Harry Potter and the Order of the Phaedrus

Socrates
My good Harry, where are you rushing off to, and where have you come from?

Harry
I’ve come from the Headmaster’s office, Socrates, son of Cephalus, and I’m going for a walk through the Hogwarts grounds. I’ve spent a long time with Dumbledore today, since early morning.

Socrates
So Dumbledore, it seems, is back at Hogwarts from his travels abroad?

Harry
Yes. As you know, he has traveled much this year, and often has been away from Hogwarts. But he has returned.

Socrates
What did you talk about? It’s obvious that Dumbledore imparted something to you of great importance.

Harry
I will tell you, if you have the time to walk along and listen. For you see, son of Cephalus, I greatly desire your advice upon this situation.

Socrates
Really? You must know that I consider hearing your conversation with Dumbledore “a greater thing even than business,” as Pindar says.

Harry
Indeed, Socrates, you are just the man I sought. For the discussion that we had was, in a way, about love. You see, Dumbledore has told me that the one power I have that the Dark Lord knows not is love.

Socrates
O noble Albus! Often has he broached this topic with me, and long have been our many discussions on the topic. Now indeed I am so determined to hear Dumbledore’s words to you that I will not leave you, even if you go all the way to Hogsmeade, and, as Dilys Derwent says, to the Three Broomsticks and back.

Harry
What do you mean, my dear Socrates? Do you really think that I, the ordinary Boy-Who-Lived, can tell from memory — in a way worthy of Dumbledore — what he, the cleverest wizard of our day, spoke at length and at leisure? Far from it, and yet I’d rather have that ability than a whole sack of Galleons.

Socrates
Oh Harry! If I don’t know Harry Potter, I have forgotten myself. But since neither of these things are true, I know very well that when Harry Potter listened to Dumbledore, he did not hear him once only, but urged him to repeat, and Dumbledore gladly obliged. Yet even that was not enough for Harry Potter, but at last he borrowed the Headmaster’s book and read the pertinent sections, and doing this he sat from early morning. Then when his eyes got tired, he went for a walk, with the book, I believe — by Merlin — learned by heart, unless it was very long. And he was going for a walk on the grounds to practice it. And meeting a man who is sick with the love of discourse, he was glad when he saw him, because he could share the important news with him. When the lover of discourse asked him to speak, he feigned coyness; but eventually, he was bound to speak, even if Socrates would not willingly listen. So, Harry, ask him to do now what he’d do eventually anyway.

Harry
I suppose it is best to speak, since it’s clear that you won’t let me go unless I tell you one way or another.

Socrates
You know me well.

Harry
Then this is what I will do. I promise you, Socrates, I haven’t learned the whole thing by heart, but I’ll repeat the general sense of what Dumbledore said.

Socrates
Of course, my friend, do as you will — at least one you’ve shown me what you have in your left hand under your robe. For I suspect you have the actual book. And if that’s true, believe this: I’m very fond of you, but if Albus is present in book form I have no mind to lend my ears to your Dumbledore impersonation. Come on, pony up.

Harry
Stop. You have robbed me of the hope I had of practicing my Dumbledore impression on you. But where shall we sit and read?

Socrates
Let’s turn here and walk along the lake, then we can sit wherever we want.

Harry
That sounds nice, especially at this time of year.

Socrates
Lead on then, and look for a good place where we can sit.

Harry
Do you see the Whomping Willow? There is shade there and a bit of a breeze, as well as grass to sit on, or even to lie down on. And wasn’t it from there that, as they say, Dumbledore once saved Severus Snape from the ravages of the werewolf Remus Lupin?

Socrates
That is the story.

Harry
But do you think it’s true?

Socrates
I suppose it wouldn’t be so strange if I didn’t believe that fantastical tale. What if I were to give instead the following rational explanation: that Dumbledore, favoring his Gryffindors Sirius Black and your own father James Potter, was content to let Severus Snape almost be killed for the sake of a schoolboy prank. But while I think this is a very clever explanation on my part, it is too ingenious. If anyone believes my explanation, why, he is forced also to explain why any reputable Head of School could possibly remain in his position and be reputed to be the wisest wizard in the world when he shows such blatant favoritism in the context of an outmoded and completely prejudiced house system. This, though, would create too great a strain on the author of your noble tale. Besides, how could I claim to know such a thing when I do not yet know myself? But come, is that not the Whomping Willow right there?

Harry
Yeah, we’re here. And it’s a good thing, too, otherwise my series of books might have crumbled under the force of your insight.

Socrates
Nice spot you picked. Imagine, Harry, that I had the time and energy to give a lengthy description of its beauty. But as it is, why don’t you sit down and read?

Harry
Very well. I shall begin:

Harry sat in thought for a moment, then asked, “So if all of his Horcruxes are destroyed, Voldemort could be killed?”

