There is no redeeming Harry Potter
I have written on this a couple of times in a way, but also never quite in an explicit manner focusing just on this. So, let me try: there is no redeeming of Harry Potter as a franchise or a fandom. There no way to interact with Harry Potter as an IP that is not in one way or another doing harm. And I know this is hurting some people who are obsessed with this franchise in a neurodivergent way, but there is no way around it. Because Harry Potter is really the insanely rare case of media, where no matter how you turn it, there is no way to find something good or excusable about it.
The thing people do not seem to understand is this: no, Rowling does likely for the most part not actually get 0.005% of any HP product you buy. No. Her riches come from her OWNING the IP. For once, yes, she gets some money whenever someone (Lego, Universal, some candies, whatever) uses this IP. Whenever someone wants to use this IP they will have to deal with her and her lawyers and be like: "We will give you X money to put out HP branded chocolate." And she will get that money. But she will most likely not get a percentage of the actual sold merchandise.
More notably and more important though: Mrs. Fascist owns her part in HP as an asset. And like all billioniares what is actually important to her is not sales, but what a bank thinks this is worth. Because billionaires do not have money on bank accounts. Billionaires own things, and then go to banks and say: "You, gimme a couple millions please. I own all this stuff. If I do not play it back you can have some of that." And in the case of media IPs the amount banks think it is worth is very much tied to recognition. And you know what creates more recognition for a brand? Fanwork shit. Fanwork is advertisement for a brand.
Of course there is the main issue here: Rowling uses her money (or rather the money she borrows) to fund a hate campaign against trans people, intersex people, and let's fully honest here: non-white people, queer people in general, women, and children. And the poor. And fat people. And disabled people. Like, basically everyone who is marginalized in any way. Mainly trans people, but I cannot stress enough how Rowlings politics are not just transphobe but outright fascist.
And any interaction with the franchise of Harry Potter is giving Rowling more money and power. Yes, even if you only interact with it via fanwork. Yes, even if you only buy the stuff used. Or from some person on etsy. It does not matter. Because the billion to J. K. Rowling's name is not actual money. Once more: billionaires do not have a billion bucks on their bank account. No. The billion largely are how her assets are valued. So things that she owns and that are valued by banks and investors. It is her net value. And the biggest asset she has is the percentage she has from how much the Harry Potter brand is valued. And as long as this brand is recognizable and big, the IP has a lot of value. It does not matter if you do not pay for it. You talking about it. You keeping the fandom alive. It all still feeds the IP. And the IP value is what gives her money. Not just direct purchases. Her money comes from what banks and investors think the IP might be able to earn based on brand recognition. Yes, even if you are part of the Marauders fandom and delude yourself into you having nothing to do with actual Rowling. You are still adding to her brand. Even if you start out every fanfic you post by "actually I hate JK Rowling". It does not matter.
So, yes, even if you give no money to Rowling, she still profits from you liking HP and openly online talking about it. She still gets money from this. In a way. And the same also holds true even if you make negative online content on her. Which is the confounding factor. Because HP and Rowling herself are in a way on the level of "every kind of attention is good attention". And frankly, I do not even know what to do about that.
But also there is no way to deal with whatever kind of HP stuff you still have in a way that does not profit her - and is not harmful to overall society. Because even if you bring your own HP stuff to a second hand store, you do risk the factor of this then getting someone new into the franchise, again furthering the brand.
And that is even without going into the fact that the books themselves are very fascist. These are books that feature a pro-eugenics, pro-imperialist, misogynist, racist, queerphobic, ableist, fatphobic, classist narrative. If you read those books to kids you are a bad person. Sorry, not sorry. In fact, even with all understanding for nostalgia and neurodivergent fandom obsessions, I have genuinely reached the point where I do have little understanding for people who still cling to this franchise. Like, I was once quite autistic about this franchise and you know what? I have not consumed any HP media since Rowling decided to stand with fucking Depp as the entire story with him got started - which was notably before she came out as a TERF.
As long as there is a fandom for this - people who make fanwork, who talk about this, who make roleplays and whatever - this fandom will not only make sure that everyone remembers what Harry Potter. But it will also make sure that there is other new suckers being drawn constantly, who do not actually care and will buy whatever bullshit the Warner Brother marketing department throws at them. You and your friends keeping alive the Marauders fandom and just having your own little funny headcanons that you are openly posting about set in the fascist world of Harry Potter, will maybe not be the sole reason someone else decides to buy tickets to the Universal theme park and visit whatever bullshit stuff they have there. But do not make a mistake: it will likely add to someone's decision to do that. You cannot interact with this fandom without it benefiting Rowling. And hence you cannot interact with this fandom, without harming trans and intersex people.
And no, I do not call for censorship. I am just stating the obvious: if you still obsess about HP in the year of our lord 2026, you are harming trans people. And intersex people. And a bunch of other marginalized folks for that matter. No matter if you refuse to actually buy stuff. If you are part of this fandom, you are adding to Rowlings riches and influence. Even if you never spent a single dime on it. And if you value that fandom more than trans people, then I cannot do anything about that. But I think you are bad person. And you will have to live with that, just as I (and every other trans person) have to live (and die) with you valuing childhood nostalgia above our lives.
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