As a child, I was familiar with the words "Gryffindor," "wingardium leviosa," and "Voldemort," but not in the way you would think. While most of my classmates were reading the "Harry Potter" series, I was being told I shouldn’t think twice about it. But I watched my friends share a bond with people they didn’t even know because of a boy with a scar on his forehead. They would attend movie premieres, cry over book ending, and talk about characters as if they were their friends. They were truly captured by a world I didn’t know anything about.
Occasionally, I would feel a pang of jealously and sadness. I blame it on the fact that I was an avid reader, yet these books were off limits to me. While I could have simply picked the books up and entered Hogwarts myself, I felt it was better to adhere to the wishes of those who were older than me. Though I may not agree with these beliefs, I am thankful that I missed the fresh hype. Without it, I wouldn’t have been able to experience it now, at 22 years old.
When I decided to start this series, I was not expecting to be changed. I’ve never felt more proud to be wrong.
Picking up "Harry Potter" for the first time as a college senior feels a lot like being 12 years old and misunderstood.
I instantly traveled back to the time when this story began, when everyone was young and wanted to jump on the Hogwarts Express. I began to flip through the pages and feel the excitement that other readers did. I understood what it’s like to immerse yourself in a story that feels relatable no matter your age. I was transported into a world filled with magic and mischief, good and evil, sadness and joy.
It didn’t take long before I realized why there was hype around this series during its entire duration. Although, maybe duration isn’t the correct word, because honestly, I cannot see the story ever ending. It’s not something I can simply separate myself from.
People are always going to argue that this series isn’t religious, but maybe it’s time to think again. If you are simply assuming based on speculations you’ve heard, I would challenge you to push that from your mind. I am extremely grateful to be reading these books at 22 years old, because I was given the opportunity to see these stories from a different perspective. But now that I’ve started the series, I wonder how it would have positively affected me as a child. I only say positive because it would be hard to gain anything negative from these stories. They teach age-old lessons in a fresh way. Important lessons; lessons I could have used growing up.
If you judge a book based on the negative connotations that surround it, you’ll never truly be able to enjoy a book.
It’s time to stop censoring literature based on assumptions. Think of all the great worlds we’ve already closed ourselves off from.
“Don't let the muggles get you down.” -- from "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban"
