Intrigued by Harry Potter (Part 1)

Since the passing of Queen Elizabeth II into history last month, I have not only been studying the history of British monarchy in my spare time, but I also wanted to learn more about British culture. In so doing, a franchise has come to my attention, which I have been ignoring for so long. It is a series of seven fantasy novels, which also became a film franchise named “Harry Potter” created by author J.K. Rowling. The series is a about the boy named Harry Potter who goes to a magical school named Hogwarts to learn how become a wizard. Along his journey, he makes a few friends (as well as some enemies), goes on adventures, endures personal turmoil, hardship, and sacrifice, learns meaningful and powerful lessons, and yet through it all - triumphs.    

I am surprised by the fact that although I am in my mid-thirties, I find myself becoming drawn to it now. I never was before. The first book of the series called ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ was published when I was eleven years old, but I was unaware of it, and I was not interested in reading at the time. Even when the book was adapted into a film in 2001, I was not particularly interested though I did see the film when it was released on DVD. I saw each of the first four films only once when they were releases on DVD, but I had not had any repeat viewings since. My interests were elsewhere. Since I did not grow up with the stories and themes throughout the series, I feel as though I had missed out on the whole experience of getting excited over the release of both the books and the films. 

Now fifteen years after the publication of the seventh and final novel of the book series in 2007, I am now being strangely drawn to Harry Potter (perhaps like a moth to a flame), though I am not sure why. Why am I being drawn into this series? Is it merely curiosity? Why does it feel like a temptation? I feel as though I am about to wander through a slightly darkened corridor filled with relics I have not yet seen before. My curiosity is getting the better of me and so I am tip toeing with caution into the corridor without knowing what is on the other side or whether I will get caught. 

Admittedly, I was hesitant to explore the series. I am fearful that I may become a fan of it and be tempted to collect items relating to it. I was also worried that if I were to read the books, I would be absorbing information that was irrational, unnecessary, and useless. I worried that I would be wasting my time. Besides, at my age, I always thought of Harry Potter as being geared more towards children and I would be embarrassed if this was true. Am I too old for it? Am I being snobbish about it? I then reached out to two of my friends on twitter to seek their advice. One friend replied, “I love Harry Potter. You will probably get hooked but who cares you do you, don’t ever be embarrassed.”

Another friend, who is now a librarian, told me of her origins of how she became interested in Harry Potter. She told me that she was not interested in the books or movies until she was 19 years old. At that time, she was in college, playing volleyball, and had a tournament. Her roommate brought the first movie to watch on her laptop and she became hooked. They often watched the first two movies together, though the third film was not released as of yet. During some of the tough times and personal heartaches she endured, she found herself watching the first movie at night before bed for a feel good/safe movie. She continued to love it since. After the third movie came out, she then read the books. She advised me, “I would start with the movies for fun if I were you. If you enjoy them, read the books. The books are much more detailed and could possibly ruin the movies for you, which seems to be the case a lot of the times for me with books vs. movies.”

After reading the responses of my online friends, I ended up purchasing a “Harry Potter: Years 1-6” Widescreen 6-Disc DVD Box Set from eBay with the winning bid of $0.99 with $3.49 for shipping (though no one else was bidding). I thought it was a good price for six movies.

Soon after my purchase, I realized that I did not have the concluding two films called "Deathly Hollows" Part 1 (2010) and Part 2 (2011) on DVD, so I decided to search for them online and buy them locally if I could. Against my better judgement, I found myself doing something I never thought I would do. Several days ago, there was a local listing online on Facebook marketplace for “Harry Potter 8 Film Favorites Years 1-4 & 5-8” Movies DVDs with Slipcovers, which was selling for only 10 dollars. 

I thought it was a good price for eight movies and I thought they could be used as good back up discs in any case of the other ones froze while playing or wouldn't load in the DVD player. I then contacted the seller through Facebook, and we agreed to meet at a local bus/train/subway station for out transaction at 6:30pm on the seventh of October. When the afternoon of that day arrived, I arrived early at the station, and I soon found myself staring at the dark clouds approaching while the sun was setting. I wondered if it was an omen.

Before I knew it, the seller approached me and said, “Manny?”

