10 Reasons Why You Should Reread Harry Potter
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10 Reasons Why You Should Reread Harry Potter

Why reading Harry Potter is always a good idea.

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10 Reasons Why You Should Reread Harry Potter
Jim Kay

At this point, everyone in the world knows the story of The Boy Who Lived, and if you don't understand that reference, you really need to find a way out from under that rock you call home. Most of you who read this—if not all—have read the books and/or seen the movies, possibly more times than you can count. If you haven’t read the Harry Potter series, leave this page right now, read the series, and come back when you’re done. If you have read the books (and hopefully you have) here are a few reasons why you should read it all over again:

1. The playbook for The Cursed Child comes out July 31st.

If you don't know what that is, again, you need to get out more. The play, premiering this summer in London, features the son of Harry Potter as well as an adult incarnation of the Chosen One himself, and is being released as a book to the public on Harry’s/ J. K. Rowling’s birthday this July. If you’re like me, and hopefully you are because crazy book lovers are the best, you like to reread a series if it's been a while and a new installment is on its way. With the Cursed Child release fast approaching, you officially have an excuse to shut yourself away for several weeks to devour the books all over again. When you're done, “the eighth Harry Potter book” will be waiting!

2. You don't remember Pigwidgeon, the Ghoul, the Midnight Duel, S.P.E.W., Winky, Ludo Bagman (who actually gave Harry the Gillyweed), Merope Gaunt, and a million other not-in-the-movie details.

After extended periods of time spent watching the movies on repeat without any exposure to the books, everything starts to blur together into one great confusing Harry Potter blob, and some of the details that make the series so endearing are lost to us. I am currently taking up my own challenge and rereading the books, and by the time I hit book four, I was thoroughly ashamed of how much I had forgotten. Remember that time it was Neville—not Ron—who went into the Dark Forest with Harry, Hermione, and Malfoy in Sorcerer’s Stone? And that other time when it was actually Tonks who saved Harry from an invisible trip back to King’s Cross in Half Blood Prince? Neither did I. So crack the series open and see what you’ve forgotten since last time around.

3. Now that you are a “sophisticated” college student, you can analyze the heck out of the series.

It may sound boring, but it’s so much fun, especially if you’re an avid reader. I’ve noticed so many amazing little connections I never picked up on before, and I’m loving it. Remember Fluffy? He happens to have been purchased by Hagrid from a Greek wizard. Does anyone else remember a certain Greek myth about a three-headed dog guarding the entrance to the underworld? And in Chamber of Secrets, not only does the cursed necklace used in Half-Blood Prince get a mention, but there also is a little scene slipped in where Nearly-Headless Nick convinces Peeves the Poltergeist to drop a certain vanishing cabinet in order to distract Filch and get Harry out of trouble. And, as an added bonus, if you are like me and were masochistic enough to subject yourself to three semesters of Latin, you can now work out the actual meanings of each and every spell in the series.

4. It’s been too long since you visited Hogsmeade and/or Diagon Alley at Universal Studios.

If you are having one of those terrible days when you really really really want Butterbeer or Florence Fortescue’s ice cream, or you happened to glance at your wand and remember the amazing day that was your Harry Potter experience at Universal (I have many of these days) the only remedy is to sit down and start reading, and inevitably not stop reading until you have finished all seven books and possibly the three companion books (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Quidditch Throughout the Ages, and The Tales of Beetle the Bard).

5. You just visited Hogsmeade and/or Diagon Alley at Universal and are hyped up on Harry Potter.

If you are the sort of person who could spend your entire day just exploring Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade at Universal, and you have just returned home from such an adventure, you are inevitably depressed that your few hours of magic has come to a close. It’s not nearly as severe of a letdown as the moment when you realized your letter to Hogwarts was never coming or when you finished the last book and realized there weren’t anymore, but it’s still quite unsettling how much the Harry Potter deprival can affect you. If you’re feeling it, pick up the book, pull out that pile of chocolate frogs you bought in the hope of collecting all five of the cards they have released, and start reading.

6. You just watched the trailer for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them doesn’t come out until November, but the trailers are out now and they look incredible. We don’t have the book form of the movie beyond the wonderful textbook J.K. Rowling gifted to her fans several years back, so our breakouts cannot be calmed by picking up the nonexistent novel, but we do have the Harry Potter books, and that’s close enough, right?

7. It’s officially summer and reading doesn’t rot your brain the way binge watching Netflix does.

I’m a week into summer and I have already watched four seasons of New Girl, season one of Jessica Jones, and eight seasons of Doctor Who. I can literally feel my brain beginning to melt. I’m sure most of you are doing the same. If not, good for you. You’re healthier than the masses, but you should still read Harry Potter anyway because it’s incredible.

8. You just finished rereading the series and you are experiencing severe Post-Potter Depression.

It’s a real thing. Don’t pretend you haven’t felt it. You put down the last book and you think “what now?” and you feel a sudden welling of emptiness flooding through you. The solution: pick up the first book and start all over again.

9. You just discovered the interactive books released on iBooks.

Guys, the pictures move! It’s incredible! It is most definitely money that could be better spent elsewhere, especially as broke college students who probably already own at least one version of the books already. But guys. Seriously. The pictures. They move!

10. It’s Harry Potter. Enough said.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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