I grew up listening to the cliché that, “Books are a person’s best friend”. But, it was actually when I
stumbled upon The Harry Potter Series
that I realized what a delight books can be. I had the life-changing encounter
of getting introduced to the magical world of Harry Potter purely by chance. I
was all of 12 years old when I read the first Harry Potter book. Little did I
know back then that it would mark the beginning of a life-long obsession. If I remember correctly, the first five books
of the series were published by then and the first two had already been
converted into movies. I could have watched the movies first and read the books later. But, as I had no access to the movies, I turned to the books instead.
The fact that I read the books first and then watched the movies is something I
consider as a blessing in disguise.
The Harry Potter books offered me a chance to delve deep
into the world of Harry, Ron and
Hermione. A world in which “love”
and “friendship” existed in their
purest forms. It has been close to 6 years since the world of Harry Potter was
brought to a fitting closure by the one who created it at the first place – J.K. Rowling. But, it continues to
flourish in the hearts of millions of Potter-maniacs
like me.
There were so many moments
in the series when one would simply be in awe of what had been written. Whether
it was Harry seeing his parents in The
Mirror of Erised or Draco’s predicament
while killing Dumbledore, each moment had its own speciality. And to top it all
was the breathtaking climax in which
the proverbial notion of victory of good
over evil took centre stage. Also, the manner in which the characters were
developed throughout the seires is something astonishing. My personal favourite
character of Severus Snape had so
many layers embroiled unto him that it was a treat to see the various facets of
him unravel in the way it did. The character of Albus Dumbledore was also remarkably portrayed. “The only one you-know-who ever feared”
came across as the wise old man who knew everything. The duel between Voldemort
and Dumbledore at The Ministry of Magic remains to be one
of my favourite sequences in the series.
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| Two of the greatest wizards of all time engaged in a fierce duel |
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| "I show not your face but your heart's desire." ~The Mirror of Erised |
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| "Killing is not nearly as easy as the innocent believe." ~Albus Dumbledore to Draco Malfoy |
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| The final battle |
The fact that I was reading Harry Potter books at a stage
when I could connect with the
emotions of the adolescent characters enriched my experience appreciably. Puppy love, conflicting thoughts,
risk-taking impulse – Was Harry facing the same dilemmas as I was? It is
amazing how books can influence various aspects of your day-to-day life. Using 'Alohomora!' in front of locked doors,
mistaking every other black dog on the street as Sirius Black, wishing you could apparate to places instead of going there normally, developing a
crush on Hermione Granger (or,
rather, Emma Watson) – these are things only a Potteraholic could have experienced.
Every generation is associated with certain things which
cast a spell (no pun intended) on it. I will always feel that I am lucky to
belong to a generation which saw the advent of Harry Potter.
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