Over forty years ago, as an adolescent, I read "Dracula" with the same enthusiasm that we all now do with the Harry Potter books. And, although there have been many film versions of Bram Stoker's 1897 classic Gothic thriller, none of them really captured the fearsome and driving plot of the book.

So, when we arrived at the hunt for Voldemort's horcruxes in order to vanquish him, as made clear in HBP, I knew I'd met this plot device before.

In Dracula, the aristocratic vampire has bought multiple properties, scattered around England, where he plans to move for diabolical purposes. He ships fifty boxes of his native earth from Transylvania to his newly acquired British real estate. It is learned that, among the several limitations of Dracula's power, he must rest in the sanctified soil of his native land, soil that is sacred to his mighty family. Indeed, early in the book, Jonathon Harker, being held prisoner in Castle Dracula while the real estate transactions are being finalized, sneaks down to the ancient chapel of the castle and witnesses the fifty boxes of earth being prepared and loaded by loyal gypsies for shipment; he also sees Count Dracula sleeping on the soil itself inside one of these boxes...when he tries to smash a shovel blade into the face of the sleeping vampire, Dracula turns his head and zaps Harker with a powerful gaze, which forces him to swing wide and miss his mark. The final third of the book turns into a game of strategy and chase where the vampire hunters seek out and "sterilize" all the fifty scattered boxes in order to deprive the vampire of his requisite sanctuary, and corner him. Only when this is nearly accomplished does Dracula flee England and return to his castle, where the climax and finale of the book occurs.

Sound familiar? There are also other parallels that suggest JKR was influenced by this important literary predecessor. I've listed a few below; there are others. For a bit of fun, add and discuss any that might occur to you as well as key differences in the plots, characters, and themes. I suggest we should focus on the books, where the real parallels are, rather than the movie versions.

1. Voldemort needs his horcruxes to survive; Dracula needs his boxes of earth. Destoying these objects is key to plot design for stopping the evil plans of the villain.
   
2. Dumbledore's morality, wisdom, and strategy is set against VD's ambitions; Van Helsing's are set against Dracula's
   
3. Voldemort is opposed by the combined efforts of Harry, Ron, Hermione, DD, DA, OotP; Dracula by combined efforts of VanHelsing, J. Harker, Quincy Morris, Lord Holmwood, J. Seward, Mina Murray-Harker
   
4. Harry has a scar on his forehead signifying Voldemort's attack; Mina has a scar on her forehead, seared by the communion host, which signifies that she has been tainted by Dracula's bite and forced drinking of his blood.
   
5. Harry has a mind connection with VD associated with his scar; Mina does too (when Dracula dies, her scar disappears). The mind connection is used by both antagonist and protagonists to gather information about the other side's activities.
   
6. Voldemort's choice of Harry as an object of attack is a strategic one, not circumstantial; so is Dracula's choice of Mina
   
7. Voldemort's horcruxes are chosen with a view to their personal, familial, and historical associations; Dracula's boxes of earth have these same associations
   
8. Voldemort's mangled immortality stands as a mockery of life; so does Dracula's
   
9. Hogwart's is vast and contains dark secrets; so is Castle Dracula
   
10. Food appears and disappears mysteriously in both places, though the mystery is quickly resolved
    
11. The draining of a person's soul by the Dementors is called "the kiss"; the female vampires in Castle Dracula fight over who will get to "kiss" Jonathon Harker...ie: drain him of his blood
    
12. Voldemort is described as having red eyes; Mina sees a shadow with red eyes bending over the body of Lucy in the graveyard
    
13. the theme and perversion of motherhood and childhood: Lily's sacrifice, Merope's abnegation of her duty, Mrs. Weasley's protectiveness, Tom's torment of his fellow orphans, Myrtle's murder, Greyback's targeting of children ...at Castle Dracula, the vampire women feast on an infant brought to them in a bag by Dracula, a mother later shows up at the castle decrying the vampire and demanding her child back, Dracula sends his wolves to devour her; Lucy as a vampire only victimizes young children; and Mina says in chap XVII: "We women have something of the mother in us that makes us rise above smaller matters when the mother spirit is invoked."

That's thirteen, a good number at which to stop. Compare and contrast, if you will, and enjoy.

Hi, Lost Centaur

that's an interesting theory and good effort for drawing out some parallels to Dracula (it's been a while since I last read Dracula).

Somehow, I cant quite agree with some of your points, though:



Technically you can find this 'plot device' in Super Mario, where you have to 'conquer' several castles before you meet bowser in the 'big one' at the end... okay, maybe not the best example, but having to chip away before the hero can defeat the main villain occurs probably in so many books I cant imagine that JKR would have particularly referred to Dracula.

secondly, the horcruxes are pieces of LVs soul, almost the essence of Tom Riddle himself, whereas the boxes of earth are just a necessary object for Dracula.

but I find it interesting that both are neither really dead nor really alive!



