She’s right: The final book leaves no doubt that religion is important to the series; but it’s a view of religion that’s full of doubt.

For a while, a lot of attention was paid to some people who claimed the books were anti-Christian. Those attacks were never believable. The loudest critics seemed to know the least about the books.

Rowling, when asked by the media, always described herself as Christian. But she refused to link her faith to the story. She told one reporter, “Every time I’ve been asked if I believe in God, I’ve said yes, because I do, but no one ever really has gone any more deeply into it than that, and I have to say that does suit me, because if I talk too freely about that I think the intelligent reader, whether ten or sixty, will be able to guess what’s coming in the books.” She meant some readers would have guessed that the story would end like the Bible story of Jesus: instead of fighting his enemy, Jesus allows himself to die so that he can save humankind from its sins, and after dying he comes back to life. That’s similar to what happens at the end of Hallows: Harry chooses not to fight Voldemort but to sacrifice himself, then he seems to die and come back to life, and finally offers Voldemort mercy despite Voldemort’s past sins.

As it happened, many readers noticed the clues in the earlier books and guessed ahead. In fact, long before the final book was published, some readers were claiming that everything in the Harry Potter books is Christian.

That’s stretching it. The truth seems to be somewhere between the two extremes. The story borrows many important elements from Christianity—elements that Christianity happens to have in common with many religions. But in the end, Rowling’s personal beliefs, which seem to be different in some ways, prove most important.

Yet these symbols and storylines aren’t unique to Christianity. C. S. Lewis, whose Chronicles of Narnia were meant to have a direct symbolic connection to the Christian gospels, liked to point out similarities between Christianity and pagan religions that appeared long before Christ. For example, before the stag became a symbol of Christianity, Celts across Europe worshipped the stag-god Cernunnos. Examples of others like him are found elsewhere. Cernunnos also happens to be one of dozens of gods from all over the world who die and are reborn each year, giving new life to worshippers. Those rites of spring were universal long before the first Easter. Lewis also liked to remind his readers that the ethical philosophy of Christianity was not new: Love and mercy and sacrifice and devotion to God were all ancient ideas even in Christ’s lifetime.

Of course, Rowling doesn’t go to church to worship the stag-god Cernunnos. To her, the story is connected to Christianity. The many elements of Christianity she put in the books are clearly more important to the story’s themes than the fun allusions to Shakespeare and Greek mythology. It’s no accident that “King’s Cross” is the title of the chapter in which Harry enters what Rowling calls “a kind of limbo between life and death.” Rowling is making an allusion to passages in the Bible that refer to Jesus as the “King of Kings,” and to Jesus dying on the cross. Dumbledore’s gravestone is a direct quotation from the New Testament, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21).

But for all these allusions, Rowling doesn’t seem to share Lewis’s degree of faith.

Rowling has left out of the series the central idea in Christianity: the matter of who or what is sacred. In Christianity, it’s not enough to follow the ethical rules. Without faith in Christ’s personal role as savior, it’s impossible to be saved. That’s the opposite of the lesson in the Harry Potter series. Harry doesn’t want other wizards to put their faith in him personally. For himself, he learns not to have too much faith in Dumbledore and Sirius. There’s no talk about devotion to a higher authority, or of making himself into that authority. God doesn’t make a sudden appearance.

Of all the characters in the books, including Harry, only Lily Potter seems to deserve idolatry. She’s essentially a Madonna figure, the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus. Mary is revered in many Christian sects and in Islam. She’s held up as an ideal. She’s favored by God. Her compassion gives strength to many who revere her. These same qualities are mentioned when characters in Harry’s story mention Lily.

Rowling herself seems to feel the same way. Lily is the only important character who isn’t brought down to a human level in the course of the story. Harry’s father had his moments of cruelty. Dumbledore too. Sirius Black mistreated Kreacher. Harry himself is no saint, as Rowling has said many times.

It’s this mother figure who saves Harry and who could have saved Voldemort. When Voldemort used Harry’s blood to resurrect himself, he also took into himself Lily’s powerful, protective magic. “Voldemort,” said Rowling in an interview, “did have a chance at redemption because he had taken into his body this drop of hope or love.” It’s a sacrament, but not a traditionally Christian one. This same mother figure is reason Snape and Harry are reconciled. Harry and Snape are one in their adoration of her.

Is it an accident that Rowling has elevated the most sacred female in the Bible story? Probably not, given the sense of equality she brings to other aspects of the story. It’s easy to imagine she might have some issues with the abundance of male figures in organized Christianity. Her reverence for her own mother may also be an influence.

For Rowling, many of the answers come from her religion. Not all. There’s a Christian framework in the Harry Potter books, and Harry shows the power of love and mercy and self-sacrifice, as Jesus does in the gospels. But there is no trembling before God. There is no demand to have faith in Harry. A woman is given the greatest supernatural role.

As Rowling says, “I wouldn’t expect [religion] to provide all the answers, because I would expect to find some of those within me.” She’s also wary of some of the answers that religion offers. “I have some problems with conventional organized religion,” is how she puts it.

As a result, she’s constructed her own set of beliefs. Seven volumes’ worth.