July 31 is a significant day.
It is the last day of July, which means that we are one step closer to August and a return to school.
It is also the birthday of Harry James Potter, the Boy Who Lived.
Since their release 18 years ago, the "Harry Potter" books have found their way into every corner of the globe. From successful blockbuster movies to theme parks to hundreds of thousands of copies sold worldwide, they are everywhere.
This July 31 was the release date of the much-anticipated print version of the script for the play, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child." While I waited eagerly all summer for the book to be released, I started thinking about the impact this story has had on me, and was somewhat surprised by how profoundly the story of the Boy Who Lived has helped shape my life.
I started reading the "Harry Potter" books when I was around six or seven years old. They were the first major chapter books I had ever read. My twin sister and I had recently devoured "The Magic Tree House" books by Mary Pope Osborne (a great series for kids, I highly recommend it), and were looking for something bigger. I’m not sure my parents realized just how big the "Harry Potter" books would become, but we checked the first two books out of the library at my aunt’s recommendation and started reading.
Like so many other children, I fell in love with the story. I loved the excitement and the danger. I loved that it was a story about kids, and that their ideas were (usually) taken seriously. I loved Harry’s bravery and Ron’s friendship. I loved Hogwarts, with its ghosts and its moving pictures and it's incredible, amazing magic. I loved Hermione. Oh, did I love Hermione. She was me. She was the girl who talked too much, who was loud and shouted out the answers whenever she could. She was obnoxiously on top of her homework and was unafraid to share it. Like me, she was in love with school. I loved her bravery and her intelligence and how more often than not, she was the one saving the day and getting Harry and Ron out of trouble. Like so many other readers, I saw myself in the story and I loved every second of it. In retrospect, the fact that I enjoyed these books so much as a child is not surprising to me. What I find so fascinating about this sensational series is how it continues to affect me, even today.
The "Harry Potter" books introduced me to the idea of fantasy fiction. While I had read fairy tales, the concept of a world that was so different from our own was foreign to me. Reading these books opened the door for other fantasy authors and young adult fantasy fiction, and introduced me to my favorite genre. These books helped me realize that I wanted to be a writer, and that I wanted to tell stories that captivated readers the same way these books ensnared me. Harry’s story has brought people together in ways that I find incredible. When I meet people on my college campus, sometimes we introduce ourselves along with our Hogwarts house. The wizarding world has such a strong connection to our own that we all instantly understand someone if they say, “Oh, hi, I’m a Hufflepuff.” There’s a strange pride in saying that. We are declaring that we belong, and we are declaring our values. It is a strange phenomenon that I have come to embrace.
Last January I visited the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studies in Orlando, Florida. It was a completely surreal experience, but what was most amazing to me was the kindness and the excitement of every single person in that park. From little children running around with wands casting spells, to fully grown adults taking selfies in their wizarding robes, to me and the countless others who simply stood in the middle of Diagon Alley and cried, everyone was so thrilled to be in that place. Strangers connected through conversations about the books, and through our excitement about seeing Ollivander’s wand shop. We knew it wasn’t truly real, but for the time we were there, we could pretend. It was a place where everyone could be a child again, excited and enchanted by the strange magic of this world, and feel no shame. That, I think, is one of the greatest lessons of these books: that loving someone or something deeply has a unique kind of magic.
It is no secret that the power of love is a major theme in many fantasy epics. Love is at the root of my fairy tales and of several good, classic stories. What makes "Harry Potter" different is that the power of love is not discriminatory. That is to say, that the love that is so strong and fierce and protective and full of magic in the world of Harry Potter is a familial love. It is the love of Harry’s mother, and the love that Harry has for his friends that triumph in the end. As I’ve grown older, I’ve thought a lot about what a powerful statement that is. Unlike fairy tales, where the “kiss of true love” is needed to awaken the princess and save the story, the message of "Harry Potter" is that a mother’s love can defeat even dark magic. How incredible is that? Despite the darkness and the danger found in these books, the terror and the evil, love is ultimate what wins. Love always wins.
July 31 has come and gone. The new "Harry Potter" book has been released into the world. People will carry on with their lives. They will go to work and they will watch tv and they will read books. They might even go a week or a month or a year without thinking about the Boy Who Lived. Soon, I will be swept up in my own life and preparing to move back to school. I know, though, that every time I read a new fantasy novel, or hear an owl, or a whisper of music from the movie soundtracks, I will smile. This series of books about the magical boy with the lightening shape scar on his forehead have changed my life. These incredible books taught this Muggle-born girl that magic could exist everywhere, and that the greatest things in life come from love. I am forever grateful that I read them, and forever grateful for the strange and wonderful ways Harry’s story continue to impact my life.
So just as so many wizards and witches did in the very first chapter of the very first book of the "Harry Potter" series, let’s raise a glass and toast “to Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived!”
