It’s been 17 years since I finished reading the Harry Potter books, and I’m only now noticing the genius way the series reflects in on itself. Over the last couple of months, I’ve spent a great deal of time looking at the parallels between Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and it dawned on me that the connective tissue that fuzes the heart of both novels isn’t exclusive. There is a fairly clear pattern that exists from the beginning to the end of the Harry Potter series, and zooming out allows us to see the perfectly parallel picture that is Harry’s story.

Once I noticed the Harry Potter series’ reflective nature, I went to the internet to see if anyone else had reached the same conclusion. Of course, they had, and I quickly dove into what has come to be called the “ring composition” or “chiastic” theory of Harry Potter, analyzed stupendously by John Granger. This theory reveals a clever formulaic structure to the Harry Potter series, which brings immense balance to Harry’s story. What’s more, it also reveals how, back when we all first read Harry’s story, we should’ve known precisely how the last three novels would end.

The Harry Potter Books Perfectly Reflect One Another (With Goblet Of Fire As The Axis)

The Story Of Harry Potter Repeats In Reverse Order After Goblet Of Fire

The Harry Potter books use a chiastic structure, so the concepts of the story are repeated in reverse order after its axis point. Since there are seven books in the series, the fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, serves as the axis, with three books coming before and three after. Looking at the series this way, as if folded over on itself, we can observe that the last three Harry Potter books perfectly reflect the first three. Books one and seven, two and six, and three and five are mirror images of one another, with book four serving as a sort of point zero.

There are several similarities between the first three Harry Potter books and their correlating counterparts within the last three. If one focuses on a specific character, the second does as well, often concluding that character’s overarching story. If a concept is explored in one, then it is sure to return in the other. Even items and objects, especially those that are magical, are sure to make a return appearance in the second half of the series, so long as they appear in the correlating first.

Philosopher’s Stone Mirrors Deathly Hallows

The First & Last Harry Potter Books

There are countless differences between Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. As the first and last installment in Harry’s story, the protagonist himself has gone through many changes. However, there are also several ways in which these two stories are nearly identical. First and most important is the concept of immortality. In Philosopher’s Stone, Voldemort seeks to make the Elixer of Life, while in Deathly Hallows, the Hallows and Horcruxes continue the conversation around immortality.

Of course, the correlations between these two installments don’t end there. Severus Snape’s story in Deathly Hallows is a replica of his Philosopher’s Stone arc. In both, Harry believed the man to be a villain attempting to kill him, but it is ultimately revealed that Snape was actually trying to protect Harry the entire time. Then, there is the link between magical objects. The first Harry Potter book is when Harry learns that “the wand chooses the wizard” and receives his Phoenix-feather wand, which all comes into play at the end of Deathly Hallows.

Chamber Of Secrets Mirrors Half-Blood Prince

The Second & Second To Last Harry Potter Books

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince were the first books that I noticed shared a great deal of common ground. The primary piece of connective tissue between them is Draco Malfoy, who, in both, is suspected of attempted murder. In Chamber of Secrets, he is ultimately revealed to be innocent, though he makes it clear he wants to be the one attacking Muggle-borns. In Half-Blood Prince, of course, it really was Draco who was responsible for the attacks, though he was acting out of duress this time.

Half-Blood Prince again brought back some magical objects from Chamber of Secrets. The Vanishing Cabinet that Draco used to sneak Death Eaters into Hogwarts was first seen in book two when Harry hid inside it at Borgin & Burkes. Additionally, the sixth Harry Potter book saw the return of Tom Riddle’s diary, which was revealed to be a Horcrux. What’s more, Half-Blood Prince saw the return of Moaning Myrtle, revealed to be Voldemort’s first victim in Chamber of Secrets, who developed an unlikely friendship with Draco (who had previously supported the murder of her kind).

Prisoner Of Azkaban Mirrors Order Of The Phoenix

The Third & Third To Last Harry Potter Books

The character who takes center stage in both Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is obviously Sirius Black and, by extension, James Potter. Harry learned the most about his father and his old Hogwarts friends in these two installments. However, there is a great deal of contrast here as well. Harry learned to revere James and Sirius in the third book, but he discovered they had been far from perfect in the fifth. Then, while Sirius survived the end of Prisoner of Azkaban, he was killed at the end of Order of the Phoenix.

Order of the Phoenix also saw the return of prophecy. In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Professor Trelawney gives a prophecy about Peter Pettigrew’s escape and the Dark Lord’s return. Then, in Order of the Phoenix, the plot revolves around Voldemort’s efforts to retrieve the prophecy Trelawney had made before Harry’s birth. There is also the repeated theme of government control within these two books and the contrast between Cornelius Fudge’s treatment of Harry when he blew up his Aunt in Prisoner of Azkaban and cast a Patronus in Order of the Phoenix.

Goblet Of Fire Is The Axis Of The Harry Potter Series

Goblet Of Fire Initiates The Harry Potter Series’ Reverse Move

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is often ignored when looking at the chiastic structure of the series, but I believe this is a mistake. As the folding point or axis, this is among the most essential installments in the series. It contains supporting features for each of the concepts and themes reflected back in the subsequent books while providing the catalyst for what causes the Harry Potter series to begin to repeat in reverse order the story that had already been told.

Goblet of Fire sees Voldemort use Harry’s blood to resurrect his body, doubling the blood protection that Harry had learned about in Philosopher’s Stone and that would save his life in Deathly Hallows. The fourth book is also when Lucius Malfoy is confirmed to be a Death Eater, establishing a link between Draco’s story in Chamber of Secrets and Half-Blood Prince. This is also when Harry and Sirius’ relationship is at its strongest, bridging the gap between their Prisoner of Azkaban story and that of the Order of the Phoenix. However, the most crucial feature of Goblet of Fire is Priori Incantatum.

The spell Priori Incantato was first introduced at the beginning of Goblet of Fire when the Ministry officials used the spell to reveal all the recent magic Harry’s wand had done. Later, at the end of the fourth book, Harry and Voldemort’s twin wands led to a phenomenon called “Priori Incantatum,” which caused imprints of Voldemort’s previous murders to be emitted from his wand. Since this spell and phenomenon causes past magic to be repeated in reverse order, it makes sense that it would serve as the axis point for the chiastic structure of Harry Potter—its perfectly balanced poetry.