A review by fandom4ever
The Psychology of Harry Potter: An Unauthorized Examination of the Boy Who Lived by Neil Mulholland

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

3.0

The first six essays in this book were excellent; they really delved into topics in the Harry Potter universe that had always been questions for me. For example, they make you take a closer look at the fact that wizards coming from wizarding families are far less likely to question where magic comes from and to experiment with what it can do than those who come from Muggle homes, who seem to create new spells, potions, and the like far more often. There was also an essay on how sorting into Houses really sets the students against each other right from the start and there really is no opportunity for them to branch out and make friends from other Houses. They then give examples on how Hogwarts can change this. After reading those first essays, I was excited to see what the rest of the book had to offer, but it fell flat. The last parts of the book just weren’t any good. Rather than examining things from the Harry Potter series through a psychological lens, it was more like the authors wanted to discuss a particular psychological topic and tried to throw in a paragraph about Harry Potter to make it fit in this book. Overall, it’s not something you need to rush out and read but if you can borrow it, the ones listed below are where it’s at.

BEST
1. What Do Students Learn from Hogwarts Classes?
2. Harry’s Curiosity
3. Intergroup Conflict in the World of Harry Potter
4. “Have You Got What It Takes to Train Security Trolls?”
5. Hogwarts Academy
6. Attachment Styles at Hogwarts

OKAY
18. Evolution, Development, and the Magic of Harry Potter
19. Using Psychological Treatment with Harry
21. Resisting Social Influence
22. Harry Potter and the Magic of Transformation