"Hogwarts, A History"

It's raining. Candles are lit, blankets cover the couch, and Hedwig's Theme fills the room. The Warner Brother's logo pulls back to reveal the title: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. A wave of nostalgia fills the air. It's the perfect morning for a Harry Potter marathon.

Growing up, there were few stories that stuck with me as fiercely as Harry Potter. The books immediately hooked me, and soon after the movies had me as well. I read each book, analyzed the text, and vigorously watched the movies over and over again. Each time I noticed something new about the story, something deeper and more profound. Never did the stories cease to captivate my interest.

The world of Harry Potter is one of mystical wonder and enchanting possibility. On the surface, it is a story of witchcraft and wizardry, of good and evil clashing among the halls of Hogwarts. But as one dives deeper into the world, the heavy layers of humanity, sacrifice, friendship, and love rise to meet the attention of the viewer. The complex nuances embedded in the framework of the story enable people to continually fall in love with the world and the characters.

The world itself is intricately created to be a direct foil to the world we live in. The themes of sexism, hatred, exclusion, bigotry, and love all exist within the magical world, creating a union between the muggle and wizard worlds. Through unveiling the intense action and excitement that comes with magic and spells and enchantments, it is revealed to the audience how painstakingly relatable our two worlds are to one another.

The series takes place primarily at Hogwarts, Diagon Alley, the Weasley's home, the Ministry of Magic, and various other magical locations. An interesting location component, however, is that the wizard world and the muggle world constantly overlap. The world of Harry Potter takes place in real time, coincides with real places, like London, and contains elements of the "real world". These details add an enormous amount of complexity to the Harry Potter storyline. Many fantasy worlds exist within their own reality. They are full of rich details of specific references unique to only that world. They often exist outside of time, or fall somewhere on a timeline that only contains that particular world. The Harry Potter world, however, perfectly exists both in its own spectrum and in the realm of the "real world", or the world that you and I exist in. The world is not this obscure place found somewhere on the timeline of real and fantasy; it exists in both. And because of this, the world is able to represent all people, all realities, and is relatable on a next level.

For me, one of the elements that stands out most profoundly is the honesty in the characters. They are imperfectly themselves, working against all odds to prove who they are capable of being to not only the world, but to themselves. Many of the fans at the beginning of the series were adolescents, just like the characters, and I think this played a huge role in the characters' ability to be relatable. Not only are they simply interesting to watch, but the characters grew and evolved into themselves, much like any adolescent child trying to find their way in the world.

Each character possess the potential for good and evil, right and wrong, and all the gray area in between. The ability to create such complex characters is a difficult task as is, but to do so in a way that reaches to such a broad audience is a remarkable feat. The characters, from Dumbledore to Luna Lovegood to Harry to even He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named himself, all share one common thread of humanity: the desire to simply belong. The theme of unity plays a huge role throughout the series, and throughout the characters progression as individuals. They all fall closer to or farther from the notion of whether or not unity matters to them.

Hermione Granger is a character who always stood out to me the most, and I would argue she has one of the best character arcs in the series. Hermione held herself to such a high standard from such a young age, as many young girls do. As she got older, her capacity to care what others thought of her shrunk significantly. Her confidence grew, her intellect saved Harry and Ron on numerous occasions, and she really honed in on her natural abilities to be a leader. Hermione's complexity lies in wanting to desperately belong, combined with the reality of not willing to sacrifice her integrity. She was ridiculed and belittled, made to feel that she was less-than because of her background; never did that stop her from pursuing her goals. However, she is human, and watching her cope with the painful truth that she was different because of her parents was a reminder that even the confident carry burdens, but it is the resilient who push past those barriers.

Not only do the characters represent phases and adversities we go through as human beings, but some represent just a theme themselves. Enter Bellatrix Lestrange. She is a character that I grew to deeply appreciate for many reasons, and a character unlike any other that I've come across. She is hateful, violent, diabolical, and yet I couldn't get enough. As a writer, what I appreciated most about her character was the lack of progression. Throughout the series we see her evil nature brew and brew until she is this force of nature even Voldemort himself cannot understand. She stands alone, and is perfectly content being that way. She is unapologetically herself and evil just for the sake of being evil, unlike some of the other dark magic witches and wizards. Including a character like Bellatrix in the story emphasizes the message that evil does exist outside of reason, and nothing is safe from its path of destruction.

The fantasy world of Harry Potter has reached audiences across the world, and has changed the scope of the fantasy genre forever. I will always cherish the story of Harry Potter and the memories of exploring the world for the first time. It is a story full of rich detail, heartbreaking storytelling, and themes that continue to resonate, even all these years later.