Current:Home > reviewsI'm an adult and I just read the 'Harry Potter' series. Why it's not just for kids. -WealthMindset Learning
I'm an adult and I just read the 'Harry Potter' series. Why it's not just for kids.
View
Date:2025-04-12 07:33:51
My boyfriend will tell you I don't have that many flaws. Can I be impatient? Sure. Do I get hangry? Absolutely.
But my biggest one? I never finished reading the "Harry Potter" series.
I know, I know. Cue the gasps. The outrage. The shame. If you're a millennial reading this, maybe you've stopped reading. If you're Gen Z reading this, you're probably ready to cancel me for bringing up the "Harry Potter" author in any remote way.
In an effort to appease my new beau – and admittedly check an item off my bucket list, as I had been a devoted fan of the movies for decades – I decided to actually read the original seven-book series. So that's exactly what I did from January through March of this year.
What did I find when I was done? There's power in revisiting childhood tales and giving into a bit of magic. You shouldn't let anyone – not even one of the movies' stars, Miriam Margolyes, who recently told adult Potter fans they "should be over that by now," – tell you the stories are only for kids. Like anything else, enjoyment of Harry Potter books is far from being black and white.
Check out: USA TODAY's weekly Best-selling Booklist
In case you missed:'Harry Potter' is having a moment again. Here's why.
Why did I stop reading 'Harry Potter' in the first place?
When I was younger, I devoured the first four books in the series. Like, stay-in-my-room-during-Thanksgiving-when-all-of-our-family-is-over devour. Then at some point during "Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix," boredom took over so intensely that no spell could cure it. The movies fulfilled me enough, and I was OK not knowing the intricacies of the books vs. the films.
And then when critics slammed J.K. Rowling as transphobic – and I understood what they were talking about – I figured it's for the best I leave the books on their metaphorical shelf.
But something was always missing whenever "Harry Potter" whisked its way into a conversation. Someone would mention a scene in passing that wasn't in the movie. Someone would talk about staying up all night finishing the last book. I felt left out and there was only one way to correct that. I opted to listen to audiobooks instead and the reading (listening?) journey began.
Sigh:How trans 'Harry Potter' fans are grappling with J.K. Rowling's legacy after her transphobic comments
What Harry Potter means to me as an adult
Once I started listening to the books, I couldn't stop. The characters accompanied me on runs, train rides and while I cleaned my apartment. It was all-consuming. Magic flowed through my ears and into every part of me. I empathized with the woman on TikTok documenting her experience reading the books for the first time, who regularly entertains her followers with dramatic, dumbfounded reactions to various turns of the screw.
I grew up in hyper-speed with all the characters matriculating through Hogwarts, facing early problems like school pranks and Quidditch matches to confronting life, death and the unknown. I crashed into the Whomping Willow with Harry and Ron, heard the house elves' plight, accompanied Dumbledore and Harry in and out of the Pensieve.
This time around I paid even closer attention to the nuance. I felt compassion for everyone, even You-Know-Who sometimes. I recognized we're all a product of our upbringing, the friends (and enemies) that surround us and our teachers. While our inherent kindness, ambition, wit and courage can shine, these qualities take nurturing, too. When ambition envelops a person, it can spiral into greed and terror (Voldemort). Kindness can lead to your downfall (Cedric Diggory).
It's not enough to get sorted into Gryffindor and be blindly brave – as our heroes often learned the hard way. It means working with those around you and standing up for what is right even when it's scary.
Look, I get what Professor Sprout – err, Miriam Margolyes – is saying. I don't want my future wedding to be Harry Potter-themed. But that doesn't mean I can't smile thinking about Harry, Ron and Hermione walking about the Hogwarts grounds. I still get teary-eyed thinking about the sacrifices Snape made to secure Harry's safety. I wonder where I would've ended up at Hogwarts (Hufflepuff, probably).
While I don't understand Rowling's logic about, um, a lot of things, I can separate the art and the artist here enough to know reading and watching "Harry Potter" changed my life, again and again.
Now if only my boyfriend will finish "Grey's Anatomy," then we're even.
veryGood! (45)
Related
- A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
- US, South Korea and Japan conduct naval drills as tensions deepen with North Korea
- 'Bluey' is a kids show with lessons for everyone
- Trump sex abuse accuser E. Jean Carroll set to testify in defamation trial over his denials
- Sonya Massey's father decries possible release of former deputy charged with her death
- Google layoffs continue as tech company eliminates hundreds of jobs in ad sales team
- New Zealand’s first refugee lawmaker resigns after claims of shoplifting
- Nigerian leader says ‘massive education’ of youth will help end kidnappings threatening the capital
- Costco membership growth 'robust,' even amid fee increase: What to know about earnings release
- The integration of EIF tokens with AI has become the core driving force behind the creation of the 'AI Robotics Profit 4.0' investment system
Ranking
- North Carolina trustees approve Bill Belichick’s deal ahead of introductory news conference
- Blake Lively Proves Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Bond Lives on With America Ferrera Tribute
- Biden to meet with congressional leaders on national security package
- Police search for 6 people tied to online cult who vanished in Missouri last year
- Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
- Coroner identifies woman found dead near where small plane crashed in ocean south of San Francisco
- Russian missiles hit Ukrainian apartment buildings and injure 17 in latest strikes on civilian areas
- A rare white penguin has been discovered in Antarctica among one of the world's largest penguin species
Recommendation
Will the 'Yellowstone' finale be the last episode? What we know about Season 6, spinoffs
China’s economy expanded 5.2% last year, hitting the government’s target despite an uneven recovery
Taylor Swift’s Cousin Teases Mastermind Behind Her and Travis Kelce's Love Story
Serbian opposition supporters return to the streets claiming fraud in last month’s election
US appeals court rejects Nasdaq’s diversity rules for company boards
Italy’s regulations on charities keep migrant rescue ships from the Mediterranean
Another Minnesota Supreme Court Justice announces retirement
Peregrine lunar lander to burn up in atmosphere in latest setback to NASA moon missions