Four words which may have changed a lot of people. It All Ends Today. But there are simply two words which changed my life eleven years ago. Harry Potter. Those two words, that name, inevitably changed everything I would be obsessed with in the future. Now, I'm not talking about the kind of obsessed where I draw pictures of the terrific trio and put them on my wall or stalk the actors who play the characters in the films. I mean the kind of obsessed where it literally changes my personality.
Think about it. If I'd never cracked open Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, I probably would not have found the love of reading which I have today. There's something fulfilling about reading a new story about a new group of characters in a new world. Something wonderful and exciting about getting to leave your own world, even if it's just for a few minutes, to visit Hogwarts or Middle Earth or Alagaesia or even just Lawrence, KS (if you've never been there, that is). But what is it about Harry that makes his story so intriguing to children (and now adults) everywhere? The story of Harry Potter transcends generation, gender, and so much more. But why?
Sure, Harry is destined to be a hero and we know that, one day, he will have to stand up to the man who murdered his parents in cold blood. And we follow his story in the meantime when we could choose to read other books. Harry himself is no extraordinary person, if you think about it, is he? He goes to school, he makes a few friends and a few enemies and he goes through the stage which all young adults go through; teenage angst. So why is he so amazing?
The answer is simple: It's not Harry that's amazing. Or rather, it's not just him. It's everyone else with whom he surrounds himself. Hermione Granger, the intelligent, bushy-haired, sometimes overzealous young girl. Ron Weasley, the fiery-haired, loveable friend who's always there for our hero... well most of the time anyway. The rest of the Weasleys who seem to adopt Harry as their own, not because he's famous, but because they know family is the most important thing. They teach us that throughout the books. Without the Weasleys, Harry might have befriended Malfoy and I'm sure we can all imagine how that might have turned out.
But not just Harry's friends. What about his professors? McGonagall, the wise, sometimes funny, stern, but caring professor who was there the night Harry was left with his aunt and uncle. Snape, the man who hates Harry because of Harry's father, but loved Harry's mother so much. We see Snape's true colors in the final installment of the films and the novels. And let's not forget Dumbledore. Dumbledore: the man who, in truth, raised Harry like a pig for slaughter, but who did truly care for the boy nonetheless. A man revered by the wizarding world and loved by his students. It is partly because of Dumbledore that Harry was able to defeat Voldemort in the end.
But not only Dumbledore. As I said earlier, Harry could not have done any of this alone. He needed Hermione and Ron and McGonagall and even Snape. He needed them all. He needed help as all heroes do. As we humans could not, Harry could not have done any of this alone.
It is not Harry himself to whom we relate, but the other characters; Hermione or Ron or even Neville. Those characters make us keep reading the story which we began reading because of Harry and because JK Rowling is such a fabulous author.
Rowling is inspiring and I'm glad that she allowed changes to be made in HP7:2. Yes, I said I'm glad changes were made. If it had been done exactly the same as the books, I may have felt empty because it had been a letdown. But the Battle of Hogwarts took up most of the final film and they changed it just enough to make it exciting while keeping enough to satisfy the true fans. It was well done, well-filmed, and the music was fantastic. I'm not sure why I ever disliked Alexandre Desplat as a composer, but her regained my favor with that score.
I'm getting a little rambly and I apologize, but if you saw the film, you'd understand. There's just so much going on in my head right now. Voldemort is dead. My childhood is over. My mischief is, sadly, managed. What do I obsess over now? I'll tell you what. I'm going to continue writing and taking cues from my favorite authors and hopefully my books will be half as loved as Harry Potter because no author could ever trump JK Rowling.
JK Rowling is my idol. Without her, I would definitely not be where I am today. So I say thank you, Ms. Rowling. Thank you for thinking up Harry Potter on a train without a piece of paper and sticking with the idea long enough to do all you've done. Thank you from the bottom of my heart and, if I ever meet you, I think I'll be too in shock to speak.
That is my post for the day. This is Kate, signing off and remember...
Stay random!