“Yes, I think so,” said Dumbledore, “Without his Horcruxes, Voldemort will be a mortal man with a maimed and diminished soul. Never forget, though, that while his soul may be damaged beyond repair, his brain and his magical powers remain intact. It will take uncommon skill and power to kill a wizard like Voldemort even without his Horcruxes.”

“But I haven’t got uncommon skill and power,” said Harry, before he could stop himself.

“Yes, you have,” Dumbledore said firmly. “You have a power that Voldemort has never had. You can — ”

“I know!” Harry said impatiently, “I can love!” It was only with difficulty that he stopped himself adding, “Big deal!”

“Yes, Harry, you can love,” said Dumbledore, who looked as though he knew perfectly well what Harry had just refrained from saying. “Which, given everything that has happened to you, is a great and remarkable thing. You are still too young to understand how unusual you are, Harry.”

“So, when the prophecy says that I’ll have ‘power the Dark Lord knows not,’ it just means — love?” asked Harry, a little let down.

“Yes — just love,” said Dumbledore. “But Harry, never forget that what the prophecy says is only significant because Voldemort made it so. I told you this at the end of last year. Voldemort singled you out as the person who would be most dangerous to him — and in doing so, he made you the person who would be most dangerous to him!”

(Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, 508–509)

What do you think of this conversation, dear Socrates? Is it not amazing, particularly in its plotting?

Socrates
Indeed, Harry, it’s a miracle: I am beside myself with wonder. And it’s all because of you, Harry, because when I watched you read from this book, I could tell that you had a deep reverence for Dumbledore’s words. And since I suppose that you know more about such things than I do, I joined in your reverence.

Harry
You’re making fun of me!

Socrates
Do I look like I’m joking? I know I bear the face of Silenus, but I hope I have not also taken up his mannerisms.

Harry
Don’t tease, Socrates, but in the name of Merlin, the greatest wizard of all, tell me the truth: do you think any other wizard could speak better or more fully than Dumbledore on the same subject?

Socrates
What’s that? Was I supposed to praise the conversation because Dumbledore said what he should, and not merely because his expressions are clear and finely wrought? If that’s what you wanted from me, I’ll pretend like it’s true. But I have to admit: in my stupidity, I didn’t notice anything of the sort. I was only paying attention to Dumbledore’s style, and I think even Albus himself wouldn’t think that satisfactory. It seemed to me, Harry, that he was repeating things he’d told you at an earlier date, as if he had not made it clear enough the first time. He also seemed to be demonstrating that he is able to seize upon vague plot details and explain them in two different ways, and in both ways excellently. But perhaps these inherent flaws in his argument did not bother him.

Harry
That’s nonsense, Socrates! Don’t you realize that what gives the discussion its merit is that he omitted nothing that belongs to the subject, so that nobody could ever speak about it more exhaustively than he has done?

Socrates
I will not agree with you on this point. If I did, the wise wizards and witches of old, who have spoken and written about such matters, would rise up to gainsay me.

Harry
Oh yeah? Who are these people, and where have you heard anything better than what Dumbledore had to say about Horcruxes?

Socrates
I cannot claim to have any sources at hand, but I know that I have heard something, either from the lovely Morgana or the wise Ptolemy, or perhaps from some prose writers. Do you want to know why I say this argument could be better stated? It’s because I feel my own heart full to bursting, as if I could make another speech, different from Albus’ but just as good. Now I am conscious of my own ignorance, and I know very well that I could never come up with these things myself, so the only alternative is that I have been filled up, like a pitcher, from the wellsprings of another. But again, because of my stupidity, I must have forgotten how and from whom I heard it.

Harry
My dearest Socrates, how wonderful! Don’t tell, even if I ask, how or from whom you heard it, only do as you say, and promise to make a speech better than the one in the book!

Socrates
You are a generous wizard indeed, Harry Potter, if you think I mean that Albus has failed in every respect and that I can compose an explanation of Horcruxes that contains nothing of what he said. I don’t imagine that could happen even to the worst writer. Taking the subject of his discourse as our example, who, do you suppose, in arguing that all that separates you from Voldemort is love, could omit mention of the prophecy? No, such arguments, I think, must be allowed and excused, and in these it is the arrangement, and not the discovery of the subject matter, that is to be praised. But in the case of arguments that are more difficult to discover, then the discovery as well as the arrangement deserves praise.

Harry
I’ll concede your point, because I think that’s reasonable. So I’ll allow you to begin your speech with mention of the prophecy, and if you can speak more fully and articulately than Dumbledore on the remaining points, without saying the same things, I shall paint a portrait of you that shall hang in Hogwarts forever.

Socrates
Oh dear, Harry, have you taken my joke seriously? Do you really think I can surpass the rhetoric of Dumbledore and make a speech more ingenious than his?

