I solemnly swear I am upto no good
I think I wrote a Harry Potter post in this blog back in college, when I was still trying to find my foothold in writing. Its been ages now but my love for the books and the characters have not diminished. If anything, it has only increased. When you realise how beautifully and logically the things ended, you can only marvel at the genius of JK Rowling. Maybe being 30 and talking about Harry Potter might be taken as a bit , for the lack of a better word, immature. But I just can't help it. Especially now, when I can appreciate the nuances of a brilliant story, the age really does not matter.
I went to a Harry Potter quiz last Sunday and someone has to be there in person to understand what a phenomenal book series it is. Kids and Elders alike had participated in that quiz. People were wearing time turners, Harry Potter themed T-Shirts, Marauder's Map Tshirts and what not! I could not make it beyond the prelims ( I will still have to learn the books by heart to clear a high level quiz like that) but I did manage to grab an audience prize!
But coming back to my love for Harry Potter, I love how, the whole story is narrated only through the eyes of Harry. There is no other point of view here. Harry unravels the story every year through some incident, over hearing someone, some one like Mr. Weasley, Sirius, Hagrid informs Harry about something which happened in the past, or through a wonderfully imagined route by Rowling, memories in the Pensive. This is so different from R.R Martin's Game Of Thrones where every chapter is a PoV of one character and although all of them are in different situation and are totally different personalities, they take ONE story forward. I don't want to digress from the topic but I am thinking as I write and vice-versa and was wondering how two very different ways of story telling bring out an epic story. Please note here that I am in NO WAY comparing the two stories but only the way the story has been told.
Another beauty of Harry Potter books are how each character is defined. Almost every important character has a back story. Dumbledore's relation with his siblings, Hagrid's story of being a part giant, Sirius and his family ... you just cannot have this much depth by just "wishing" to be a great writer. You actually have to work for it ( This is a small mental note for me) My thoughts again go back to GoT where even The Hound has a back story. I am only on the second book of GoT , but rest assured , it deserves its own blog post -- a long one indeed.
Back to Harry Potter and the books. So Rowling had two things delivered out of her books. One is an individual story for every book ... the philosopher's stone, the goblet of fire , the half blood price and then there is the whole "bringing together of the fall of Voldermort" epic - the hints of which are seen from the very first book. Sirius's flying motorbike comes in the first book, the first horocrux and vanishing cabinet is in the 2nd book and the Room of Requirements is in the fourth book! I tried googling but never came across a post that said that Rowling thought of the whole story backwards but I am sure she had in mind, the idea of piecing together a LOT of things. Who would have thought when Dumbledore good naturedly talked to Karakoff about entering the Room of Requirements as he needed to pee, the very room would turn into a major part of the story.
A good story is never complete without a character showing shades or traversing a remarkable growth path.
"After all this Time?"
"Always"
I remember reading this part with my mouth open and eyes wide. Snape helped Harry? The Snape who hated his guts? The Snape who killed Dumbledore? That Snape? How beautifully is Snape etched out! How many times did we read "Dumbledore trusts Snape" and how many times did I say in my mind while reading this , "Well! Dumbledore CAN make mistakes!"
Ron and Hermione stick with Harry through the end. They had a choice! They could always , always walk away! But they stayed, till the very end. I well up even writing about it! I cannot write a Potter article and not rave about Hermione. I was not happy with Hermione ending up with Ron only because I never felt Ron ever treasured her the way she deserved. Hermione was and is the epitome of a strong character. She is intelligent,witty, bossy yet emotional ,friendly yet sarcastic and she is brave -- very very brave. (I want to write about Arya Stark and Daenerys Targaryen but I am stopping myself. This post is about Harry Potter) JK Rowling has so amazingly taken a little boy as a protagonist and with him,takes us, through all his typical growing up journey. I loved the scene when Harry describes his kiss with Cho as "wet". I love it because how easily Rowling points out that even after winning deadly tournaments and cheating death by a hair every single time, Harry will still be a boy!
As much as I love the books, I can never digest the fact that Sirius died and that Harry had not a SINGLE peaceful year for the first 17 years of her life (I am including his life with Dursleys). Rowling gave us all a ray of hope with Sirius -- the closest thing Harry had to a parent! "When all this is over, we will be a proper family" . And he dies! Again, I read this part again and agin -- "No! this is wrong" I thought! I am reading it wrong! It cannot be Sirius. No! No! Harry! why did you not look into the mirror!!
I felt it was a bit odd that Rowling used a whole book to establish Sirius's character and killed him off only in the next to next book. Sad! One funny thing which Tumblr pointed out and I thought it was rather funny! True but funny. It was this -- When Harry drank Felix Felicis or liquid luck, he could have directly gone and killed Voldermort. But then ofcourse, where would be the bravery, the story telling, the struggle and finally the victory!
This story is about all sorts of emotions! Love, Friendship, Trust, hunger for Power, hunger for love (Love Potions) , lonliness, Adolescensce, coming of age, Victory of good over Evil, finding laughter in the darkest of times (Remember .. "I am feeling holy" )
I can go and on and on about this story. I have not covered Fred and George Weasley, Molly and Ginny ( two very strong female characters) about how Malfoy turns weak towards the end or how Neville grows stronger. I have not yet covered about how menacingly powerful was Bellatrix Lestrange or how, even if Narcissa Malfoy belonged to a family of death eaters, she was still a mother at heart -- protective and hopeful till the very end for his son. I have still not covered how mysterious Dumbledore was and how it all unwraps in the end ... leaving the reader confused, angry and all the emotions the trio felt -- we felt it with them!
I never wanted this series to end only till Rowling came out with Skeeter's world cup article of how their current lives are. Suddenly, they were balding, stuck in marital ruts and addicted to fire whisky! That's when I thought it was time to be satisfied. Although, it was a bit ironic how Rowling chose Skeeter's voice to talk about their mid lives. We know that we cannot trust on a single thing Skeeter writes.
However, letting Harry Potter go is as difficult as it was to let go FRIENDS. But we did it and we lived through it. We still have the books and the movies to relive the magic again and again (Although the movies are no match to the books, but they are not bad for quickies)
Thank you Harry, Hermione and Ron. Thank You Rowling!! We let go of you but we hold the memories.
Mischief Managed!
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