All my teachers know.
All my family know.
All my friends know.
In my year I'm basically 'the Harry Potter freak'.
If anyone mentions something remotely related to Harry Potter I automatically turn around and everyone automatically looks at me.
And I quite like it really.
The thing is that some people don't really understand my love for it. Some people do because I have other friends who love it too, but some people are just like:
'Whoa saddo!'
I realise this might be sounding pretty serious at the moment but I just want to explain my love for Harry Potter. And please do read it even if you don't really care about Harry Potter, and are thinking of not bothering reading on. The post is mainly for people who don't like Harry Potter than people who do...
So.
Harry Potter means a lot to me. It's not just 'something I really enjoy reading/watching' or something that I /just quite like', it's something I honestly cannot live without!
Some people might be like 'oh please, it's just a book', but it's not.
That's the kind of thing that you might say to someone who loves oreos, because that's basically all it is. An oreo. But Harry Potter goes further than that.
When I say something like 'I love Harry Potter' people are like 'Well yeah we know' but I literally mean I love it.
Yes I may scream and shout and go crazy over it, but I also just sit and think about it - if that makes sense.
I love everything about it. I love the storyline. I love the author. I love the films. I love the soundtracks, the fans, the meaning, the characters, the idea. Everything.
But let me first start with the the author.
JK Rowling was not in any way shape or form rich before Harry Potter. She was far from it. She was a single mother with a baby daughter and no money.
She also suffered with severe depression.
She started writing Harry Potter in a cafe with a baby daughter asleep next to her.
When she sent it off to the publishers, she was turned down by no less than 12 publishers. 12.
But she still carried on until she was finally accepted.
Joanne Rowling was then told, however, that they were going to have to write her name on the book as JK Rowling, so that people would think she was a man, as no woman would ever be able to write a book like that, and nobody would read it if it was written by a woman.
She has then gone on to be a billionaire, remarried, and got through her depression.
If that isn't an incredible story, I don't know what is. (read my blog post 'Growing up beside you...' for other reasons why I love Joanne.)
The Storyline.
The storyline to Harry Potter is one of the most incredible things ever. It is so clever, and so detailed, the only person who can possibly know everything is JK herself.
Eventhough I know my knowledge and so do millions of others, there are still pieces of information she is only just/still hasn't revealed.
You may also think the books are as far as it goes.
This couldn't be more wrong because every single character has a history and a story, which you find on Pottermore (the official Harry Potter game). It's incredible that eventhough the books are finished, there are still pieces on information not yet told, and that eventhough you only hear about a character once or twice, they still have a story made up by JK Rowling.
The films Vs the books.
Many people who love Harry Potter absolutely hate the films. Mainly because a lot of it is wrong, and there is so many parts from the books that were not put in the films.
I'd have to say I obviously prefer the books, as that's what started it, but I honestly love the films too.
I do, however, get annoyed when people:
a) claim to love Harry Potter when they haven't even read the books
b) don't realise that Harry Potter is a book, and think it is a film alone
c) people refuse to read the books because they've 'already watched the films so what's the point?'
The point is this:
You will never ever ever understand the whole of Harry Potter until you read the books. Period.
As I said, though, I cannot get enough of the films. The amount of detail put into them is incredible. If you ever get the chance, go to the Harry Potter Studio Tours in Watford - you'll never be able to fully appreciate the scale of detail and design gone into the films - it's mindblowing.
Things like:
- for the exam (OWLs) scenes, you do not once see a close up of the exam paper, but they've written out each one anyway, just like a real exam paper.
- there is a whole other room leading off of Dumbledore's office that you never see in the film, but is still fully furbished.
- more than 210,000 sickles, knuts and galleons (wizard coins) were created for the Gringotts (wizarding bank) scenes
- every single label on all of the wands, jars, books, etc were individually hand made and hand written. Including the 17,000 wand box labels.
The soundtracks.
The soundtrack has to be one of my absolute favourite things about Harry Potter, and it doesn't get nearly enough credit.
It's the most beautiful thing, and increases the sadness of things like deaths in the books/films by 100. They are so powerful they genuinely make me cry. A piece of music to be able to do something like that is pretty amazing.
All of the overlapping sounds. The instruments. Everything. Listen to it full volume, if it doesn't give you chills, there is something wrong with you.
Again, there are somethings you won't actually understand until you listen to the soundtrack. Believe me. I listen to it 24/7.
Top 10 best Harry Potter music <--- These are some of my favourites, but definitely not all, it was the one I agreed with most though.
The fans.
A lot of people don't realise it but Harry Potter has saved thousands of lives. People who have been suicidal have been saved by Harry Potter.
Things like the dementors (evil creature that suck out your happiness and your soul) were created by JK when she was suffering from depression. The way you get rid of dementors is by casting them away with a single happy memory. She liked the idea of being able to get rid of a horrid thought with one happy memory - and so did many other people, because it has helped her and many others through their depression.
Oh and if anyone says: It's just Harry Potter.
It has 50 million fans and growing. 50 million. I'll just let you think about that.
The meaning.
Okay so the thing that annoys me most that people say about Harry Potter, is when they call it a 'kids book'.
Okay let me tell you this:
Yes it is a children's book. But it is also an adult book. It's for anyone.
It teaches some of the most adult topics that children will learn from, and even some adults don't yet fully understand.
Would a book that's solely for children teach subjects such as:
racism, classism, sexism, homophobia, or prejudice?
Would it have themes such as:
suffering, torture, death and war?
Would it teach you how to be loyal, kind, brave or true?
How to be strong under the pressures of growing up in the world?
To do what is right?
Just because it's set in a magical world, doesn't mean it's all going to be love and rainbows.
Why am I telling you all of this now?
Becuase it's recently been brought to my attention that some people really don't understand how much Harry Potter has changed peoples lives. Yeah I might be a little sad, but it's only because I love it so much, and respect everything JK Rowling does.
It's also the 7th anniversary of her finishing the very last book, The Deathly Hallows, today.
Oh! Before I go pretty please watch this: Where I feel at home | Harry Potter
It's only 5 minutes long and it's the best thing I've seen all week.
Love Elspeth x
