How Powerful is Harry Potter?
Many people are surprised when they see that Harry Potter ranks number one on our list of most powerful Harry Potter wizards.
However, there are many good reasons why he is ranked so highly. There are so many legendary, flashy and powerful wizards that it can be easy to overlook Harry Potter’s significance. However, you shouldn’t overlook him. Indeed, he is the single strongest wizard in all of the Wizarding World, and in this article, we’re going to show you why.
First, Harry Potter has incredible feats to his name
Feats alone aren’t enough to give us the full scope of any character’s power. However, they certainly help demonstrate it. The thing is, we’re along for the ride for each of Harry’s greatest feats. They happen gradually over the course of seven long books so we don’t notice how exceptional they actually are. Also, Harry Potter himself is something of an unreliable narrator, so it’s easy to believe him when his false modesty downplays his insane accomplishments. Let’s look at what these feats are all at once just to try and grasp their magnitude.
In chronological order:
Harry overcomes the best echantments from each Hogwarts Professor to defend the Sorcerer’s Stone in only his first year at Hogwarts.
Harry opens the Chamber of Secrets and overcomes a powerful Horcrux from Voldemort and also a Basilisk while also summoning the Sword of Gryffindor.
Harry masters the Patronus Charm in only his third year and casts the most powerful instance of it known in the canon.
Harry takes part in a tournament well beyond his wizarding level and manages to win. He also fends off the dark lord by tapping into ancient magic.
Harry demonstrates impressive leadership capacity by forming his own army (and naming it after Dumbledore).
Harry manages to hunt down and overcome the enchantments defending the Horcruxes created by the greatest dark wizard in history.
Harry taps into ancient magic – sacrificing himself, overcoming death, and defeating once and for all the greatest dark wizard of all time.
Why people tend to overlook Harry Potter’s power
When you see it all laid out in front of you like that, it almost feels weird that more people don’t give Harry Potter the credit he deserves as great wizard. It’s almost like the seven books are a chronology of Harry Potter’s feats, only we’re too caught up in what’s going on to see the forest for the trees. However, there are actually a few good reasons why people overlook him and his talents/accomplishments.
Harry Potter receives a lot of help
First, the book does a really, really good job of explaining away Harry’s achievements. This is partly because the book is largely told through the vantage point of Harry, and he doesn’t have a particularly big head (unlike his father). So it’s easy to get caught up in his world view that his accomplishments are largely thanks to help from other people.
But so what?
Is Tiger Woods any less talented of a golfer because his father gave him a golf club at the age of three and helped nurture his talent his entire life? Everyone who is great at anything has help getting there. Tom Brady isn’t a great quarterback because he beats teams on his own. He has a lot of help. The examples go on.
Because the narrator is so convincing, however, we find ourselves believing it and not giving Harry the credit he deserves.
Harry Potter’s power goes beyond combat
The other big reason why people tend to overlook Harry when they think about the most powerful wizards is that Harry’s Power is largely not combat focused. He’s an okay duelist (he can use Expelliarmus like a pro), but his power lies well beyond the realms of duking it out samurai style with other wizards.
To understand how this works, we really have to understand the nature of magic in Harry Potter. In Harry Potter, Love is the single strongest magic. And it is ancient magic that few people are really able to harness. However, Harry’s mother was able to wield it incredibly well – and she wasn’t even from a prominent family!
This gift enabled her to grant powerful protection to her son. But guess what? That protection once passed on to Harry became Harry’s! This is proven by the fact that when Harry’s blood is taken into Voldemort, Voldemort can’t harm him. It might seem a little unfair, but by all intents and purposes, that ancient magic is now Harry’s Power. Harry’s Power (inherited from his mom) is the power capable of stopping the killing curse, and defending him against the strongest dark wizard in history.
Harry Potter destroys death
“The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”
It’s a little odd for a children’s story to be so preoccupied with death. And yet, it is quite clear from the beginning that death and overcoming death are the strongest themes prevalent throughout Harry Potter. From an early age, Harry Potter must cope with death and come to terms with it. Without death, he would have lived a happy life with his loving parents. But death forever alters his life. And he’s not the only one who must learn to cope with it.
Voldemort also knew that the last enemy to overcome is death. This is why he devoted his entire life and all his considerable powers to besting death. The way he chose to do this was through murder, creating the Horcruxes that would sustain him and virtually make him immortal.
Power in Wizarding World, however, is not about making yourself immortal, building a wizarding kingdom, and blasting your foes into Kingdom Come. The truest form of power – the most ancient – can only be attained through great sacrifice. This is how Harry is able to tap into that incredible ancient magic – by giving up his life in the forest. It’s the same way that his mother was able to tap into ancient magic, and grant him the powers he had innately since he was a baby.
In regards to power, love, and ancient magic, Harry Potter is the single strongest character in all of the Wizarding World.
Leave comments below if you agree or disagree.
