So I really feel that I should write something about Harry Potter now it’s all over. Having written this, I know I haven’t included anything about the films, but they will never mean the same to me as the books. I love them dearly, and have decided to write this now because having seen the 7th film, I realise that it is the books more than anything else that draw the strongest emotions from me. (Oh, the video games are amazing too!)
I’m not going to bore you with how much of a Harry Potter fan I am – anyone who knew the 11 year old who rolled up to the first day of secondary school can vouch for me, but let’s just say, off the top of my head, if you’re looking to buy some dragon’s liver in Diagon Alley, I know it’s 17 Sickles. OK, so yes, I was a bit of a weird child, I probably still am.
I’m not alone in saying Harry Potter changed my life, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I think as I’ve got older, rereading all of the books proves what a wonderful writing style J. K. R. uses. The books are not written ‘for children’, as such – there is wonderful language and metaphors, seldom seen in other children’s books. I don’t claim to be a English lit expert, but J. K. R’s use of the language is fantastic, and I’m pretty sure there’s more than a few children who have a wider vocabulary (I’m not talking about words like ‘Muggle’!) thanks to reading Harry Potter. I love J. K. R’s writing style because she never talks down to her readership – she assumes they are all capable, and the books are much better for it!
I was lucky enough to be born on 8th July, which will be remembered by some as the date that Prisoner of Azkaban was released in 1999, as well as Goblet of Fire in 2000. Those days were amazing, and somehow, my parents managed to get copies of the book to where we were living in Norway. What stars! Once we’d moved back to the UK, I went to the remaining midnight openings, which were almost more magical than the books themselves! Book number seven, the Deathly Hallows was released the same year that I finished school, so by that point, I had literally grown up with Harry.
Reading all of those books for the first time is something I will always remember, or rather, finishing them is – that longing for it to last just a few more pages, yet a desire to see how it will all turn out, and finally, the realisation that the next book might not come out for a couple years yet! The emptiness on finishing the 7th instalment, in the early hours of 21st July 2007 was mind numbing. I’d never experienced anything like it before. The feeling of satisfaction that you know how it ends is combined with the horror that there’s never going to be anything ‘new’ – fair enough, the films were yet to be released, but I knew the storyline.
J. K. Rowling has made me escape to a world I could never hope to dream up, laugh and cry like a baby and she deserves this lowly blogger’s thanks.
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