I see a very good possibility for "even if you defeat the bad guy, the evil will still be around", but I'm not sure I trust Rowling to actually follow-through on that.

Forgot to sign that :)

Jonathan // Hufflepuff

I see the classic literary theme of "Good vs. Evil" of course. It'll be interesting to see how JKR ultimately ends the battle between Good and Evil, however.

I also see the theme similar to the one Tolkien used in LOTR in regards to Frodo: the smallest person can affect great change. With Harry, he's a kid going up against the Dark Lord yet he manages to triumph. Not, of course, without the help of his friends. So there is also the theme of friendship and 'getting by with a little help from my friends' and such.

cj//Hufflepuff

"It's not what you are born with, it's what you do." -- Hermione is a good example of this -- she gets good grades becuase she works hard, not because she's a powerful witch. The comparisions between Harry and Voldemort also hit this point -- both Harry and Tom Riddle start out with similar lots in life, but made different choices.

-- Rebecca, Hufflepuff

I feel the Weasleys are very much an "appreciate what you have" theme... Ron doesn't appreciate his large, caring family and wishes he could outshine his brothers or have more money... Harry, on the other hand, has a large amount of money but would rather have a family like the Weasleys... my feeling is that Ron will learn to appreciate his family, especially through Percy. Percy has left the family for his own ambitions, and I feel he will end up coming back lonely and will show Ron (and the other Weasleys) that money and power aren't everything.

(sorry for typos, if any, I'm on a laptop)
-Megan, Gryffindor

Oh! Dumbledore quote opportunity! :D "'It matters not what one is born as, but what he grows up to be'" (GoF). I think that's right. Curse my memory. That's a big theme.

Alsom friendship. People don't give this one enough credit. Look at the trio, the marauders, Dumbledore and other wizards. It's everywhere.

It's also about doing what's good and what's right, even though that road may be harder. Diggory's death was a good example of this. "'When it comes time to choose between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to someone who was good, kind and fair value fair play...'" (GoF)

~Rachel
Gryffindor

I felt like the second book had a great "Beware of the Internet!" theme going. The whole don't trust anything that talks when you can't see its brain business, and all. How many kids have been talked into doing things that they very obviously shouldn't when unsupervised online? How many hide it and keep doing it rather than risk asking for help?

I obviously couldn't say if it was meant that way, but it would be a great thing for a parent concerned about Internet usage to read with their kid and discuss.

- Becker, Slytherin.

When I saw the "Beware of the Internet!" I kind of went WTF? till I red the comment. I never would've noticed that :P

-Megan, Gryffindor

It's generic, but I see so much in HP about sacrifice.

I'm actually thinking, maybe there's a theme of there's evil in all good, and good in all evil.

I mean, sure, Harry's on the good side, right? But what about Harry Potter and the Very Bad Year(tm) where nothing seems to be going right? He has his little bad/evil quirks.

And He Who Should Not Be Named, if it wasn't for him, there wouldn't be Harry Potter books, right?

ally || slytherin

This all reminds me of the south park movie when Satan's singing his big number...

"without evil there could be no good, so it must be good to be evil sometimes..."

It IS good to be evil sometimes.

And you know what?
I've never seen a man eat so many chicken wings. :)

ally || slytherin

*sings* Brian Boitanoooo was born on the planet of Crinok...

tee hee hee.

LMAO.

Maybe the Claws are to make the Gryffs try harder? or to make them feel better, like "not everyone can be perfect, this group of people is smarter than you." kind of thing.

I think JKR just came up with the houses to cast good light on the Gryffs. Like you said, the Slytherins make them look like the good guys, the Puffs make them look brave, and the Claws show that they cant have everything, which makes them easier to relate to as a reader?

There's a major Know Your Enemies thing going here. You know, everyone, including Voldy, makes a big effort to get inside the Bad Guy's (or Good Guy's) head--sometimes too much. Sometimes so much it takes them over.

Catherine//Slythy

I see a lot of one particular theme... being "our choices determine our destiny". Although that's quite simple to choose, it's more of a dynamic with this story. They illustrated it quite brilliantly with Harry almost being sorted into Slytherin in his first year, and his misgivings about his Gryffindor placement in his second year. It's also well illustrated with all the events and characters leading up to Harry. Consider the Marauders. Two are dead, one is a traitor, and one is a poor professor/werewolf. James and Sirius made choices to fight with the good guys, and their destiny was death. Peter chose to fight with the bad guys, and his destiny, right now, is to be on that side. Who knows what the future will bring? Voldemort, even. Do you see what a simple choice brought about for him? He made the choice to immerse himself in the dark arts, to follow Salazar Slytherin's noble work in CoS. And look where he is now! He's about to be skewered by an 18 year old wizard-in-training with a scar on his forehead.

Yup, for me, it's about choices.

Amber//Ravenclaw