Harry
Well, you have given me ammunition. You certainly must speak as best as you can, lest I be compelled to repeat your own words back to you: “Oh Socrates, if I don’t know Socrates I have forgotten myself,” and “he was bound to speak, but feigned coyness”. Just acclimate yourself to the fact that we are not leaving the Whomping Willow until you say what you claim is full to bursting in your heart. We are alone in a solitary place, and I am stronger and younger than you, with a wand made of phoenix feather. Under these circumstances, understand me well, and speak voluntarily, rather than under compulsion.

Socrates
But I shall make a fool out of myself if I, an amateur, try without preparation to compete with Dumbledore, a master of his art.

Harry
If you do not do it, I take my solemn oath by the Whomping Willow, I will never read you another of my books, or tell you how my tale ends.

Socrates
You are a cunning one. How well you know how to make me do your will. But do you know what I am going to do?

Harry
About what?

Socrates
I am going to cover my head while I talk, so that I can get through my speech quickly, without looking at you and losing my nerve.

Harry
Speak on, then.

Socrates
Come then, great JK Rowling, whether you receive this name from your publisher or whether it be given you at birth, grant me your aid in the tale this, your main character, wants me to relate, that his Headmaster, whom he has always considered wise, may seem wiser still to him. Now there was once upon a time an orphan boy of great power, and he had many admirers. And among these was one with particular craftiness, who was just as much in awe of him as everyone else, but pretended she wasn’t, and she spun a clever tale about him. Speaking under the guise of his trusted Headmaster, she told him the following:

“Harry,” said Dumbledore, “there is only one way for those to begin who are to take wise counsel about anything. They must know what the counsel is about — but most people are ignorant of the fact that they do not know the nature of things. You and I must not fall into this error, so before we begin our discussion of Horcruxes, the prophecy about you and Voldemort, and the protection of your mother’s love, let us first agree on a definition of our terms. First, then, what do we say a Horcrux is, its nature, and its power?”

Harry sat in thought for a moment, then said, “It is a piece of soul, split by the commission of a murder, and then housed in an inanimate object. If this is so, and we destroy all Horcruxes constructed by the dark wizard Voldemort, could he then be killed?”

“Yes, I think so,” said Dumbledore, “Without his Horcruxes, Voldemort will be a mortal man with a maimed and diminished soul. Never forget, though, that while his soul may be damaged beyond repair, his brain and his magical powers remain intact. It will take uncommon skill and power to kill a wizard like Voldemort even without his Horcruxes. And this, Harry, brings us to our second term. For what is it that differentiates you and Voldemort?”

Harry spoke with great impatience. “I know, I know, I can love!” It was only with difficulty that he stopped himself adding, “Big deal!”

“Yes, Harry, you can love,” said Dumbledore, who looked as though he knew perfectly well what Harry had just refrained from saying.

“So, when the prophecy says that I’ll have ‘power the Dark Lord knows not,’ it just means — love?” asked Harry, a little let down.

“Yes — just love,” said Dumbledore. “And what is it that we say this love is? Everyone sees that love is desire, but we know too that non-lovers, such as Voldemort, also desire the beautiful. How, then, do we distinguish between Harry Potter, the lover, and Voldemort, the non-lover? First, Harry, you must remember that within you are two ruling and leading principles — one is the innate desire for the pleasures of the Dark Arts that Voldemort left within you, a residue from the Horcrux in your scar, and the other is an acquired opinion — a choice that you have made — that strives for the best. These two principles sometimes agree within you and are sometimes in strife. When opinion leads through reason toward the best and is in control, its power is called self-restraint, but when desire irrationally drags you towards the Dark Arts and rules within you, its rule is called excess. Now I say that desire that overcomes the rational opinion is not love; love, Harry, is the choice that you have made to adhere to the right. This is what your mother has left you, and this is the power that you have that the Dark Lord knows not.”

There it is, my dear Harry! Does this speech not seem as inspired to you as it does to me?

Harry
It certainly does, Socrates; indeed, you almost seem to have read my novels.

Socrates
You’re right. Truly, the Whomping Willow seems to be filled with a divine presence, so you must not be surprised if I am in a frenzy — indeed, already I have almost been uttering copywritten material.

Harry
Very true. You may want to stop before you get sued.

Next time in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phaedrus: Socrates repents of his rewriting of the copywritten material in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, and offers a palinode on his lawyer’s advice. All this, and 100% more chariot allegory.

Caroline Bishop is Assistant Professor of Classics in the Department of Classical & Modern Languages & Literatures at Texas Tech University, where she helps run the Women Faculty Writing Groups. Her scholarly work focuses on the intersections between ancient literature (especially Cicero) and ancient scholarship, reception, and hermeneutics. She has read all of the Harry Potter books several times.