Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Bloodline and species discrimination is rife in the wizarding world. Non-wizards are often overlooked or treated with cruelty and disdain, deemed inferior to those with magical capabilities. Many wizards believe that those who come from pure bloodlines—with no muggle-born parentage—are superior, and with the return of Voldemort, those with such views now have greater currency in the wizarding world. Rowling condemns these discriminatory views by often attributing them to villainous characters. Voldemort’s followers, like the Malfoys, espouse pure-blood supremacy; Draco—as part of Umbridge’s politically corrupt Inquisitorial Squad—maliciously takes points from Gryffindor because Hermione has muggle parents: “You’re a Mudblood, Granger, so ten off for that” (578). Draco is an empowered school bully demonstrating views learned from his parents. He is young enough to outgrow his views someday, but Umbridge has no redeeming qualities.

Empowered by the Ministry to evaluate and report on teachers, Umbridge does not hide her views of what she deems lesser species. She dismisses the half-giant Hagrid and the half-horse centaurs as “filthy half breeds” of only “near human intelligence” (694). She humiliates Hagrid during his Care of Magical Creatures lessons by implying that he doesn’t understand:

She finished writing her last note, then looked up at Hagrid and said, again very loudly and slowly, “Please continue teaching as usual. I am going to walk,” she mimed walking […] “among the students” […] “and ask them questions.” She pointed at her mouth to indicate talking (414).

Ultimately, Umbridge is punished for her cruelty by her traumatic experience with the centaurs, which leaves her silent and traumatized. Dumbledore views the repercussions suffered by wizards at the hands of mistreated species as inevitable: “We wizards have mistreated and abused our fellows for too long, and we are now reaping our reward” (767).

It is not only villainous characters who hold discriminatory views. Kreacher’s mistreatment at the hands of Sirius drives him to Narcissa, to whom he divulges information that allows Voldemort to exploit Harry’s love for Sirius to draw them both to the Ministry of Magic. Throughout the story, Hermione is passionate about her organization S.P.E.W. Although her attempts are sometimes misguided, such as knitting hats and socks to free elves who want to remain employed at Hogwarts (and are therefore collected exclusively by Dobby and Winky), Hermione’s belief that house elves should be treated with kindness and respect turns out to be wise advice that is ignored. Hermione tells Harry and Ron, “Dumbledore says we should be kind to Kreacher, too” (70). Dumbledore “warned Sirius when we adopted twelve Grimmauld Place as our Headquarters that Kreacher must be treated with kindness and respect” (766). Sirius ignores the advice given by Hermione and Dumbledore; Dumbledore suggests that “I do not think that Sirius took me very seriously, or that he ever saw Kreacher as a being with feelings as acute as a human’s” (766). Sirius overlooks the depth of Kreacher’s anger and despair, which ultimately leads to his death.

Similarly, in another example of species discrimination, the Thestrals are avoided by most people because of their association with death and foreboding appearance: “The dragonish face, neck and then skeletal body of a great, black, winged horse emerged from the darkness” (411). Hagrid points out that the perception that they’re unlucky and bad omens is “jus’ superstition,” as “they’re dead clever and useful!” (412). Proving Hagrid’s assertion, the Thestrals transport Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Luna, and Neville to London. The Thestrals are another illustration that the wizarding world’s perception of creatures is often mired in prejudice and overlooks the value of creatures who look or behave differently. It is symbolic that Luna, who herself is often perceived as strange and different, draws the group’s attention to the possibility of using Thestrals to reach London: “We’ll have to fly, won’t we? […] Hagrid says they’re very good at finding places their riders are looking for” (701).