Reflections of Giftedness in Harry Potter

Everyone loves Harry Potter and his friends, but how many people recognize the gifted behaviors or the problems and concerns of gifted children reflected in the Harry Potter stories? Each of the protagonists in the series represents one common type of gifted children. And the story itself can be seen as more than a children's fantasy story. It can also be seen as the coming of age story of gifted children, about the struggles they face and the way they come to terms with their abilities, their intensities, and their concerns about themselves and their world.

Quick Summary of The Harry Potter Story

For those still unfamiliar with the story, Harry Potter is a young wizard, whose wizard parents were killed by the evil Wizard Lord Voldemort when Harry was just a year old. Voldemort had tried to kill Harry too, but his curse backfired. Instead of killing Harry, it seemed to have destroyed Voldemort. Harry become the one and only person to have survived the killing curse, but because he was now an orphan, he was left on the doorstep of his aunt and uncle, Petunia and Vernon Dursley, by Professor Dumbledore, an old and wise wizard, who also happens to be headmaster of the wizarding school Hogwarts.

The Dursleys, who are "Muggles" (non-wizards), have a son of their own, about the same age as Harry. They lavish praise and gifts on their son, while mistreating Harry and depriving him of all but his very basic needs. On Harry's eleventh birthday, he receives an invitation to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and from then on his life takes quite a different turn. Instead of dealing with the Dursleys, he must now spend each year at school battling Lord Voldemort, who had not died, but had become less than human and is trying to return to power.

Giftedness Reflected in the Characters
Themes of Giftedness in Harry Potter