There is no doubt that Harry Potter is one of the most successful franchises of our times, and while Harry's adventures are nominally juvenile fiction, adult fans probably outnumber the kids. Why do we love Harry so much? The battle of light vs. darkness is the oldest story in existence, but there's more to Harry than just that. Harry Potter speaks to our inner child, to our inner fears and insecurities, with the hopeful message that we're really okay in spite of these things. Not only are we okay, but we can reach down deep within ourselves and rediscover our power to perform miracles.

All of the children in Harry Potter are very real. They suffer from the same teenage awkwardness, feelings of incompetence, and self-doubt that we have all suffered. Neville Longbottom, shy, unsure, and ruthlessly teased, discovers his inner strength. Luna Lovegood is the misunderstood oddball with few friends, but she is who she is, and hardly anyone blinks twice when she wears a Gryffindor lion headdress to the Quidditch match. And of course, the main characters themselves are far from perfect, and they fight their own demons over the course of the books.

Hermione is driven to succeed in no small part because of a humble background and the prejudice she faces from some of her classmates. She feels she has a lot to prove. Ron is probably the happiest of the children, coming from a warm and loving home, although he feels the judgments cast upon him for being poor and "average." And then there's Harry, who spent most of his life feeling unloved and horribly alone, and who faces his worst fear in the image of his doppelgänger, Lord Voldemort:  the fear of his own inner darkness. There but for the grace of God goes Harry. There but for the grace of God go all of us.

In the latest film, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," Dumbledore says of Voldemort in his youth, "If a monster existed, it was buried deep within." We all have our monsters. We all have the potential to do great good and great harm. We always have this choice, and we start making these choices at a very young age.

It doesn't matter whether you had a "good" upbringing or a difficult one. A lot of people have had difficult childhoods and have healed this enough to lead happy and productive lives. Oprah Winfrey has been open about her childhood abuse, but this did not poison her life. On the contrary, she has become a tireless advocate for victims of abuse and has done a lot of good in the world, including for herself. Is she perfectly healed? That depends on your perspective. Is anyone ever perfectly healed? She is walking a healing path, and that is what matters.

We love Harry because he, too, is walking the healing path. We share his doubts, his fears, his despair, his feelings of being hopelessly out of control. We can relate; we all feel that way at times. And yet, he is "The Chosen One," they say. He is the one who will ultimately defeat Lord Voldemort and save us all. But who—or what—is he battling?

Lord Voldemort is Harry's mirror. As a child, Tom Riddle had no family. He was raised in an unloving environment. He was supremely talented. He could hear the language of snakes, an unusual gift in his world. Harry had similar experiences and gifts, but he made different choices. As Dumbledore said:  "It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."

There are, ultimately, two paths in life. People tend to use the words "good" and "evil" to describe them, but these are simplistic and, in the end, false judgments made by our egos. There is no such thing as an "evil" person—only unhealed people who make bad choices. The choice we make, every day, is between Love and Fear, or to put it another way, between Healing and Anger/Victimhood. Harry has a lot of reasons to be angry, and he struggles with it. It's not something he can wish away; it's something he must process and heal in himself. When it does get the better of him in the battle scene with Draco Malfoy, the reality of what that anger can do hits him hard. He doesn't like what anger can make him capable of. This is a very human moment, and ultimately he chooses the healing path. We have all had to make this choice.

Draco Malfoy is a sympathetic character because he is on the cusp. We see his inner conflict. We see how he is encouraged to follow the path of anger and fear, and how his fear is being used to control him. Draco could make the same choices that Harry does and save himself, but he lacks the courage to defy his family and his friends and speak his truth, so his better angels lose the match.

Harry is no better than Draco, or even Tom Riddle, and he knows it. This humility and insight is what saves him. Fear and anger are the domain of the ego, and when they are in full blossom, the ego believes that it is all-powerful and RIGHT. There is nothing more harmful than righteous fury. "You wronged me, and I will make you pay." Or, "What you do, what you think, or who you are, is wrong, and God will make you pay—through me." It is a slippery slope indeed.

We love Harry Potter because we recognize that we have the same potential in us. We have the potential to choose integrity and healing and love. We also have the potential to choose fear and hate and anger. Harry is blessedly, perfectly imperfect, and we can identify with him and cheer his choices. We can make the same choices he does, even though anger and fear are unavoidable; we will feel them. The trick is not to let them rule us, because then they will control our lives, just like Draco, and just like Tom Riddle.

In truth, we are all "The Chosen One." Harry Potter could not have succeeded without a lot of help. He needed the help of people who thought they had nothing to offer. Therein lies the real magic of Harry Potter:  everyone has something to offer. Everyone matters. Everyone can reach down into the depths of their being and find courage, integrity, love, compassion, and their own power. With these gifts, we can banish the darkness and change the world, every day, with our choices.

Related articles and resources:

• The official Harry Potter web site
• Mugglenet.com, a Harry Potter fan site
• Healing your inner child