Russian President Putin said Russia will be canceled “just like JK Rowling”. The British writer held back soberly.
Any Harry Potter reader knows it’s hard to resist the Dark Arts, the arts performed in the books by the so-called Death Eaters and their master, Voldemort, Lord of the Dark. At Hogwarts, during the seven years that Harry and his friends studied there, they chased through as many as seven Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers.
In the first year that position was filled by Quirinus Krinkel (I’ll use the inventive Dutch names of translator Wiebe Buddingh’ here). Good guy, it seems, but unfortunately he carries Voldemort with him and that doesn’t end well. Quirrell is succeeded by the amusing good-for-nothing Gladian Lockhart.
Next are the capable Remus Lupine (turns out to be a werewolf, unfortunately), the equally capable Alastor Moody (deviously rendered harmless by a Death Eater), the disastrous Dorothea Umbridge, and the controversial Severus Snape. When Snape becomes principal after a year, the role of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher falls into the hands of Death Eater Amycus Kragge. Only when Harry definitively defeats Voldemort at the end of book seven, the curse that rests on the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher position is lifted.
We Muggles (non-magical beings) would know who in our world currently qualifies for the role of Lord Voldemort. It is therefore of bizarre irony that Vladimir Putin quoted the author of the Harry Potter books last week to show the world how unfair he is being treated. According to Putin, the sanctions that the world is taking against Russia following the invasion of Ukraine are “purely canceling”. He compared himself with JK Rowling, who has received the necessary criticism in response to her views on transgender people.
The press reacted slightly with laughter. “We’re not entirely sure if you can call someone with 13.9 million followers on Twitter, whose book sales are up 7 percent since she spoke out about trans people and who is worth more than a billion dollars,” he wrote. Vanity Fair.
Rowling soberedly responded on her Twitter account: “Criticism of Western cancel culture might not come from those who are currently slaughtering civilians for the crime of resisting, imprisoning and poisoning their critics.” Rowling concluded her tweet with the hashtag #IStandWithUkraine and added an article about imprisoned politician Alexei Navalny.
She thought Putin’s statement was what he was – a clincher.