Is Harry Potter Magic MORE POWERFUL than Lord of the Rings Magic?

Harry Potter Theory

Welcome to Harry Potter Theory. To honour the new RINGS OF POWER show, we're going to be discussing Harry Potter in relation to Lord of the Rings. Specifically, we'll be discussing which in-universe magic is MORE POWERFUL.

In addition to identifying the key differences for what constitutes ‘magic’ in both worlds- I’m going to try to ATTEMPT to identify which world of magic is more powerful. For years, decades, we’ve known about both of these universes- and we’ve accepted them both for what they are- but what I want to do today is put them head to head- and answer the question once and for all: Who’s more powerful? Harry Potter wizards or Lord of the Rings wizards?

The first thing that I want to say is that both Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings are behemoths in media- they’ve each cultivated some of the biggest followings, and have established their own unique devoted fanbases around both books AND films. While they are certainly rivals in the space- they definitely share a mutual audience- and though they are both in the realm of fantasy- they’re more than different enough to harmoniously co-exist.

One thing is for certain, though, and that’s the fact that Lord of the Rings has been around for longer- much longer. In fact, Tolkien published the first installment of Lord of the Rings- the Fellowship of the Ring in 1954. The next two books were published in the 15 months that followed. The fellowship of the ring MOVIE however, took a blasphemous 47 years to come out as it wasn’t released until 2001. Coincidentally, 2001 was also the year that the first Harry Potter film came out - Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, which had only been published in book form 4 years earlier.

2001 was a GREAT year for cinema- two of the most popular novels had suddenly come to the big screen- and all at once! I went to go see both films in theatres when they came out- though, I was only 9 years old, and I’ll outwardly state that I have a preference for Harry Potter- hence the Harry Potter Youtube channel. I was enthralled by the different worlds of magic placed before me- each approaching the concept of a fantasy world in their own unique way. The first Harry Potter was quite innocent and child-like, as the characters were still young and the story had yet to develop. However, they certainly nailed the sense of ‘magic’ that they were going for, as the Hogwarts boat scene brings forth a level of nostalgia unparalleled to this day. The darker tone that the films developed as they progressed fit the story perfectly- and eased us in to the darker sider of magic.

Similarly, the first Lord of the Rings GRACED our screens with what can only be described as a grandiose cinematic experience- giving us a different ‘flavour’ of magical world. But- aside from the different music, scenery and overall ‘aesthetic’- how does ‘magic’ differ from franchise to franchise? To identify these differences, we need to look at the origins of magic in each franchise.

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