My Twenty-Year Journey With Harry Potter

I have loved reading for most of my life, this is probably down to my mom, who always had a book (Kindle now) in her hand as I was growing up.

When I was in elementary school I loved the “Goosebumps” books and read most of the ones that were released up to that point. I continued to read some of them in middle school but also got into another series of books, the title of which escapes me now.

Truth be told, my reading slacked off a lot in middle school and high school. I don’t recall reading many books at all in my freshman year, although I know I did.

My introduction to the Harry Potter series changed all of that. It was a weird introduction too.

Despite the first book coming out in 1997 and it being 2002(ish) at the time, I don’t think I had ever heard of the series. I might have seen the trailer for the first film at some point, before another film, but I honestly can’t recall. Remember, this was the time before YouTube, we didn’t have the option to go and watch the newest trailers with just a couple of clicks. Damn, I’m getting old.

To even further age myself, we rented the first film from our local video store, along with the first ‘Lord of the Rings’ film.

I thought the first Harry Potter film was okay but didn’t really enjoy ‘Lord of the Rings’ and thought it was a ripoff of Harry Potter.

Now, before anyone tries to hunt me down and burn me at the stake for such ludicrous thoughts; I have since changed my mind about ‘Fellowship of the Ring,’ it is by far the superior film, even if I still enjoy Harry Potter more. Likewise, I do now know that LotR came first.

At that point, I had no desire to rewatch ‘Sorcerer's Stone,’ nor any of the following films, not that I had any idea more were to follow at the time.

I didn’t have another encounter with Harry Potter until maybe a year later.

Our school implemented a 15-minute portion of our day to read a book, any book of our choice. At some point, my mom went to a thrift store and found “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” for $1 and bought it for me, saying I could use that to read for the 15-minutes.

Honestly, I had no desire to read it, nor did I have any clue that it was the fourth book in the series. I just slowly read it, without much interest.

Then something changed, I got to an exciting part. Although I can’t say for certain what that part was, I have always stated that it was chapter eight, “The Quidditch World Cup,” so I will stick with that here.

I was hooked! I couldn’t put it down. I read so much that I would read in the middle of class and get in trouble for reading. What a hell of a thing to get in trouble for!

I read and read.

I finished it!

Then I reread it. No, I didn’t decide to go get the first, second, and third books. I reread it, then I finally got the other three books.

I loved them! They were so much better than “Goosebumps” and any other books I had read. They were amazing.

I read them all, including the fourth again. Then read them again.

At some point in me rereading the books, the second film, ‘Chamber of Secrets’ came out. I did like everyone else was doing at the time and downloaded it, something I’m highly against now; when done illegally.

By that time I had rewatched the first film, likey several times. I eventually got a proper copy of Chamber of Secrets and watched both over and over.

Then I read that the fifth book, Order of the Phoenix, was on its way. I couldn’t wait!

In the meantime, however, I discovered Harry Potter fanfiction (after rereading the books again) and would read story after story. I just couldn’t get enough of Harry Potter.

My parents and I went first thing in the morning on June 21, 2003, to get the new book. If I remember correctly I bought the regular copy and the “Deluxe Edition.”

I couldn’t wait to get home to read it, I started reading it in the car and didn’t even take my face out of the book to go inside, I was walking a reading. I read nearly non-stop. I wasn’t worried about food, drinking, sleeping, or anything, I just wanted to read the book.

I finished it, another great addition to the series!

I then went back to reading fanfiction and waiting on the third movie, ‘Prisoner of Azkaban.’

Then it was time for ‘Prisoner of Azkaban,’ this time we went to the theater to watch it (YAY! Did it the right way!)

I loved the film, I loved how dark it was, I loved how the whole theater cracked up when Aunt Marge started inflating, and on man, how I loved Lupin’s transformation. I did however hate the fact that the Marauders were all but cut out.

Then I was back to reading fanfiction with even greater love. I was constantly reading, nearly every waking moment not spent at school, work, or sleeping was spent reading fanfiction.

I then came across, what I consider the best Harry Potter fanfiction I’ve ever read, I’d even put it on par with the original novels and it is the only fanfiction that I have ever read more than once. I was originally hesitant to read the series because it was written and published before the fifth book, meaning nothing from the fifth book would be included. I decided to read anyway, I’m glad I did!

The series was called the “Psychic Serpent trilogy.” I was hooked from the start. I was so engrossed in the series that I would literally spend hours and hours in front of the computer reading. I once woke up and read a little before work, went to work, got home, and started reading again. I didn’t stop reading until it was time to go back to work that night. Then went home and did it again. Then I did it again! I then went back to work and was almost dead on my feet because I was so tired by the end of my shift. I finally forced myself to go to bed when I got home. Never again did I do that.

