The lion, specifically the red lion, is a traditional Christological symbol that originates from philosophers and the alchemical process during the first century (Granger 17,98). Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is divided into four student houses: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. During the sorting ceremony on Harry's first evening at Hogwarts, the Sorting Hat places him into Gryffindor House. Although the griffin is an obvious mascot, the Gryffindor house animal is actually a towering golden lion (Stone 306). Gryffindor students are chosen for possessing the characteristics of bravery, daringness, chivalry, and boldness (Stone 118; Order 205). Harry displays his Gryffindor characteristics by helping his friends through difficult times and battling Dark Magic to protect the wizarding world. For example, Harry rescues Ginny from the Chamber of Secrets in Chamber of Secrets and duels Voldemort in the Riddle graveyard in Goblet of Fire. Since the young wizard is a Gryffindor student, Harry is therefore represented by the lion.

Similarly, Jesus Christ is embodied as a lion in Revelation 5:5: "⁵Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals." Only Jesus in the figure of the lion has the power to open the seven seals. As a powerful but regal creature, the lion is an ideal symbol for Christ. The red lion, an alternate name for the Elixir of Life produced by alchemists with the Philosopher's Stone through the alchemical process, also symbolizes Jesus as the blood of Christ used in communion because of the Elixir's reddish color and gift of immortality (Granger 99). Just as the belief in Jesus Christ promises eternal life after death in the Christian world, the red lion bestows immortality upon the drinker in the wizarding world.

Oppositely, the serpent is a common Christian symbol for evil because of the role a snake played in expelling humankind from the paradise of the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 3:1, a snake tempts Eve into eating the fruit forbidden by God: "¹Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, 'Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" The serpent convinces Eve to eat from the forbidden tree, which ultimately results in God banishing Adam and Eve from Eden. Satan is also represented by a snake as narrated in Revelation 20:2: "...that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan..." The devil is embodied as a serpent slithering among humankind creating temptation to sin.

Serpents likewise appear as symbols of Evil throughout the Harry Potter series because "serpents are often used in the worst kinds of Dark Magic, and are historically associated with evildoers" (Goblet 612-613). Opposite Gryffindor, the Slytherin house mascot is a silver and green serpent (Stone 34; Goblet 237). Founded by Salazar Slytherin, Slytherin House has a reputation for producing witches and wizards who break magical law and use Dark Magic (Stone 80). Although Slytherin House is not inherently evil, the snake represents the evil choices many of the Slytherin students make.

As a former student of Slytherin House, Voldemort is the worst Dark wizard in the magical world of the Harry Potter series. Like the serpent in the Garden of Eden to Adam and Eve, Voldemort brings pain and suffering to the wizarding world by representing the powerful temptation to use Dark Magic for personal gain. Just as the snake represents evil in Christian scripture, Voldemort's symbol is an enormous skull outlined in blazing emerald stars with a tongue in the shape of a serpent (Goblet 128; Prince 581). The Dark Mark, as the sign is named, inspires fear throughout the magical community. During his attempt to conquer death through the use of Dark Magic, Voldemort even distorted his body so much that his appearance has become snake-like: "Whiter than a skull, with wide, livid scarlet eyes and a nose that was flat as a snake's with slits for nostrils..." (Goblet 643) and "his terrible snakelike face white and gaunt, his scarlet, slit-pupiled eyes staring" (Order 812). Just as the serpent symbolizes evil and temptation for Christians, Voldemort and his snakes represent the evil choices made by witches and wizards in the wizarding world.

In Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore divulges a prophecy predicted by Sybil Trelawny to Harry in which Harry is marked as the only wizard who has the "power to vanquish the Dark Lord" (841). When at age sixteen and still known as Tom Riddle, Voldemort questioned Slughorn about creating a Horcrux. As Slughorn revealed, a Horcrux is an "object in which a person has concealed part of their soul" after the soul is split in two by committing murder (Prince 497). Voldemort then asked "Wouldn't it be better, make you stronger, to have your soul in more pieces, I mean, for instance, isn't seven the most powerfully magical number, wouldn't seven —?" (Prince 498) Since seven is a magical number, Voldemort believes that splitting his soul into seven pieces would render him virtually immortal. In Half-Blood Prince, Dumbledore speculates that Voldemort indeed created six Horcruxes and that the "seventh part of [Voldemort's] soul, however maimed, resides inside his regenerated body" (503). As he tells Harry, Dumbledore also believes that all seven parts of Voldemort's soul must be destroyed before Voldemort actually dies. Like Jesus who opens the seven seals, Harry is the only wizard with the power to destroy all seven pieces and defeat the Dark wizard. Harry as represented by a Christological symbol must triumph over Voldemort who is embodied by a symbol of evil. Essentially, the lion must destroy the serpent.

Granger, John. Looking for God in Harry Potter. Saltriver, An Imprint of Tyndale Publishers: United States of America, 2004.

Holy Bible. New International Version. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1984.

Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. New York: Scholastic, 2000.

—. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. New York: Scholastic, 2005.

—. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. New York: Scholastic, 2003.

—. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. New York: Scholastic, 1997.