Harry Potter and Watsonian Religious Elements
There is, of course, the celebration of Christmas and Easter within the original works, though the lack of distinct religiosity, such as a Christmas Mass, indicates the celebration is practiced in a culturally Christian manner, rather than that of an adherent manner. There is also the celebration of Valentine’s Day, however, the evidence once more suggests that the celebration is a cultural Christian level, instead of an adherent, as there is a lack of the usual trappings of a saint’s feast day, though the specification of the cherub, as seen in the following quote:
[…] indicating a number of golden cherubs […]
in The Order of the Phoenix is notable.
Beyond the holidays that are celebrated by Wizarding Britain, there is evidence that Christianity was pervasive enough within Wizard Britain that, by the 1990s, it still persists as a cultural backing, if not a universal religious tradition. The positioning of Sirius Black as Harry’s godfather indicates that Christianity was entrenched enough within the culture of Wizarding Britain that they are still a traditional quasi-familial role.
Further evidence is that of the Fat Friar. A friar is, of course, a member of a number of fraternal religious orders, more specifically the mendicant orders, an example of which would be the Augustinians, though the ordainment of a friar was not a requirement to be considered such. The existence of a scholar of theology being capable of provable magic, and yet having no signs of doubt in his belief, still wearing his habit as a ghost, displays that – from the Watsonian standpoint – religiosity is not out of the question where the magical world is concerned.
Of course, if one wishes to take the entire corpus of J.K. Rowling’s writings for the Wizarding World site, formally known as Pottermore, this evidence is thrown into doubt. Per the “Hogwarts Ghosts” article, the Friar was executed by senior church officials, who
[…] grew suspicious of his ability to cure the pox merely by poking peasants with a stick, and his ill-advised habit of pulling rabbits out of the communion cup.
Of course, this is rather illogical, and makes very little sense, for reasons I shall elaborate on in a later section. That, however, is not the sole issue introduced by the articles written as extended canon. The Fat Friar posited through extended canon cannot exist.
A second article was written on the ghosts of Hogwarts, entitled “The secret lives and deaths of the Hogwarts ghosts”, published on the 6th of October 2016. Much to my chagrin, I have been unable to discover the author so as to credit them. The feature article – written by one of the over twenty journalists and copywriters working under Anna Rafferty – wrote that he was
[…] born late into the tenth century, and was sorted into Hufflepuff at Hogwarts – and run by its founders. Some point after finishing his magical education, the Fat Friar – not his real name – joined a mendicant religion as a friar […]
There is an issue with this history, however. If the Friar had been a living student in the 10th century he cannot have been a friar. As was stated previously, a friar is an adherent of a mendicant order (not religion, as the article erroneously posits). The problem, however, is that the first mendicant orders would not exist until, at the earliest, 1155, and not making landfall in England until the 13th century. Thus, the Friar cannot have been a friar and have existed as the extended works posit him. One might posit that this contradiction is a result of the latter piece being written by someone other than J.K. Rowling. However, given the tenuous canonicity of other articles written by Rowling, I have elected to disregard all but the original seven books and interviews contemporary to their publication (the contemporary period here being limited from the first book’s pre-release interviews, ending the year after the last’s publication) as sources.
Returning our attention, then, to the original works, we see that the use of “God” as an expletive is rather common, even amongst those with prejudice against the non-magical. In Chapter Six of The Prisoner of Azkaban, “Talons and Tea Leaves”, Draco Malfoy uses the expletive:
“God, this place is going to the dogs,”
Remus Lupin uses it in Chapter Nineteen of the same book, “The Servant of Lord Voldemort”:
“My God,” said Lupin softly, […]
Draco uses it once again in Chapter Eleven of The Goblet of Fire, “Aboard the Hogwarts Express”:
“[…] My God, my father told me about it ages ago […]
In the same book, Chapter Thirty-five, “Veritaserum”, Fudge uses the expletive:
“My God – Diggory!”
And again, in Chapter Eight of The Order of the Phoenix, “The Hearing”:
"[…] – he blew up his aunt, for God’s sake!”
Whilst not an extensive list, the word “God” appears more often within the novels, twice in The Prisoner of Azkaban, twice again in The Goblet of Fire, five times in The Order of the Phoenix, another five in The Half Blood Prince, and a final seven times in The Deathly Hallows, the majority of which are as an expletive, with one instance being a wizarding Christmas carol sung by Sirius Black, titled “God Rest Ye Merry, Hippogriffs”, though one could posit that Sirius, a character known for his dislike of his family – themselves, notorious blood purists - was simply altering a Muggle carol to be magical.
The primary (and seemingly sole) hospital – Saint Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries – is, of course, named for a saint, one that was notably a real person, and is a real saint. Kentigern, otherwise known as Mungo, was a missionary of the late 6th century, active in the Brittonic Kingdom of Strathclyde, and is the founder and patron saint of Glasgow.
The graves of Ariana Dumbledore, Kendra Dumbledore, James Potter, and Lilly Potter have epitaphs that are biblical quotes. The former two have a line from Matthew 6:21.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also
With the latter two having a line from Corinthians 15:26.
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death
Such quotes indicate that, at the very least, the Potter and Dumbledore families were Christian. The former family likely being Christian is strengthened by an interview with Rowling at the Edinburgh Book Festival that took place on the 15th of August 2004, thus falling within the bounds of contemporary interviews. In response to the question of
"Does Harry have a godmother? If so, will she make an appearance in future books?”
Her answer began by stating that he had no godmother, followed shortly by the following:
When Harry was born, […] his christening was a very hurried, quiet affair with just Sirius, just the best friend.
The Watsonian lens thus strongly suggests a background to the work of Christianity, at the very least on a cultural level. However, there is the question of the Doylist lens left.