The Enchantment of Harry Potter

Seeing as J.K. Rowling has already penned 4,100 pages worth of them, I have given up trying to find the words that do justice to the magnificence of Harry Potter’s epic journey. Devouring “Deathly Hallows” last month reminded me just how much I’d fallen in love with the series (and just how much of it I’d forgotten) so I decided to reread the entire thing, one to seven, start to finish. It was definitely different this time, reading the books while knowing how it all ends. I picked up on so many subtleties, nuances that linked each book to the next, and I found myself utterly amazed at just how continuous the whole thing was. Rowling really did have the entire story planned out right from the very beginning. I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been for her to keep so many of the details hidden from the public before the saga was finally complete.

As I was reading, I realized that I enjoyed the latter tomes more. I really liked how Harry himself seemed to mature through the years, how he, the “chosen one” wasn’t perfect. He talked back to people, got detention, lost people close to him, and struggled with the enormity of his task. (Not to mention he wasn’t afraid to bend the rules from time to time, something my goody two shoes self could never do) And I know this may sound a bit naive, but the physical pain that boy went through in seven years – a de-boned arm, cracked skull, broken nose. I’m pretty sure the words “scar seared with pain” appeared at least eighty five times in each book.

But beyond Rowling’s superb character development, I especially liked that the books got progressively darker and more adult. Because I’ve had the experience of literally growing up with Harry, it’s been a nice introduction to life in the real world. Sure, I won’t necessarily be battling dark wizards or hunting down Horcruxes any time soon, but I will have to deal with broken hearts, losing parents, forgiving an enemy and standing up for my beliefs at some point in my life. I may not have a magic wand to help me get through all of that, but Harry’s wand didn’t bring his parents back, help him get over Cho or make him save Malfoy. The lessons Rowling wove into the seven books, lessons of courage, loyalty, bravery, forgiveness, and responsibility are things I can learn from. And that right there is the beauty of Harry Potter. It may be set in the impossible, but the core of the tale is very real. Can we learn to trust those around us, to keep ourselves from temptation or to sacrifice for the common good of society? Can we learn to love? If the success of Harry Potter is any indication, I think we can.

Last week, I saw a letter in the newspaper lambasting Rowling’s progressive darkening of the series. The man wondered why the books were considered children’s literature when the seventh one should have come with a parental advisory sticker. He said the material presented in the fifth and sixth novels scared his daughter so much that upon receiving the seventh book, all she did was turn to the end to make sure Harry survived and then put it down.

But to all that, I say, Deal with it, because that’s life. The series is such a beautiful testament to the difficulties of leaving childhood behind and dealing with responsibility. It reveals the true nature of the world around us, how people are prejudiced, how the government doesn’t always do what’s right, and how we have the power to make the right choices.

The books offer a wonderful opportunity for parents to sit down with their children and learn together about what’s important in this world. What better way to explain to your children the difficulties of life and the challenges of the real world than through the metaphor of magic?