The Law and Harry Potter (Book Review)

THE LAW AND HARRY POTTER. Jeffrey E. Thomas and Franklin G. Snyder, eds. Durham, North Carolina: Carolina Academic Press, 2010. Softcover. viii + 414pp. ISBN 1594606455. WHEN THE ESTEEMED EDITOR OF THIS JOURNAL CONTACTED ME and asked V-A--J me if I would be willing to review a book called The Law and Harry Potter, I had to give it some thought. On the one hand, as she pointed out, it made sense to have the book reviewed by someone with a legal background, and it is true that I am one of the few people in the mythopoeic scholarship community about whom that can be said. On the other hand, there was another factor that argued against my taking the task: I had never actually read any of the Harry Potter books. But I did have an interest in doing so, and I thought perhaps this would be motivation that I would need to do so. So I agreed to take on the task.