There's Always Harry Potter

If you read my last blog and had a chance to glance at my reading list of 2012, you undoubtedly noticed that the first seven books on my list were those of the Harry Potter series. I read the Harry Potter series every year. I feel compelled to do it because I love the story. There’s just something special about these books. There’s something amazing about the triumph of a little boy who grows into a man in this magical world, one that we are near but can’t touch.

I began reading the Harry Potter series when I was 12 years old. The first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was released in the US in 1998. I was in the 7^th grade and a friend of mine handed me the book and told me to give it a chance. At the time I was not at all into fantasy so the idea of reading a book about a boy wizard was not at all interesting. I gave it a chance and obviously I’ve been obsessed ever since. Part of my affinity to the books has to do with the fact that as I aged, the characters aged. The first four books were released in 3 years and the last 3 were released over the next 7 years. The intensity of the books continued to increase and I honestly can not call the last three books, children’s books, anymore. When JK Rowling released the fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, she made it very evident that the stories were taking a very dark turn and she did not disappoint with the fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The pain became real. The loss of characters and the struggles that our protagonist were going through became real. The fifth book has always been the hardest for me to read because of how intense and painful it is to watch the turn of events unfold. The sixth book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and the seventh book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ended the series beautifully. The struggles continue but they’re filled with a sense of purpose and finality. You know at this point the end is coming for these characters and you are ready to complete the journey with them. You’ve been preparing for the war versus good and evil, now its here.

When I go back through these books I always discover something new or notice something I hadn’t noticed before. It could be something as simple as Harry’s Godfather, Sirius Black, being mentioned in one line of the very first book and then being the antagonist of the third book. It could be the fact that the vanishing cabinet used to bring Voldemort’s Death Eaters into Hogwarts during book six was mentioned in two of the previous books. What about how Ravenclaw’s ghost was never mentioned by name until the last book and was only previously mentioned as the ghost with long hair. One more thing I’ve found interesting since finishing the last book is the fact that when I picked up the book for the first time the story was already finished. Everything I was reading had already taken place. The adventures of Harry Potter takes place from 1991-1998. Rowling tried to clue readers into this fact with the second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, when the Gryffindor ghost celebrated his 500^th “deathday” of October 31, 1492. She drove the point home though in the last book when Harry visits his parents’ grave and you’re able to see the date they died, October 31, 1981, when Harry was only one.

There are a lot of different aspects to the series. It’s a coming of age story. It’s a story about choices. It’s a story about strength, love, good, evil, friendship and prejudice. It’s the kind of story that draws you in and becomes a part of you. The story of a boy wizard isn’t for everyone but I love it so expect to see it on every reading list.