I disagree.

Harry Potter passive-protagonizes his way through five fucking books in which his every civilization-dooming discomfort is caused by the inflexibilities of a corrupt system to become... a mid-level clerk in that corrupt system. The message it sends is FUCKING GHASTLY.

If this was Italian neo-realism that would just be how we are. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss? Son, I didn't sell out. I bought in. Dude, that's it. That's what we do. Beyond a certain point, it just feels wrong to keep trying to stick it to the man. Or other people will give you the look of terror.

"I proudly announce my fealty to the marketing of Time-Warner, Disney, and Universal." Really, "fandom" means "I subvert my creative energies to the products of giant corporations."

We're all consumers on some level.

SPOCK doesn't have 699 competitors, though

I'd never really noticed how Hermione is an SJW who wants to free the Elves who are clearly the British service class who clearly don't want to be freed because really, the English caste system is better for everyone

Presuming Rowling herself had some weird motivations, she appears to be a flaming liberal. Could be unconscious, but what actually happened in the book aside there is an archetype about the middle-class white saviour complex. It's all fun and games until you're actually made uncomfortable by "the poor." Until you try to establish anarchy at your local art show and Jason rolls through with a case of beer and trashes the place.

And that worries me. That worries me a lot. There's an entire generation of kids who grew up believing that the one thing you never do, no matter how dire the consequences, is question authority. There's a "fandom" out there whose inspiration is a bunch of kids who try (and fail) to lead normal lives under totalitarian rule. There's a broad swath of people who, when confronted with an Oswald Moseley, will continue to invite him and his followers to their thanksgiving dinners. But guaranteed - each and every one of those people has filled out an online petition in the past six months.

Really what it usually is are adults trying to get you to stop hurting yourself so you can live. And it always hurts to be told no. You mentioned the dictatorial power the Ministry of Magic has in the books but I can't imagine how the story could make any sense without it. Maybe if you want to go there and say the concept of wizards and muggles should be abolished entirely but if you start from that point you basically need the secret police. Because information itself can't be leaked. It's like Men in Black, nobody must know the aliens exist.

What are you going to do if someone finds out? Extralegal, extra-constitutional kidnapping basically.

So while I'm inclined to believe in Harry Potter itself being some kind of authoritarian nightmare the real sin the characters commit is they just don't care. Which is more accurate. Fucked shit happens around you all the time as a kid and it's a lot easier to stand by than do something and many, many times it's not like fighting back accomplishes anything.

Harry Potter appeals to people you might describe as outcasts because it posits the existence of a secret world with hidden powers that nobody else (the normies) can see. And sometimes it gives them the leg up for having that power. That's social exclusion, that's creative arts, that's a more colourful dress sense, that's an alternative sexuality. It's not really an authoritarian head-trip, anymore than maybe some of those people would prefer to remake the reality in a different way. Ender's Game is the real fucky book. Harry Potter is a microcosm of what being a kid is about. They don't fight back any more than anyone does in real life.