Affinity Spaces in the Harry Potter series

In the chapter "Why Heather Can Write: Media Literacy and the Harry Potter Wars" Henry Jenkins discusses how the series has affected media literacy in young fans of the series. As I was one of those young fans (although I sadly never wrote any fan ficiton) I found Jenkins chapter to be incredibly interesting, particularly when he discusses how these online writing communities allowed students to learn in a new kind environment that is arguably more effective and more inviting than the typical school classroom. As I read I couldn't help but think of how these alternative learning environment where actually represented in the Harry Potter series itself.

Jenkins says that the informal learning spaces that appear in these online fan communities are defined as "affinity spaces" by James Paul Gee (177). Gee describes these spaces as being great opportunities for learning because they bridge differences between age, race, gender, class, and educational level through common endeavors, and these spaces "depend upon peer-to-peer teaching with each participant constantly motivated to acquire new knowledge or refine his or her existing skills," and each of the participants are able to draw on the expertise of others while also contributing their own expertise (177).  In the fifth book and movie the students at Hogwarts create their own affinity space in order to learn Defense Against the Dark Arts because the Ministry of Magic's interference in their classes fails them and teaches them nothing.

Dumbledore's Army: An affinity space for Hogwarts students

As the clip shows in their actual class they are told to learn by simply copying lines from a book rather than actually practicing their skills, which is a stifling and ineffective way of learning. The students form a secret group in order to refine and perfect the skills they should be learning in class. The group comprises students of all ages, races, genders and skill levels who come together to teach each other defensive magic since their classical education is currently failing them. It is very similar to the peer-to-peer learning that can be seen in the online fan fiction communities. They are all sharing their skills and expertise with one another in order to expand their own knowledge and skill set. And it is an incredibly successful model for teaching. At the end of this clip, Neville a typically subpar student (except in Herbology of course) finally succeeds in casting a disarming charm against one of his fellow students. Furthermore it is repeated throughout the series by various students that they learned more from this peer-run group than they ever did from some of their classes. 

It is funny that the exact model of community learning that Jenkins is tracing in these Harry Potter fan communities also happens in the series itself. It is wonderful that series could inspire these new communities and new spaces to learn and incredibly unfortunate that other groups like Warner Bros. or right-wing conservative groups want to stop that.