Harry Potter; a name that belongs to most of our childhoods, and captivates us with all its imagination and magic. And for the readers, Harry Potter books are these iconic classics, that go much deeper than the movies and take you directly to Hogwarts without a letter.
And while some people are huge fans of this story and belong to the fandom of Potterheads (me included), the rest just doesn’t get why it’s special. That’s why, as a fan, I’m completing my duty of proving why this book series is not so normal!
In what’s coming, I will be taking you through many lessons we learn from Harry Potter and his books. Let’s dive in:
The story of the writer’s success
In every book, there is a part of the writer. This powerful expression pushes me always to notice the author’s story first.
In our case, J.K. Rowling is the star. She is the British author that came up with Harry Potter back in 1990. It all started when she thought of a boy who discovers he’s a wizard, and before this boy takes his path, the author found herself facing some difficult times. The death of her mother, the sudden divorce after having a child, and the poor financial situation that made living so tough for her. All these events mixed with depression and confusion accompanied J.K. on her journey of writing the series. But this woman chose to use her pain as an engine, as she said in her Harvard speech: “So rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life”
Five years later, the first book was fresh and ready to go. But it was only the beginning of rejections. Publishers never believed in the magic of Harry Potter, and they all doubted the story and its potential success. It took her thirteen tries to finally find a publisher that accepts. And immediately the book went famous and J.K. Rowling slowly started building her success.
She is a real inspiration, and her story makes her books special. The way she wrote from pain and suffering is promising that the book will be deep and strong.
Love is a superpower
“The ability to love” was the only strong magic Harry had that his enemy didn’t. Voldemort never experienced love, while Harry had love keeping him alive. And that was his biggest strength.
We saw the superpower of love in every story. Harry Potter survived death at first with his mother’s love, he was yearly protected with love in his blood, and he saved lives with love for his friends. Even in the moments of grief, he had love protecting him, and as Dumbledore explains “grief is an expression of love, and love keeps Voldemort out”
And just like in Harry Potter, the superpower of love protects and keeps us all alive daily.
The magical friendship of the characters
We always hear about the power of friendship, especially in books and movies. Harry Potter was no exception, it even gave more of that in every fragment of the story. Friendship was the biggest savior of Harry’s life.
The golden trio, Harry, Ron, and Hermoine, were the main example of real friendship. They were always ready to sacrifice for each other and to come out of their ways just to help and be there.
Some of the heartwarming moments between them were those:
- When no one believed Harry’s words, when the whole world was against him, only his best friends believed and supported him.
- Whenever they faced a new mystery, where a piece of information was needed, Hermoine would give so much time to read and research. She would always use her knowledge to help.
- When someone had the audacity to call Hermoine a Mudblood or comment on her Muggle heritage, the two boys were always the first to defend her and stand up for her.
And the list goes on, but with this passage from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire it becomes complete:
“He liked it best when he was with Rom and Hermoine, and they were talking about other things, or else letting him sit in silence while they played chess. He felt as though all three of them had reached an understanding they didn’t need to put into words” -J.K. Rowling
Worrying about death will steal your life
The most miserable character of all time is Voldemort. And it’s all because of his obsession and fear of death. He was ready to do anything terrible to stay alive.
Through his life story, we can see and sense how Voldemort was too afraid of dying that he forgot to live. He would constantly look for immortality solutions, like the Elixir or the seven Horcruxes to store pieces of his soul. This made him so miserable, as it was always what haunted him.
On the other hand, we had the chance to see Dumbledore and his opinion on death. Contrarily to the last, he was not afraid of dying. He even saw the good in it and embraced the concept of death at the end. As he said “It is the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more.” and also “To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.”
It’s all about finding the light in the dark:
“Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” This quote itself is worth being written in front of us all day for how inspirational.
It was yet a big metaphor said by Dumbledore during a dark time at Hogwarts.
“There can be no light without the dark. And so it is with magic. Myself, I always try to live within the light.” by Horace Slughorn is yet another strong quote about the matter.
In Harry Potter books, it was always a thing to try and seek the light in the dark. In the hardest times, we saw them friends and family come together, to comfort each other and make a laugh out of it when possible. True that the story of Harry only becomes darker as it goes, but with courage, love, and confidence there was no place for complete darkness.
Conclusion
With Harry Potter books, we enter a world of magic and fun. We travel to Hogwarts and make memories and adventures with them. Yet the books are special and strong for the core messages and lessons it holds.
After completing them, we must check if this piece of fantasy did the job of enlightening our souls. We learn to strive for success no matter how hard we fall, to love and allow the magic of love around us, to stick to our friends and build deep connections just like Harry did, to live in the moment not worrying about the unknown of a future, and lastly, to always find the light in the dark.