Alohomora!

It is no surprise to many of you (if indeed anyone is reading this) to find that I am a Harry Potter fan. Let's be honest, there were not many people in my age group who weren't. I have certainly encountered a number of adults who have mixed feelings about it, including one English teacher who claimed that she was forever grateful to J.K Rowling for teaching an entire generation how to pronounce 'Hermione' correctly.

It is very difficult to find someone who hasn't encountered the series in some form or another. Between the publicity and marketing that surrounded the books, to the point that a delay in publishing date was actually considered newsworthy, to the trailers and marketing for the films, Harry Potter was considered somewhat legendary in the realms of children's literature. Never before had a fantasy series aimed for children become so global, to the point that publishers are still looking for something that can replace the gap it left in the market. At least four of the books were in the top 25 for the Nation's favourite books (conducted by the BBC in 2003), when the series wasn't even complete. And that doesn't include the games, spin-offs and Pottermore itself. It spawned debates, brought up questions and, for many of my classmates, made reading popular.

And these were the covers for children!

I was about 10 years old when I was first given a copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone in an attempt to encourage my reading habit and give me something new to read that was suitable for my age group while still being challenging. Let me tell you, that is something that is difficult to achieve. I devoured that book and when I discovered that three had already been published at that point I may have (read 'did') made myself a bit of a pest during book fairs and trips to the bookshops, absolutely begging my parents to let me have the second book at the very least. After all, at this point I had no pocket money and my birthday was too far away.

Fast forward to Christmas and I had apparently been successful, because not only did I receive Chamber of Secrets but I was given all three books at once in a boxed set, and instantly handed my single copy to my little sister so that she could start her own discovery of Harry Potter and the world of Hogwarts that I had come to know and love. Her journey took a very different turn than mine, but we will get into that later.

Those three were the only books in the series that I did not directly buy myself and in a way, I am grateful for that because it meant that when I bought each book, I was buying it for myself and nobody else. They were my property. The journeys I had with these characters were mine. I didn't have to share them. I still did, but that was only because my siblings were only starting to discover why I loved the series so much and I wanted to talk to someone about it. In time, they bought their own copies and stopped borrowing mine.

I grew up with Harry, Ron and Hermione, eventually overtaking them in terms of age. But at no point when exploring their world through their eyes did I start getting annoyed at them because I was older than they were and felt I knew better. I may not have known anything about fighting a magical war and having a powerful wizard getting ready to kill me whenever I let my guard down. But I knew the struggles of school, how a teacher could make or break your desire to learn, the effort to find friends I could trust and the difficulty of living up to other people's expectations, no matter your age.

The last book was published in 2007 just before I left for university, and the last film was released in 2011, just after I had completed my undergraduate degree. I said goodbye to Harry at the same time I was saying goodbye to some pretty important stages in my life and that sense of endings and beginnings stayed with me for a long time.

But as we all know, time does not stand still. It moves on, twisting and turning without any regard for what we were or where we could end up. I am now 24, and rapidly approaching my 25th birthday. It has been almost three years since I last picked up a Harry Potter book and many more since I read the entire series from beginning to end. Life has carried on, but Hogwarts and the Boy-who-lived have been travelling alongside me in many different guises. I own a couple of Harry Potter games. I am part of Pottermore. I have plans to travel to see Harry Potter World with my sister at some point.

But all of this has made me wonder, what was it about Harry Potter that touched us so? Was it the fact that this mistreated little boy was someone special that appealed to us? Was it the thought of a magical world beyond us that caught our attention? Was it something to do with the author and how she treated us through her writing? Or, dare I ask, was it simply the fact that it came at the right time, when the Internet was growing and becoming more commonplace thereby allowing fans to connect across a global scale?

Creative Genius or Lucky Hack?

I love analysing and picking things apart, so now I am taking this moment to set myself a challenge; to read through the entire Harry Potter series and write about my thoughts and feelings book by book. I may mention films occasionally but this will be very much centred on what made me a fan at the start. Now that I know what's ahead and a lot of background information, what do I notice about the characters and the events surrounding them? Do I understand where everyone is coming from or do I still think someone is making the wrong choice? What do I notice about the writing itself and how does it change as the series goes on?

But most importantly, do I still have the same love for the world that J.K Rowling created that I did when I finished that first book all those years ago? Does it deserve a place in my adult heart or is it something that should be looked back on with a sense of nostalgia?

I don't know the answers but hopefully I can uncover something new on this journey and I invite you to pick up your wands, solemnly swear you are up to no good and come with me as I re-discover the world of Harry Potter!