For fans of the Harry Potter books, I have this to say: with the release of the final Harry Potter movie, fans around the globe have reveled in the cinematic beauty and powerful story line of the film. However, while everyone turned their heads towards this new release, I actually took time to relive the beauty of the books.
In times like these, we forget the origin of Harry Potter. The franchise’s intricate plot and awing action sequences make us forget the very fabric of what makes these books and movies so… beautiful.
Yes, that’s the perfect word for it, in my opinion. The themes that underlie the plot twists are what make the books so powerful; Harry Potter teaches us important life lessons very, very well.
Firstly, the books in their entirety focus on one rather conspicuous theme; love for family, and most importantly, for a mother. It touched every reader’s heart as Harry snuck off to longingly stare into the Mirror of Erised, a mirror that revealed the innermost desires of the person looking into it. Reflected in the mirror, Harry saw his entire family waving at him with huge grins on their faces, as Harry’s Mother stood for what was the first time in many years only feet away from him.
What makes these books so wonderful is the second message they spread; to do right even in the face of adversity. Harry, Ron, and Hermione face countless challenges in their quest to destroy Voldemort; however, even in the most dire of circumstances, they stay true to their morals. An example would be the fact that as the entire Room of Requirement burned down in front of them, Harry took the time to search for and save Draco and his friends, even though those boys were the ones who set the place on fire and were his greatest enemies at Hogwarts.
Finally, J.K. Rowling worked long and hard to spread awareness against prejudice. As we see countless times in the books, the wizarding world of Harry Potter looks down upon "Muggles"- those with no magical capabilities. Even Witches and Wizards related to Muggles were seen as filthy “Mudbloods.” Voldemort’s greatest desire was to purge the world of these filthy creatures most definitely unworthy of life as he claimed. Unfortunately, we see this often in the real world in the form of racism and discrimination against ethnic minorities. Rowling cleverly sent the message that all people are equal in many instances throughout the books. As the great Kingsley Shaklebolt so aptly put it in the final Harry Potter book, “every human life is worth the same, and worth saving.”
So, while a huge number of people flock their way into cinemas around the world, they’ll be casting their goodbyes to a franchise that taught them many valuable life lessons. What many people don’t realize, though, is that this will never be their final “goodbye.” Harry Potter themes are immortal, and in that way, the books will live on quite literally forever with their Aurors, Spells, Incantations, and, most importantly, Chocolate Frogs.
-Yasmeen Hayat
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