Finished Harry Potter

I finally got to the last page of the last book. Though I might be the only living person on the planet who didn't blast through them all months and months ago, I won't do a spoiler here (though Kay Vega was right—the end is very satisfying).

In Shakespearean terms, it almost qualified as a a tragedy (everyone is dead at the end), but really comes off as a comedy (everyone is married at the end).

After reading the whole thing, though, I'm left with a couple of intriguing questions.

What do magicians DO?
Aside from the ones who work at the Ministry of Magic and the ones who teach, we see a few who do things like publish magazines or even drive buses, but the everyday life of the everyday witch or wizard seems unusually ordinary. I do my laundry by hauling it down to the machine; they do theirs by waving a wand. The task and the results are much the same. They just have a different technology. But I keep wondering if there's any point to being a magician.

Why were the Christians so upset?
When Harry Potter first came out, all the good church people were aghast. This was, they said, the tool that would haul a whole generation of children into worshiping Satan. Leaving Voldemort (see—I have the nerve to actually say his name) aside, there's incredibly little discussion of the source of the power. There's a bit of mention of "Dark Arts" versus what we might call "Good Magic" but almost nothing about the real source of the power. It just seems to reside in the witch or wizard, in much the same way that a good ball player has a natural feel for where a ball will be as it flies through the air. Just a natural talent. I think the only mention of deity in the whole series is an occasional "Oh my God!"

Which brings up a question. Why do some kinds of Christian feel a compulsion to suck all the fun and joy out of anything that doesn't begin with a prayer and end with "Amen"? Everything, for them, must be overtly baptized. My church is going to have a "Men and boys bowling afternoon" this Saturday, and I cheered because nothing like that has happened for years. Then it was announced that the whole thing would end with a devotional. Gotta pay the price. If you're going to have Christian fun, you have to do the devotional at the end to make sure nobody slips into thinking that there's something OK about simply going bowling and eating pizza.

I hope nobody brings his lucky bowling shoes. Now that WOULD cause an uproar!