We all know and love the Harry Potter series with its likable characters, familiar settings and charming escapist qualities... or at least a significant amount of people reading this article do. In any forum or online article, putting Harry Potter in the title basically equates to free views or clicks and honestly, it just makes sense. For some of the privileged few, J.K. Rowling’s perennially relevant series was likely the catalyst that sparked not only our love of reading but was among one of the first books that we read as children. But I’m sure you’ve heard enough people gushing over Harry Potter; by now it’s probably pretty old hat. (Sorting hat, perhaps?)
As an English major, you’re essentially assumed to like reading, writing and books in all of their various forms. That statement is in most cases is the essence of any college major—you have a profound love for the subject matter you choose to study, year in and out. However, for the first few years of college I didn’t read at all. Sure, I would occasionally crack a book open for class just to understand a novel in layman’s terms but sincerely, reading for pleasure did not interest me in the slightest.
Now you might be thinking, “Well that’s all well and great but what does this have to do with Harry Potter?” Roughly around January of this year, I decided that maybe reading should be something to prioritize, seeing as at that point I was a third-year English major. I gave myself a simple goal: read a new book every two weeks and don’t stop for anything. After making that resolution, I decided that after some 14 or so years of having not read the classic series, I should probably give good old Harry P a shot to see what all the hype was about. So somewhere around the end of January, I opened up my copy of The Sorcercer’s Stone and lo and behold, I finished it in nine days.
Now of course, this may not come as a surprise to anyone who has read any of the Harry Potter books, but as I came close to finishing the first novel, I made sure that I had the second book close by. Literally the day after finishing my first novel in years, I eagerly picked up its sequel and tore into it with a fervor I could not understand. The writing was witty and charming, the characters felt realistic enough to sympathize with and the setting of Hogwarts was the perfect escape for my winter woes. I was falling in love with something that I knew I had always wanted to like, but sincerely, something awakened inside of me during that transition.
Soon, I found myself finishing the second and third book. As the months wore on, I slowed down a bit and read less, but eventually through perseverance and a genuine love for my newfound favorite book series, I finished the seventh novel The Deathly Hallows on July 17, 2015 at 1:47 P.M. and honestly, I felt a profound sense of loss. From that point on, I knew that reading was a luxury that I hadn’t been allowing myself simply because I felt like it was a waste of effort.
Harry Potter is, was and will continue to be a literary and cultural phenomenon for years to come. In the history of children’s literature, there has hasn’t quite been a series that has matched Harry Potter’s level of critical acclaim or popularity among both children and adults alike. For that matter, I doubt that there will ever be something like it again. So maybe it’s that time again to go dig out your copy of Harry Potter. Or for that matter, any book that made you love to read, because it’s never too late to meet an old friend again.