After I finished the Psychic Serpent trilogy, I reread the books in anticipation of the sixth book, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.” Admittedly this took a little work because my mind was still on the Psychic Serpent and I had to remind myself to separate the events in OotP from those of the PS series.

I went to the midnight release for “the Half-Blood Prince,” I didn’t want to wait. I wanted it and wanted it then, not a second later. On this release, I bought both the regular and deluxe editions again.

Again, another great book, although sad.

Now it was time to countdown the days until ‘Goblet of Fire’ was released in theaters. It was my favorite book of the series and I couldn’t wait to see it on screen.

The day came. We went to the first showing and I. HATED. IT.

So much was wrong!

What happened to Winky? What happened to Bagman? What happened to the world cup? What happened to Moody (he looked cool but wrong)? What happened to Crouch trying to get off from the charges (I did love David’s character). There was so much I hated and STILL hate about the movie. To me, it’s the worst is the series.

I honestly don’t remember how everything played out between the release of the GoF movie and the ‘Order of the Phoenix’ movie. I do know, at some point that I bought the first six books on audio, cassette, and CD (aging myself yet again). I listened to the books on the ride to and from school and at work. I probably listened to the books a couple of times between the release of the two films and read a fanfiction story or two as well.

Now it was time for ‘Order of the Phoenix’ to hit theaters. Again, I went to the first available showing. I liked it a lot more than GoF but there was still a lot missing. A lot of character development and scenes were left out, but otherwise, it was a lot better than ‘Goblet of Fire.’

Right on the heels of that came the release of the seventh and final book, “The Deathly Hallows.”

Again, I went to the midnight release and bought a copy of the regular edition, two deluxe editions, and the audio version.

What a way to end! It was fantastic! Like many, I could have done without the epilogue or at least a different epilogue but it was still an amazing book.

With the sixth film came more disappointment. The film was great and all but way too much of Tom’s story, which the book was built upon, was missing. Key points in understanding the transformation of Tom into Voldylocks were missing. That was probably the biggest disappointment to me in the entire series, eclipsing the disappointment of the fourth film, even if it was a better movie.

Then came the knowledge that the seventh book would be split into two films, which I thought was stupid. I thought it was just a “cash grab,” which I have no doubt that it was but boy was it an amazing “cash grab.”

The final two films were the best in the entire series, in my opinion. There were things missing, yes, but overall the films were amazing and two of my favorite films of all time. They weren’t without flaws however, I, like many, didn’t like how Tom/Voldy met his end. The way in which he “died” made him feel less human, although I understand they wanted to go for the cinematic effect. Likewise, as far as the epilogue, the less said about it the better. Gross!

The final book in the series came out in 2007 and the final film in 2011, excluding the spinoffs, all of which I have read and watched. I still listen to audiobooks (Audible for the win) to this day, usually once or twice a year (listening to them again now).

Over the years I have read the books at least ten times each (minus the last two) and listened to the audiobooks way too many times. I have basically all of the chapters memorized and can nearly recite the first book word-for-word with the audiobook.

The movies, well they have all had their fair share of watch time too. I can deliver the lines with the character on the first film, which I have probably watched at least a hundred times at this point. If that’s an exaggeration, it’s not much of one.

After listening to and reading the books I’ve come to realize just how unique and wonderful the titles and books are. None of the titles are references to anything in the books preceding them, the only exception being “Prisoner of Azkaban,” in a way. Sirius was mentioned in book one and Azkaban in book two but never the fact that Sirius was in Azkaban.

There’s also an amazing number of coincidences in all of the books, stuff that had to happen just right for the events to play out. I seriously wanted to try to count them but that would take many, many, hours.

I know many religious groups want to look at the books and call them bad because of the magic in them but I look beyond the magic. I see it as good vs. evil. I see it as a boy, who had been neglected for most of his life, finding his true purpose. I see it as a story of growth. I see past the magic. There is way more to these books than magic.

These books show acceptance and discovering yourself. These books show you that, even if you grow up hated, neglected, abused, and constantly put down, you have a higher calling, you have a purpose, and you have people that will love you.

The true magic of the books has nothing to do with any wand, any broom, any potion, or any spell. The true magic is that it helps you escape reality and shows you that you can overcome adversity, make friends, and be loved.

So after all this time, after nearly twenty years of Harry Potter, do I still love it?

Always!

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