“Oh yes. Hello,” I replied.

“Here you go,” she said as she handed me the DVDs.

“And here you go. Thank you,” I replied as I handed her the 10-dollar bill.

Once our transaction was completed, she was gone as suddenly as she had appeared. I felt a little sad. She seemed like a nice person, and I would have loved to have been friends with her, but I understand why she left quickly. I am a stranger, I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable, and she doesn’t need me as a friend. I ended taking the long way on my journey back to my apartment. On my walk, I realized just how lonely I was. Perhaps, like Harry Potter, I was looking for a place to belong to and in longing to form a strong bond of friendship.

Now it has been one week since I acquired the DVDs, and I am about to embark on my journey through the cinematic world of Harry Potter. I have a mundane plan for the month of October. Every Saturday night happens to be my movie night and so I intend to watch two Harry Potter films per Saturday night until October 31st of this year. Now I have the DVDs of the whole film series, I am going to watch them all and there is no turning back. After I finish viewing the films for the month of October, we will see what happens from there.

What lessons will I learn from these movies? Will I become a fan of this? What will I discover through this journey? 

I don’t have many expectations, but here is what I think might happen. I think I will like the film series. I think I will end up becoming a casual fan at the very least, but I don't expect to be able to participate in any Harry Potter trivia games and know every answer to every question on it. I think that if I end up liking it, it will become a guilty pleasure. I am hoping that I can at least glean some lessons from it and maybe even indirectly learn some writing and/or storytelling tips indirectly from the creation of J.K. Rowling.  

In my next blog entry (slated for October 31 or sometime in the beginning of the month of November), I intend to share my thoughts on each of the films, my cinematic experience through the series, and its impact on me. I hope that it will be an enlightening one.

With all this said, I want to conclude this blog entry with a quote. I was unsure of what kind of quote I could share. I didn't want to use a mere sentence or dialogue from the books. After some searching, I have thought that the concluding remarks of J.K. Rowling's commencement address of Harvard University in 2008 would be appropriate. I have chosen her concluding remarks for two reasons. First, the campus of the prestigious university in which she spoke years ago, have been my stomping grounds for over a year now and I live within a few miles for there. Secondly (as you will read), her literal walk to the end of a corridor leading her to the study of Classics mirrors my metaphorical walk through a corridor leading me to the cinematic stories that were created by her.

Here are the following words written and spoken by J.K. Rowling:

“One of the many things I learned at the end of that Classics corridor down which I ventured at the age of 18, in search of something I could not then define, was this, written by the Greek author Plutarch: What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.

That is an astonishing statement and yet proven a thousand times every day of our lives. It expresses, in part, our inescapable connection with the outside world, the fact that we touch other people’s lives simply by existing.

But how much more are you, Harvard graduates of 2008, likely to touch other people’s lives? Your intelligence, your capacity for hard work, the education you have earned and received, give you unique status, and unique responsibilities. Even your nationality sets you apart. The great majority of you belong to the world’s only remaining superpower. The way you vote, the way you live, the way you protest, the pressure you bring to bear on your government, has an impact way beyond your borders. That is your privilege, and your burden.

If you choose to use your status and influence to raise your voice on behalf of those who have no voice; if you choose to identify not only with the powerful, but with the powerless; if you retain the ability to imagine yourself into the lives of those who do not have your advantages, then it will not only be your proud families who celebrate your existence, but thousands and millions of people whose reality you have helped change. We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.

I am nearly finished. I have one last hope for you, which is something that I already had at 21. The friends with whom I sat on graduation day have been my friends for life. They are my children’s godparents, the people to whom I’ve been able to turn in times of trouble, people who have been kind enough not to sue me when I took their names for Death Eaters. At our graduation we were bound by enormous affection, by our shared experience of a time that could never come again, and, of course, by the knowledge that we held certain photographic evidence that would be exceptionally valuable if any of us ran for Prime Minister.

So today, I wish you nothing better than similar friendships. And tomorrow, I hope that even if you remember not a single word of mine, you remember those of Seneca, another of those old Romans I met when I fled down the Classics corridor, in retreat from career ladders, in search of ancient wisdom:
As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.

I wish you all very good lives. Thank-you very much.”