It
started when I was eight. Each night, I’d eagerly ask my dad if he would come
down to my room and read the books aloud to me, and he would. I have memories
of laying in my bed right before drifting off to sleep, listening to his voice
paint out the scenes. Privet Drive. The Forbidden Forest. Hogwarts. The Leaky
Cauldron. He also introduced me to all the characters. Hagrid. Ron. Snape.
Dobby. Hermione. Dumbledore. Harry. And then the group of us—Harry’s gang, my
dad, and I—would go off on spectacular adventures in these magical places. It
was positively splendid.
For me,
picking-up a Harry Potter book, even if it’s just for a few minutes, feels like
a little piece of childhood. Harry and I did, after all, practically grow-up
together. When the first book was published in 1997 Harry was eleven and I was
six. When the last Harry Potter book came out in 2007 Harry was eighteen and I
was fifteen. These were the books that planted within me my love for reading
and, as such, I read them multiple times growing-up. The first four books
especially, I read like crazy. Book number two’s cover is bent and the pages
are tattered. Book number four is so worn that the binding had to be fixed with
packing tape. But I didn't care what the books looked like on the
outside. I cared about what they looked like on the inside; inside my imagination,
to be exact. That’s where the magic was.
I realize
that by now I probably sound like one of those die-hard fans who walks around
wearing a cape and who wonders why my acceptance letter didn't come
in the mail when I was eleven, but I’m not. Really—as I sit writing this I’m
wearing a sweatshirt and jeans and the only mail I've ever looked
forward to getting are the birthday cards I get every year from Grandma and
letters written by friends serving religious missions. But just because I don’t
read fan fiction into the late hours of the night does not mean that the Harry
Potter series does not hold a special place in my heart.
If you've been
living on the planet Earth anytime within the past decade, you’ll know that I’m
not the only one in the world who adores Harry Potter. On the contrary, the
Harry Potter series has become the best-selling book series in history. Having
sold more than 400 million copies and being translated into sixty-seven
languages testifies to the fact that over the past several years, Harry Potter
has stolen the hearts of teenagers around the globe. The last book alone sold
11 million copies within the first twenty-four hours. That still stands as a
world record.
I get
kind of giddy, thinking about how lucky I was to be a part of the crazy
phenomenon. When my dad and I finished reading book four we couldn't simply
drive to the nearest bookstore to buy number five. We had to wait, and the
waiting was what made it so much fun. It created a community—a community with
millions of fans who were all wondering the same thing: what was going to
happen to Harry? Or Ron? Or Hermione? Popular websites, such as mugglenet.com,
were created and fans eagerly flocked to them to discuss their suspicions.
Though I never much explored these websites, I did buy Harry Potter themed
computer games, board games and toys. The aMAZEing Labyrinth was so much cooler to play when Hogwarts
was the setting. And let me tell you, knowing that I was the one making Harry
shout out those spells on the computer screen brought a satisfaction to my
little ten-year-old heart unlike any other.
One of
the best parts of the waiting experience was the build-up right before the
release. My experience going to a book release party for the fifth book is a
perfect example of this. On that evening, it was hard to tell the difference
between the world of Hogwarts and the real world among the shelves at Barnes
and Nobles. Fans arrived early to wait in line for their copy of the newest
installment. Capes dug-up from the bottoms of dress-up boxes and sticks
twiddled down into wands were popular accessories. Me? I wore a long black
dress with a shawl and ratted my hair in an attempt to look like a witch from
Knockturn Alley. It was quite fantastic. While we waited, my friend and I
talked excitedly about what we thought would happen in the new book. We also
participated in games and contests put on by the store. Then came the blessed
stroke of midnight. It seemed the store leaped with even more excitement each
time a copy of the book was placed in a pair of eager hands. I went home and
slept with the book at my bedside, blissful thoughts pulling me into sleep.
By this
time, I was old enough to read on my own. So the next day, that's exactly what
I did. All day. With brand new book number five. I finished it by
three o' clock in the afternoon on the second day. This was the case for the
last three books—I read them all really fast. Book number six, which is 652
pages, I read in fifteen hours. Book number seven, which is 759 pages, I read
in fourteen. Albeit I loved reading by this point, I was not the only teenager
one those days swallowing massive novels. From struggling to advanced readers,
kids everywhere practically inhaled the books when
they came out. I remember going to the pool shortly after the seventh book came
out. I swear half the people there weren't swimming; they were
sitting beside the pool, all with the same book in their hands.
Before
Rowling published her books, it was commonly believed that kids wouldn't read
lengthy books. In fact, when Rowling set out to publish her first book, the
number one reason why it got turned down was because publishers claimed it was
too long. Luckily, publishing agent Christopher Little deemed the book worth a
chance and finally, he managed to get Bloomsbury to publish it. Since then,
teenagers around the world, like me, have proved all doubts about a kid’s
ability to read long books wrong and Rowling, who was on welfare when the first
book was published, is now a billionaire.
Having
such phenomenal success has caused the Harry Potter story to continue to expand
even beyond the mere video games and fan sites. In 2011 Rowling launched
“Pottermore,” a free website that allows the readers to access previously
unreleased background information about the stories and to purchase Ebook
versions of the stories. In 2012 Hogwarts became a place for fans to physically
visit with the opening of a Harry Potter theme park in Orlando, Florida. Here,
fans can visit Ollivander’s wand shop, dine at The Three Broomsticks and go on
rides like The Flight of the Hippogriff. Though I have not been able to visit
this magical world myself, I have heard from friends who have gone that it’s
quite the fun experience.
But above
all, the most successful non-book Harry Potter phenomena has been the
films. This eight part film series, which began in 2001 and ended in 2011,
followed the books’ reputation by becoming the highest-grossing film series of
all time. I can remember the first time I saw each of these movies. For the
first movie, my first grade teacher, Mrs. Lindsely took my sister Emily and I
because we had let her borrow our copies of the books. Movie two I went to see
with my family. Movie
three with my best friend Alix. Movie four I went dressed-up with my friends
Paige and Stephanie on opening day. Movie five I went to see on opening day
with my mom. Movie six I also went to see with Paige and Stephanie, except this
time we went to the midnight premier. Movie seven part one was the only movie I
went to my freshman year of college and the seats were so close that I got
dizzy watching it.
Movie
seven part two ended for me the way it all began—with my dad. The rest of the
family was off for a three day overnight church activity. But I, being back
from college for the summer, was left at home with my dad and mom. I asked my
dad if he would go with me because I wouldn't be able to go with any
of my sisters, but also just because I’m sentimental like that. Though he knew
he would be tired from work and staying-up late isn't really his
thing, he agreed to go. And so we went, amid the crowd of other Harry Potter
fanatics, and watched the last movie together.
Years
later, remembering that night, I sent my dad a text about it, telling him that
it was a fond memory for me and that I was glad he went with me. He replied
saying: “Thanks. I thought that was fun. That is the only time I stayed up for
a first showing of any movie.” It’s moments like these, years after all the
commotion of new books and movies has calmed down, that make me wonder if it’s
not so much the story as it is the memories I have connected to the story that
make me love Harry’s wizarding world so
much. For though I have grown out of carrying around copies of the books with
me everywhere I go and it’s been several months since I've watched
one of the films, I still have that text saved on my phone. That, to me, is the
real magic of Harry Potter.
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