Coping with Trauma in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Jeremy Hester College

Near the end of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter, at the young age of fourteen, is forced to watch Voldemort and one of his Death Eaters kill Cedric Diggory before Harry’s very eyes. This is likely the most traumatic event Harry has ever witnessed in his life at this point, and the repercussions of this event are seen in detail in the following book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Order of the Phoenix is primarily about Harry learning to cope with his trauma, and due to the millions of children throughout the world who deal with abuse, neglect, and other types of trauma, it is a lesson that they also must learn as they grow up.

Upon first glance, Harry’s anger and defensiveness in Order of the Phoenix seem as though they are simply typical symptoms of teenage angst. However, upon further investigation, it is actually much more likely that Harry is suffering from something called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder aka PTSD. PTSD is defined by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America as a “debilitating condition that can occur in people who have experienced or witnessed a natural disaster, serious accident, terrorist incident, sudden death of a loved one, war, violent personal assault such as...