Harry Potter Alliance Wins Duel Against Child Slavery

Harry Potter fans are all sorts of magical. After four years, the Harry Potter Alliance has successfully convinced Warner Bros. to only use fair-trade cocoa for its Harry Potter-related chocolates.

The Harry Potter Alliance takes a powerful stance against slavery and child labor, according to an article on TakePart.com. Since 2010, the group gathered 40,000 signatures and the support of literary stars in their quest, including J.K. Rowling and John Green.

"The HPA is a group of 'fan activists'--people who love Harry Potter and want to see devotees of the books marshal their skills and energy for good causes," the article said.

"In the past, they've compared Walmart to Hogwarts' villain Voldemort, raised money for survivors of the earthquake in Haiti, and held a book drive."

HPA's campaign is in response to the amount of child slavery and forced labor that occurs on the Ivory Coast, which also provides 40 percent of the world's cocoa supply.

The campaign also sparked a CNN investigation on "Chocolate's Child Slaves", confirming widespread forced child labor in cocoa fields. According to TakePart.com, the Department of Labor estimated that more than 109,000 children were working on these cocoa farms.

HPA Creator and Cofounder Andrew Slack posted the letter they received from Warner Bros. on its official website. The headline above the letter reads: "Not In Harry's Name; Wizards Win!"

"If 'Harry Potter' [as a franchise] were to be in alignment with the values of Harry Potter [himself], it could be a real symbolic and coherent victory," Slack said in an article on WashingtonPost.com. "'Harry Potter,' more and more, is becoming a classic, and one that children are growing up on, with all seven books having been written.

It's part of the culture.

It represents righteousness, nobility, love, so much beauty and a place of safety that people go to, and moral authority.

If the 'Harry Potter' brand were to move something like fair trade, it would be making a statement that not only is the 'Harry Potter' brand a cut above the rest but that [other franchises] have to catch up to it."

Here is the organization's video about the campaign: