Harry Potter: the magic of the wizarding world

By Sophia Doshi

I've always called Harry Potter my 'gateway fandom'. A gateway fandom is the first time a reader and/or viewer joins a significant fanbase and then proceeds to enter other fanbases after becoming a part of that one. Harry Potter was the first fanbase I joined around when I was around eight or nine years old. I had read all of the books by the time I was eleven or twelve. It opened up a truly magical world of wizards and creatures that my tiny little brain could barely comprehend in its excitement. I gravitated to Hermionie Granger's character very early in my journey through Harry Potter. She was smart, witty, and not without good morals. Like in Sorcerer's Stone, when she chose to help Harry and Ron go through the maze, even though it meant that she was breaking the rules. Because of that, Harry and Ron stayed loyal to her while she stayed loyal to them. It's no wonder they're called the 'golden trio'!
While Hermione is in my top three favorite characters in the series, she is joined by Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, not in that order. They are some of the best fictional characters ever written, and while I don't agree with most of the things that JK Rowling has done and said, I do agree with these characters that she has written. Sirius is one of those men who you may not always know everything about, yet you know you could always trust him. Remus is like a father who takes in children, never allowing himself to attach too much to the children because he knows if he did, he would burn the world for them if needed. 

And they're both dead. Whoops. 

Yet they still leave a great impact on my life. I grew up with the trustworthy Sirius and the protective Remus, both of which gave me some of the personality traits I have today. I do believe I am a trustworthy and protective person, and because of Hermione, I take pride in my intelligence (which I am not afraid to show off). You may ask, why haven't I written about  Harry or Ron? Well, I have an answer for you. Harry and Ron are both great characters. Harry took on responsibilities that no teenager should ever have to bear—let alone an adult—and then carried out the burdens of a whole collective of people in the wizarding world. He had the lives of millions to protect, and he did, indeed, protect those millions. He's courageous and caring, which is something that the wizarding world needed during that time. As for Ron, he is your classic side character; he's loyal and unintentionally funny, which is also something the wizarding world needed. I think he probably made the most jokes in the whole series, if at all. 

In the end, the wizarding world made me who I am today. It introduced me to the world of books, and the beautiful worlds that can be created with great minds putting ink on paper. To be honest, I don't remember how many times I have re-read the series; I can say with some truth that it has been at least four. We visited the world of Harry Potter in Universal Studios in Florida a couple of times. The first of those times, it was my birthday, so my brother and I each came home with two wands each—me with my own custom wand and Hermione's, and my brother with his own custom wand and Draco's. The butterbeer there was delicious and the experience was phenomenal, and something I will never forget. I still have those wands, as well as the robes I wore years ago when I dressed up as Hermione Granger for Halloween. For that costume, my brother had bought me a light-up version of Hermione's wand. I still have it, yet the batteries are long dead. These sweet memories will stay with me forever, even as an adult. I will introduce my children to this series, in an effort to teach them what it taught me. 

Cover image from Jack and the Geekstalk