One of the many challenging things about Donald Trump's administration is that Trump himself is so childish, so surreal, and so overwhelming that he is almost incompatible with generally accepted frameworks of reality.

Therefore, having a familiar framework like Harry Potter to help orchestrate one's understanding of modern politics and its main players is surprisingly helpful—if only to give us something to fall back on in these dark times.

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When many of us read Harry Potter as kids, we never imagined that we'd see an American president in our lifetimes who reminded us so profoundly of Lord Voldemort. Americans would never elect someone who would lean so far into overt evil and hatred, we thought.



Many of us also never imagined that we'd see the day when literal children and young people have provided the strongest defenses against forces of overwhelming evil. Though Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez takes the place of Harry Potter on this list, the real Harry Potters of this world are Greta Thunberg, Parkland's Emma Gonzalez, the young founders of the movement called Sunrise, and every person who has taken a stand when the people in power seemed powerless to resist. Though these people don't have magic spells at their disposal, they've used their voices to engage and motivate a resistance, and we need many more of them— and maybe even another generation of Harry Potter readers —for real change to happen.



The White House

1. Donald Trump = Voldemort

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Donald Trump has been drawing comparisons to Voldemort ever since he rose to power. Voldemort built his reign on hatred of Mudbloods, which can easily be compared to how Trump built his campaign on a return to a "pure" America, based on an exclusion of anyone who's not white and especially anyone non-white who wasn't born in the U.S. The similarities don't end there: They both had wealthy fathers, they both possess incredibly large egos and tons of rabid followers, they're both prone to fits of rage, and they both might be destroyed by a glasses-sporting hero.

Many have written about the problems with comparing Trump to Voldemort—namely that Voldemort is fake and Trump is very real, and he's done severe harm to people across America. J. K. Rowling herself said that Trump is way worse than Voldemort . Still, remembering that Voldemort was a hollow man who was obsessed with his own image and literally split himself into pieces to continue his bloody rule might give us a window into who Trump is on the inside, as well as the kind of action that might be able to stop him.



2. Ivanka = Bellatrix Lestrange

They're both smart, conniving, powerful, and joined at the hip to their leader and/or father, so Ivanka is easily comparable to Bellatrix Lestrange. Bellatrix is one of the most powerful witches in the series, and Ivanka's political power and cultural sway cannot be understated and should not be underestimated.

3. Melania = Nagini

Melania's eerie, silent, heavily surveilled , and profoundly mysterious presence draws undeniable comparisons to Voldemort's resident serpent.



4. Eric Trump and Don Jr. = Crabbe and Goyle

Large adult sons.

Comparing these slack-jawed goons merits little extrapolation. They're nearly indistinguishable in terms of who they are as individuals, and they follow their leader around, frequently bungle interviews with the press and/or possess little to no magical talent, and thrive mostly on their connections.

5. Betsy DeVos = Delores Umbridge



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People have been making this comparison since Betsy DeVos was appointed as Secretary of Education. Despite her few qualifications, DeVos was arbitrarily appointed, just like Umbridge was made Headmistress of Hogwarts while Dumbledore was away on one of his doomed quests. And of course, both have done extreme damage to the children they were appointed to educate and the school systems they were appointed to help.

6. Kellyanne Conway = Rita Skeeter

Remember Rita Skeeter, the incredibly annoying journalist who published fabricated stories in The Daily Prophet and ultimately wrote a book full of "alternative facts" about Dumbledore? She's obviously the fictional version of Kellyanne Conway, Trump's former campaign manager and current counselor who invented such events as the "Bowling Green Massacre." It also seems feasible that Kellyanne Conway might've done some time as an unregistered Animagus beetle.

7. Mike Pence = Lucius Malfoy



They're both evil second-in-commands with blindingly white hair, slimy, eerie demeanors, and enough hatred to support conversion therapy and/or to enslave and torture innocent house elves. Enough said.







The Squad

8. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez = Harry Potter

Out of all the politicians who have stepped up to face off against Trump, only one has managed to mesmerize the nation with her power, energy, and signature circular glasses: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She's been labeled "the only politician with the star power to challenge President Donald Trump," after all. And her version of the Green New Deal is one of the only plans that has presented a strong enough challenge the true Voldemort: climate change (and the late capitalist system that fuels it).



Like Potter, Ocasio-Cortez has been accused of being motivated by a hunger for the spotlight. In the end, though, she seems uniquely poised to save us all from the (quite literal) end of the world .

9. Ilhan Omar = Hermione Granger

Hermione was constantly cursed at and attacked for being a Mudblood. Similarly, Ilhan Omar has been at the center of Trump and his followers' hateful rhetoric because she is an immigrant. It is definitely problematic and inaccurate to compare Rowling's Mudbloods to immigrants—but in a loose sense, both of these groups have been demonized and labeled as impure outsiders and threats to the established and original ruling class by extremist purebloods and/or conservatives, and it's hard not to see the parallels.

10. Rashida Tlaib = Ginny Weasley



If there was an honorary member of the trio, it would probably be Ginny (if not Neville). Since Ginny may be the most fearsome fighter around, she's a natural choice for Tlaib, a powerhouse in her own right.



11. Ayanna Pressley = Ron Weasley