ALWAYS…YEAH! These are the very words that strike me when I think of my first love, HARRY… ** WAIT-FOR-IT** POTTER!! And nope, do not mistake it for my love or obsession towards the person who plays the character! It is my love for the phenomenon, the series, the SUPER-DUPER-MEGAFOXY-AWESOME-HOT feeling I get when I think of it… please keep up with me if this gets too long.
I will only share my experience from when I had watched the movie and read the books for the first time. If I start illustrating the re-watch and the re-reading sessions, we might have to be here for a very long time. So let’s keep that for some other day!
It all started in the summer of 2002… when I first watched the movie about a bespectacled wizard. The very fact that captivated me was its simplicity, I watched the movie at home, on a video player, and I understood every scene of it (though I was resorting to the subtitles way too often )
“Fantasy” and the idea of it had always lured me, and I need not mention the fact that I was head over heels in love with this movie! Yes, I was in love!!! The second part of the movie was released in 2003, and I watched it in Tamil!! (ALERT: NEVER, TRY THIS! NEVER!! THE VOICE AND THE TRANSLATIONS FOR THE SPELLS ARE INCORRIGIBLE! )
But I must admit that I enjoyed the movie thoroughly (except the parts where they use spells, mind it!). And again, it was CLEAR, PURE LOVE! My love for the series grew as days passed by, and I eagerly waited to release the other parts!
Every summer marked the release of a new part, and that is how I got to quench my thirst in the scorching heat (nope! I am not exaggerating! 😉 )! This is all about the time I satisfied myself with JUST the movies (silly me!)
Then came 2008, nearly eight months had passed since the last HP movie was released (HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF PHOENIX, in 2007), and the sixth part was yet to be released.
Having gone through a major break-up with my best friend, life was hell for me… I had nothing to resort to at school. I spent my time reading Enid Blyton books (the description about food in these books, though), so yeah, I decided NOT to wait for the release of the next part and borrowed the book from my school’s library and D-A-M-N. Should I mention that this was the best decision that I had ever made?
BLISS… PURE BLISS was what I felt when I read every side of the book… the way the story was knit, the way J.K Rowling described the intensity of the characters and their mindset, the pace of the story. Every frigging thing was impressive! And should I mention the details?! O-M-G!! I completed the book in twelve hours, and it took me half an hour to read the last twenty sides alone (cause at this point, the pages got wet from my tears!)!
This was the first time a book had moved me to tears, and man, wasn’t it special?! That was the day I decided that I must read the books first and then watch their movie adaptations! Having read the sixth part, I could not wait to read the next and the final book! As my friends were not Potterheads themselves, I had to depend on my school library to supply me HP books!
And to add to the joy (pun intended), there was only ONE copy of it in the library, bother mentioning the demand for it! The urge to borrow it made me befriend the librarian (who was not exactly a “sweet” person) and get details about the return date of the book!
Even after making such arrangements, I had to wait for three long weeks to get access to the book (curse the girl who had borrowed and failed to return it, God forbid!)! And when I did get to hold the book… it was like winning the Tri-Wizard Tournament (and nope, I am not overstating the feel!)
The final book– the book that marked the end of this magnanimous phenomenon! I cannot describe the joy and excitement I felt when I got the final book—the feeling: heavenly.
This book untied all the knots that the author had put in the first six parts, and everything began to make sense! This part also included the death of many characters, making the readers cry their hearts out! But more than everything else, it was the love, the passion, and genuineness of the story and that of the characters that impressed me the most!
The author put the biggest twist in the whole story, the part where she unraveled the answer to the biggest question… THE B-E-S-T! I could not get over the feeling for the next few weeks (and by few, I mean a “LOT”!)! I decided to read the first five parts to hold on still and be part of the wizarding world! I was not ready to give up on the magical world yet. I read the five books in less than a week, and nope, it was NOT an overdose at all!
Come on, how can “Harry Potter” be an overdose?! Puhleeessseee!! That very year, I got to see the sixth movie! Six months later, the first part of the final movie! And after another six months, the final movie was released… in 3D! I cannot explain the joy I felt when I stepped into the theater!
Only Potterheads will know the chills they get when the music starts playing for the “Warner Bros.” logo! Everything was fine until Hedwig died! This was followed by a series of deaths (very gruesome, heartbreaking ones!), making us want to curse the director despite knowing the story!
Though the movie did not recreate the feel that the book had created (it never will!), it did justice! And when the movie was over, every single viewer gave a standing ovation, and after that, every row had a teary-eyed fan! In fact, some were bawling (I was one among that group!), but this was how the movie ended!
Harry Potter is the best thing that has happened to me! This might sound like an overstatement, but it had always been there for me when I was lonely and in need of company! It has always created a “warmth” inside my heart and my mind that washed away all sadness.
It taught me how to handle things in life and how we must look out for our near and dear ones without expecting even a smidgeon in return! Never have I felt the urge to defend anything, but HARRY POTTER! I grew up along with it, and I can assure you that it will bring the best out of any person who gets to read it!
This is because the books have philosophy rooted into ‘em most simply and elegantly! The words used are neither naïve nor sophisticated! They have the right blend of directness and perspective! This is essential to make a book a success (do I sound a tad too meh?!)!
This comes from the bottom of my heart, the very deepest point, “HARRY POTTER IS LIFE”! This is because; the characters in the series will inspire the readers to develop their attitude and the language too! Only God knows if our queen (Ms. Rowling) had penned them in such a way or if it was involuntary!
Each character is etched so that the readers will learn the importance of life even from the most trivial of things! Even the antagonist of the story teaches the readers the essence of passion and determination!
The quotes will force the readers to re-read them! Even the most serious characters will convey their thoughts in the suavest manner, making us respect them (though they are fictitious!)!
And sometimes, they will end up sounding sassy and sarcastic as well, as if at some point even they felt like, “To hell with being serious all the time!”! And THAT is EXACTLY where Harry Potter scores! It teaches the best, even to the worst of students!
So yeah, if people ever ask me, “Harry Potter?! After all this time?!”. Imma be like, “ALWAYS!!”! And if I ask the “series” if it will be there for me, it will say,” I never left!”; “Until the very end!”!! That is where it stands!
P.S: For all those who did not get the highlighted parts, that was me quoting scenes from Harry Potter!
P.P.S: Thank you, Ms.Rowling, for gifting us with such a wonderful bounty! Thank you for everything! The demand for the books will definitely prove the eternal love that we have and will ALWAYS have for you and your masterpiece!
THANK YOU!
Last Updated on by Himani Rawat
Top Comments