Suicide is among the most pressing public health problems of the 21st century. Fictional depictions of suicide have long been known to influence the public’s understanding of suicide and, in some cases, can impact suicide rates. Unrecognised to date is that J.K. Rowling is, arguably, the most prolific popular author on the topic of suicide. Dozens of Rowling’s characters and, indeed, each of her books, have a connection to suicide. This review summarises Rowling’s coverage of suicide and discusses the implications. In particular, it explores how her books/series generally include a protagonist who survives a crisis and a foil who succumbs to despair and trauma, and how these narratives relate to what Rowling has said publicly about her own story of survival. Although her treatment of suicide does not always align with recommendations for responsible media portrayals, overall, Rowling’s works have exposed numerous people worldwide to messages of hope and survival, and this deserves scientific attention.

This essay argues that modern society lacks a vision of the common good, which prevents education from having an adequate telos or goal. It calls for a restoration of the language of virtue and the ethical tradition of Aristotle and Aquinas. The Anglican parish and the church primary or elementary school are examined as sites where virtue ethics is still active: particularly in the intercessory work of parish prayer, and in the mimetic approach to learning employed with younger children. The article then addresses ways in which these institutions depend upon what C.S. Lewis called ‘deeper magic’ of a transcendent reality, and ways in which the school especially might develop further a pedagogy of the virtues using J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter stories as exemplars. Finally, it argues for a dimension of the beautiful in a recovery of an education in Christian virtue.