry interferes. Ginny loses so much of her "soul" that she nearly dies. And it would seem that she would probably not be able to come back as a ghost. Was Riddle somehow able to slowly absorb Ginny's living spirit like a dementor (which will be covered in upcoming posts)? Tom, Ginny, and Harry all understand that Ginny's living spirit is at stake in this scenario.

Also, I find it interesting that Tom Riddle is speaking on souls. The irony of this "memory" discussing souls becomes clearer as the book series continues.

Now that we have covered the first two books, it's time to move on to The Prisoner of Azkaban.