Harry Potter Revealed

8. Harry Potter and the Holy Grail
This painting comes from a mediaeval manuscript of grail romances currently in the Bibliothèque National in Paris. There are many aspects of this painting which are relevant to the Harry Potter story; so much so, in fact, that it seems inconceivable that J.K. Rowling did not come across this manuscript while studying French at university.

The manuscript states that the knight is Perceval and shows one of Perceval’s adventures during his quest for the Holy Grail. He and a lion are coming to the aid of a lion cub which is being attacked by a serpent. Perceval, one of the Knights of the Round Table, is sent by King Arthur to save the life of a dying king. In the castle of the dying king he sees a chalice being paraded by a group of maidens, but is unaware that it is the Grail. He wants to ask who they serve, but doesn’t out of a fear of seeming foolish. Later he discovers the identity of the chalice and that he could have saved the king’s life had he enquired of the Grail’s attendants “whom does the Grail serve?” (The answer is “the Lord our God and His Son Jesus Christ”.) After twelve years trying to find the Grail again, Perceval once more finds himself in the king’s castle. This time he asks the right question and realises the answer for himself, and is then told by the maidens that he is the Good Knight that they have been seeking. In this way he is redeemed of his earlier mistake.

We believe that in relation to the Harry Potter story, the lion represents Godric Gryffindor who aids the lion cub, representing Harry (the Heir of Gryffindor), against the serpent or Lord Voldemort. Perceval, seeking to redeem his earlier error of omission, fights alongside the lion. We think that Perceval represents Percy Weasley, whose estrangement from the rest of his family stems from an error of judgement with respect to Harry and who will redeem himself by fighting heroically against Lord Voldemort. In fact, we think that by referring to the painting, we can predict the configuration of characters who will take part in the final battle. The final, irrefutable piece of evidence that this painting is the key lies in the fact that Perceval is clothed in a jerkin of red and gold and carries a similarly coloured shield: red and gold are the colours of Gryffindor House.