Take Out Your Wands and Robes, Harry’s Coming Back

Follow Jess on Twitter

When J.K. Rowling created the wonderful, magical world of Harry Potter, who knows what age group she was intending to target. Turns out, she ended up pulling in fans from every age group.

But why is it such a big deal with people our age? Young wizards in a boarding high school, in a world that doesn’t exist, how did that trap so many of us?

Well, when Harry made his debut, it was 1997. If I do the math correctly, that means we were around the age of 8. The perfect age to wish one day, owls and thousands of letters would pile up around our house and we would be personally invited to Hogwarts.

Since that first book, we’ve been growing up with Harry and his friends. It wasn’t a geographical obsession – but a worldwide one, so anywhere we turned we could talk to somebody about Snape and they would know who you were talking about.

With each additional book release, we got closer in age to the main characters, so their dilemmas and issues – minus the magical ones – were more relatable to us. By the time the fourth book was released with the Yule Ball, most of us had been in awkward “I like my best friend” situation that Ron and Hermoine were stuck in at the time.

That’s why so many of us are hooked. It’s because Harry Potter is a lingering part of our childhood that is still current and existent. Think about it, how many people at your school do you know are seriously anticipating the upcoming release of the latest movie?

I know a bunch. There’s one girl in one of my classes who wouldn’t sign up to do a presentation until two weeks from now because, “Harry Potter comes out on Friday, I’m having a movie marathon all week.”

Once she said it, about four other people high-fived her because they were just as pumped. I know another person who checks moviefone.com every day to see when he could pre-order tickets.

At this point, we are between the ages of what, 19 and 22? And we’re still this obsessed with Harry? Who can blame us? The seventh book turned movie is going to be so different than any other film released because this time, the cast does not set foot in Hogwarts once.

And not to mention, it’s going to be the most detailed movie yet, because Warner Bros. is only releasing half of the book in the first movie next Friday, and the second half won’t come until July. Talk about suspense.

With the Deathly Hallows Part I coming out Friday, let’s quickly list ways you can prepare, no matter how big of a Harry buff you are.

1. Re-read the seventh book. I know it’s incredibly long, and personally I haven’t read that one yet, but I did hear from numerous people that once you pick it up, you won’t put it down. You have seven days…ready, set, read!

2. Have a movie marathon like my classmate. You can be ambitious and take one day out and watch all six previous movies at once -and that will take a whole day – or you can do one a night, there’s still time.

3. Buy your movie ticket in advance. This is not something you want to wait for DVD people, you will have no friends, or conversations to take part in for a good two weeks if you don’t see the movie in theaters upon it’s release.

And lastly, practice your spells. In the earlier books and movies, we were taught how to unlock doors, levitate, transform, etc. Colleges everywhere are sprouting Quidditch teams now-a-days too. If the school’s team is legit, they’ll have a match on Friday. Go before you go to the movies. Show that school pride along with your love for Harry Potter at this special time.

Related Posts