Yujin: Why you should read Harry Potter

Being one of the world’s best selling fiction books, the Harry Potter series became a staple read among young and old alike, including me. The story is centered around Harry Potter and his two friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, who are the main protagonists fighting against Lord Voldemort, a psychotic and evil villain of the book. When I was as young as 11 years old, I was given Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone, which was the first long novel I ever read. Browsing through the first pages, I was skeptical of the characters, I was not so sure if I was going to like them and finish the whole book; however, after a few more chapters, my family could not get me to do any other activity in my free time other than read. I was pulled into the book by the imagination that J.K. Rowling had created. In my opinion, everyone should at least read it once because of the world-building, and the issues that the characters need to face in the books.

The wizarding world that J.K. Rowling built is out of this world. In the first book, after Harry has met Hagrid, and discovers that he is a wizard, the both of them go to Diagon Alley to do some shopping for a wand, cauldron, books, and other supplies needed to study at Hogwarts. This was my favorite moment of all in the book because it slowly introduces readers to quirks of the wizarding world, of how wizards had a school, a ministry of magic, a currency, and a society to support themselves. Hogwarts was my ideal school that I wanted to go to when I first read the books, Quidditch was a sport that I always imagined playing, and whenever I felt bored with studying in school at the time, I thought the subjects that the students were studying at Hogwarts were more interesting for me than the plot itself. Although I do not like learning about history, I thought History of Magic would be a fun class to study; it would be interesting to learn about the world’s history from a wizard’s point of view. Many people would say that the wizard’s trope was not entirely original, and I agree, but J.K. Rowling executed the world-building in a way that you could picture wizards walking around town trying to use Muggle money.

Unlike many other children’s books, as the series progresses it addresses many issues of family, and society. Sometimes being locked up in his bedroom cupboard for months, being shouted and hit at, and being underfed and neglected, Harry himself was an orphan who had to deal with family issues, living with his mentally and physically abusive aunt and uncle. There is a discrimination of the ‘caste’ of some who were born in the wizarding society. A wizard who is pureblood, or born from parents who are both wizards, will be perceived to be in a higher status than other wizards. Meanwhile, a Mudblood, a greatly offensive word to call a person born the opposite of pureblood, is perceived as a lower caste. Then there are people who were incredibly mistreated and seen as the lowest status of wizards because they are a “squib” or a person who was born from wizards, but cannot perform magic. Another issue that Harry Potter includes is the unreliability of authorities. For example, a secret organization was founded to fight against Lord Voldemort when the Ministry of Magic was failing to acknowledge the problem of mass destruction, and Harry had to form a group to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts himself when the teacher was untrustworthy.

Although some people might not be so keen to read fantasy fiction, I think Harry Potter is an exceptional book. It is a rich blend, including drama, tragedy, mythology, comedy, action, philosophy, romance and mystery. Entertaining aside, I believe Harry Potter teaches us many aspects of life from being brave, never giving up, facing your fears, to learning to question authority, and standing up for yourself.