Also, I wouldn't compare the main character Harry with Mina, who is more of a victim than a hero. It's not Mina in the end who defeats Dracula (if I remember correctly anyways).

I liked your comparison with Hogwarts and Draculas castle!
I always perceived Hogwarts as a 'safe haven' for Harry, but thinking about it, you're right, there is a lot of dark stuff in there.

by the way, How do you rate Snape often being described as an 'overgrown bat'?
I know that JKR debunked that rumor that Snape is a vampire, but do you see another parallel to his character?


okay, that's all for now,
like to keep it short.

I read a somewhat kids' version of this in seventh grade, never reading the full one, but these comparisons make a lot of sense! Aren't "hallows" holy places in one of the million definitions? And the boxes of earth are like "holy places" for Dracula? Interesting...

Lost Centaur, I had some similar thoughts after reading Dracula a couple of years ago. Here's a link to an older topic Vampire allusions in HP

In Dracula, they used Mina's "mind connection" with Dracula to hunt him down and destroy his refuge-boxes. Harry had a similar kind of mind connection with Voldemort in OotP, so I'm wondering if he will try to use that in a more concious way in the last book to find and destroy the horcruxes and finally Voldemort himself.

Hey y'all...thanks for the comments!

Spectrespecs: "In Dracula, they used Mina's "mind connection" with Dracula to hunt him down and destroy his refuge-boxes. Harry had a similar kind of mind connection with Voldemort in OotP, so I'm wondering if he will try to use that in a more concious way in the last book to find and destroy the horcruxes and finally Voldemort himself. ...wondering the same. It's an open plot device ready to be mined, but frought with danger, since it can be turned both ways, as Dracula does.

hpboy: Aren't "hallows" holy places in one of the million definitions? And the boxes of earth are like "holy places" for Dracula? Interesting...

yeah, mixing of the holy and the diabolical. Voldemort's choice of the founders' relics for his horcruxes is the same sort of perversion. wrt Dracula...the boxes were "sterilized" by Van Helsing by re-sanctifying them...by making them too holy for him to access. Also interesting.

fluffy333... thanks for the several comments. yeah, the differences are significant, but the similar strains running through the plot thread are as well.

I do think, by the way, that Mina is heroic and overall a consistent key to plot changes, but yes she never rises to the level Harry does.

"...the horcruxes are pieces of LVs soul, almost the essence of Tom Riddle himself, whereas the boxes of earth are just a necessary object for Dracula"
...sure there is a difference, but essentially both are utilizing the objects for a diabolical magical purpose...to stay alive and immortal. The plot device of neutralizing these objects one by one and trapping the evil power that is using them to stay immortal is strongly linked between the two books, though the overall strategy is one of the oldest in literature, yes indeed.

question to moderators: can you fix the typo in my topic title, please? The extra 's' in Draculas's is unfortunate, and I don't have the ability to edit it. thanks.

There are more similarities some are, when J. Harker first meets draculas brides he calls them these "weired sisters",there is also mention of a "basilisk" the ship dracula arrives in england upon is called the "Dementor" after the ship arrives a large black dog is seen in the area that local people refer to as a "Grim" I,m sure there are a few more similarities that i,ve missed i,ll have to re-read Dracula and get back to you

I searched the e-text of Stoker's Dracula but I can't find that the ship is ever named in the book. Have you got a reference for the name of the ship being Dementor? I thought dementor was one of Rowlings own words.

The basilisk and the grim are old legends that go back much further than Stoker, and the "weird sisters" is from Shakespeare's Macbeth I believe.

I still think Rowling had Dracula (among other things) "at the back of her mind" when she wrote, though. Harry does use his "connection" with Voldemort in a concious way in the last book, not to find the horcruxes but to see what Voldemort himself is up to:

"Harry closed his eyes, and as his scar throbbed he chose to sink again into Voldemort's mind..." /my italics/ DH30, p475 BE

I don't belive that they named the ship. With both Dracula and HP being some of my favorite books, im suprised i missed these similarites. I must go iron my ears.

The name of the ship, I believe, was 'The Demeter,' a deity in the ancient Greek pantheon. Since this word means, basically, (translated from the Doric: da= earth, meter = mother) earthmother, I'm not sure why Stoker chose it as the name of the vehicle that brings Dracula to England. Perhaps someone would like to speculate about it.

As far as I can figure, Rowling chose the name for the Dementors by conflating the words demented and tormentor. So, in this case, I'd opt for it not being a nod to Stoker's book.

Just a little something though, there's this:

dracul = dragon = serpent = snake = LV

And as trivia, remember that Gary Oldman played Dracula in FF Coppola's flawed but visually stunning film, and he also plays Sirius Black in the Potter films. Heh.