Deathly Donald

Harry Potter fans less likely to favor 'Deathly Donald,' study finds

By Cristiano Lima

Muggles for Trump? Perhaps not for the wizarding fandom.

The more books you read from the "Harry Potter" series, the more you'll dislike Donald Trump, a new study claims.

The study out of the University of Pennsylvania, titled "Harry Potter and the Deathly Donald," found that readers of the landmark fantasy series were more likely to report stronger dislike of the newly minted Republican nominee than non-readers. According to the findings, for every "Harry Potter" book read, dislike of Trump rose by two to three percentage points, with the gap between readers and non-readers climbing as high as 18 percentage points even when accounting for political affiliation, age, educational attainment and other relevant factors.

"Harry may not be a full-on patronus against the Republican presidential nominee’s appeal, but reading Potter stories does appear to be a shield charm against Trump’s message," said U. Penn spokesperson Julie Sloane in a statement.

Political scientist and author of the study, Diana Mutz, says the wizarding series that grew into a global phenomenon may be shaping the national political opinions of its fans.

“Because Trump’s political views are widely viewed as opposed to the values espoused in the Harry Potter series,” Mutz writes in her study, “exposure to the Potter series may play an influential role in influencing how Americans respond to Donald Trump.”

The study, soon to be published in a special 2016 election issue of "PS: Political Science and Politics," argues that Trump's policies clash with the central themes of the Harry Potter franchise, including tolerance, inclusion and opposition to punitive policies.

Citing the Republican nominee's proposed Muslim ban and Mexican wall proposals, along with his expressed support of torture, Mutz argues the candidate's exclusionary and punitive beliefs stand in direct opposition to those encouraged in the novels, which could contribute to the gap in perception between readers and non-readers.

According to Mutz, those same policies and beliefs may substantiate fandom comparisons between the real estate mogul and the muggle-hating antagonist from the J.K Rowling series, Lord Voldemort.

"Similarities between Donald Trump and Harry Potter’s nemesis, Lord Voldemort, have not gone without notice during the 2016 campaign,“ Mutz notes, adding that, "It may simply be too difficult for Harry Potter readers to ignore the similarities between Trump and the power-hungry Voldemort.”

According to Mutz, the study, which surveyed a sample of 1,142 Americans in 2014 and again in 2016, could shine a light on how fiction writing may be shaping people's political opinions globally -- no spells required.

"Harry Potter’s popularity worldwide stands to make a difference not just in the U.S. election, but in elections across Europe that involve aggressive and domineering candidates worldwide,” Mutz wrote.