— Book Report

Hoggy Warty Hogwarts: Harry Potter & Me.

It’s hard to pinpoint just where to begin talking about the Harry Potter series. Like millions of people all over the world, September 1st bears a fair bit of meaning to me, because as every Hogwarts student knows, September 1st is the start of term at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

My relationship with Harry Potter is a long and tumultuous one. I got my first taste of the series when I myself was 11 years old. The third book, I think, had been out by then, but my curiosity bubbled only then. I asked my dad to buy me the first book, and the rest is history. Well, it wasn’t as simple as that. Being born in a family with Christian values, my parents grew worried about the criticism and controversy that surrounded the books. I was, sadly, forbidden to read the rest of Harry’s adventures, and I was, obviously, quite crushed.

But because my love for Harry Potter knew no bounds, even only after reading The Sorcerer’s Stone, I hauled my sorry ass off to my grade school library, where I spent my recess and lunch periods cooped up with my friends, reading the next books in the series. I would also sneak around to watch the movies. (I first viewed the film adaptation of The Sorcerer’s Stone on an airplane, without headphones. I knew all the lines anyway.) I traded fan fiction with my friends on floppy disks, and risked getting viruses from their computers. I Googled relentlessly and partook in the kind of rabid fandom that only LiveJournal could cultivate. I discovered the world of Wizard Rock, Harry-Potter-centric podcasts and spent most of my time joining contests and answering quizzes. It’s hard to tear yourself away from something you’ve fallen deeply and irrevocably in love with.

This continued all the way through fourth year high school. The film adaptation of The Goblet of Fire and the sixth installment, The Half-Blood Prince were both slated for release, and I really didn’t want to have to sneak around anymore. My parents, I assume, had a vague idea that I actually read the series behind their backs, and I decided to be bold and ask them if it would be OK for me to openly, brazenly be a part of this wonderful community. They said yes and I was free to express how much I loved Harry Potter, at last. No more hiding under the covers, reading frakking heavy books in the dark. It sounds really dumb, but I felt the way Harry felt, whenever he escaped from the Dursleys during term. When he didn’t need to hide and sneak around and pretend to be someone he wasn’t.

Since then, I’ve purchased my own set of books, and my friends have slowly been giving me things like divination balls and sticker books and writing feathers—just the stuff I missed out on buying when I was still an undercover fan. Looking back, I do understand why my parents did what they felt they needed to do, and I really don’t resent them or anything like that. They were just trying to protect me from unnecessary unhealthy obsessions, and maybe straying off and venturing into what they thought was a crooked path.

It’s hard to describe just how much this series means to me. It sounds pretty stupid, coming from someone who is turning 22 years old in 4 weeks, exactly, but trust me, the bond is really inexplicable, but honest and true. Harry just changed my life so much, and he showed me how to be brave in the face of even the most startling dangers. I’m not doing such a good job with that, yet, because deep down, by nature, I’m really not a very courageous person. But reading Harry Potter has really impressed upon my heart the importance of friendship, and bravery, and doing the right thing. Even if it isn’t exactly the easiest thing to do. It taught me to choose to do what is right, and to always choose to do what is good. It taught me that I always had choices, even though they are not always going to be easy ones to make.

The subject matter of Harry Potter is still religiously taboo, but you can count on me still reading this aloud to my future children, before they go to bed. Because some of the most important lessons in life, I learned from these books, and some of these lessons, I believe, you can’t learn anywhere else.