I, like others, cannot wait for July 31st to come, because that’s when the print version of the play will be out. I remember the buzz every time a new Potter book was announced. The 12-year-old me would start fantasising the smell of the pages, the illustrations on the cover, the plot, etc. Even as I grew up, Potter mania became something more than just a childhood thing. The story began to mean new things to me.
There are a couple of things that make Potter fiction distinct from, say, The Famous Five or The Secret Seven. Apart from the obvious fact that they are witches and wizards, the children in Potter are not just prowling around for clues. Their fight is always bigger, darker. Their misdemeanours could cost them not just house points but also their lives. They are intelligent and stand for the marginalised, in this case, elves such as Dobby and the Muggles.
Rebellion and power struggle are recurring themes.
One of my favourite books is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, where the students revolt against Professor Umbridge, who ousts Dumbledore.
Hogwarts plunges into darkness during Umbridge’s tenure. Rewards are showered on students who blindly obey. And, the school is forced to believe that the world is rosy outside, when, in reality, there is dark magic and massacres. However, the students see through the lies and practise Defence against the Dark Arts. The school witnesses a mini revolution of sorts against Umbridge. Now, who hasn’t applauded and whistled when the Wesley Twins, unleash spells to nag Umbridge?
But, hasn’t breaking rules and Potter always gone hand-in-hand? I had to fight with my folks who hid the books during exams. In school, teachers often stumbled upon students stealthily reading the Potter books in different corners. And my copy of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was confiscated and withheld in the staff room for weeks! In college, reading Potter became the ultimate symbol of protest. Students read out the Umbridge part to register their peaceful resistance against unfair measures by the college administration.
One of my friends tweeted the other day, “I would raise kids just to read Potter to them.” I could not agree more. Potter painted a complex picture of evil at a time when I saw things in black and white. For instance, the seventh book revealed that a part of Voldemort, the evil lord of the wizarding world, was hidden in Harry too. And, to decimate him, Harry had to destroy a part of himself. Now, is there a better way to tell children that a bit of evil resides in all of us?
The potions teacher at Hogwarts, Severus Snape, immortalised by the brilliant Alan Rickman, is the most nuanced character sketch of a villain in children’s fiction ever. We assume he is in league with dark forces because of his hatred for Harry. But, we are proved wrong, and Snape turns out to be a true fighter against Voldemort.
In a way, both the Muggle and wizarding worlds are not entirely different, and are inhabited by people who suffer from similar vices. Rowling gifted us a parallel world, but it was not to offer us an escape route, but a channel for deeper engagement with the world. As dark news begin to dominate our news channels, I realise how important it is to add a touch of magic to our Muggle existence, and fight the hatred in the world with a Patronus of happy thoughts and values, which a certain wizard with half-moon spectacles, silver beard and twinkling eyes taught us.
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