One of the most annoying things for Harry Potter fans is when non-fans accuse the series of being “just a kid’s book.” Anyone who has read the books knows they’re filled with all kinds of adult themes, from your basic death and dismemberment to the illusion of control, the consequences of power and, of course, the complex relationship between a man and his pet owl.

Now as the movies start catching up with the darker Potter book entries, maybe the unconverted world can finally be convinced that there’s some dark, dark stuff that happens at Hogwarts. A full 4 months before Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince hits theaters, Daniel Radcliffe is gracing the cover of this month’s Empire Magazine, beaten and bloody as if he’s just stepped off the Quidditch pitch—or a battle against Voldemort. I mean, Daniel Radcliffe still looks like he’s about 15 years old, but he’s a badass 15-year-old, with the kind of world-weary attitude the book version of Harry has had since he was 11.

I know the photo is intended to be attention-grabbing and salacious, but I kinda dig it. The image is just another indication that Warner Bros. really is willing to go in a more adult direction with their cash-cow children’s movie franchise. Not that we’ll be getting an R-rated Harry Potter any time soon, but the kids who handled violence in the books can handle it in the movies, and it seems the powers that be are willing to take that risk. Good on ’em.