"Harry Potter was a highly unusual boy in many ways. For one thing, he hated the summer holidays more than any other time of the year. For another, he really wanted to do his homework but was forced to do it in secret, in the dead of night. And he also happened to be a wizard."
There really is something about Harry. I have my boss to thank for introducing me to the magical world of Harry Potter and his friends. Around February of 2001, we were chatting about books in general and he mentioned how a friend of his had been reading the Harry Potter series of books to his children, and had been surprised at how much he had ended up enjoying reading them himself. So, intrigued, he decided he might as well give the stories a go himself and found he throughly enjoyed them also. When he asked me if I'd read any of J K Rowling's novels, I was a bit like "hmm, no, I've never really given Harry Potter much thought to be honest" (I actually thought the whole Harry Potter thing I'd half heard about through the media, was a load of money making hype, and dismissed them to be silly kids books). But he was enthusiastic and offered to lend me the first of the current four book series "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", and then the next day, when he brought it into work for me, I took it a bit half-heartedly, thinking "uhh, Harry Potter..." and knowing I probably wouldn't even read it. Anyhow, some time passed, and I finally picked up the novel and gave it a go. About five pages in, I was staggered to find I was actually enjoying it! I was totally charmed, enthralled and quickly fell in love with the characters. It was one of the coolest, fun and entertaining books I'd ever read. I couldn't put it down. After that, I couldn't get enough Harry. He leant me all four books, one after the other, and I eagerly read them in quick succession. He even made sure he'd bring the next book of the series in to work for me a bit before I finished reading the previous one, so there would be a smooth transition and I would not be Harry Potterless and suffer withdrawal symptoms. Needless to say, I have since purchased my own hard back set of J K Rowling's fantastic creations, and re-read the lot, and enjoyed them all over again. So what a change of tune for me; from being cynical, uninterested, and almost loathing, I am totally enchanted and a huge, huge fan. I am one of the biggest cynics you could ever wish to meet and if you'd said to me a year or so ago that one day I would be such a huge Harry fan, I'd have thought you were totally mad actually. So, yes, well, I am surprised at myself to be honest, but it's a pleasant surprise.
There are quite a few very extensive web sites dedicated to Harry Potter and his friends. This page is purely my little tribute and is just meant to be a general summing up of Harry and his magical world and what it means to me and why I have become such a fan. If you've been living in cloud cuckoo land these past few years and are not aware of the Harry Potter books or reckon you're too cool for Harry, here is a brief overview, for the poor, sad uninitiated. Harry Potter is an 11 year old English orphan boy living in the non-magic human world - the world of "Muggles" - Harry is a nobody, treated like dirt by his aunt and uncle Dursley and foul cousin, Dudley, who begrudgingly inherited him when he was a baby, after his parents were killed by the evil wizard, Lord Voldemort (they died whilst trying to save the baby Harry). His horrible aunt and uncle lied to Harry all his life about his background and even told him his parents were killed in a car crash. Aunt and uncle Dursley believe that there is something shameful and abnormal about being a witch or a wizard and definitely not something to brag about (what would the neighbours think?). Due to this view, they were determined that Harry would never know anything about his wizarding relatives and that by doing this, any wizarding instinct Harry had left in him, would be stamped out. Despite all this, and as yet unbeknown to little Harry, in the world of wizards and witches, he is famous, in fact legendary, as the survivor of the dark and powerful wizard who tried to kill him when he was a baby. In the wizarding community, the name Harry Potter is spoken of in awe. Meanwhile, Harry is living in the muggle world, left only with a lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead, curiously refined sensibilities, and a host of mysterious powers to help remind him that he's quite, yes, altogether different from his aunt, uncle, and spoiled brat, pig-like cousin, Dudley. So, Harry is half aware that there may be something different about him, he's just not sure what it could be. All starts becoming clearer on his 11th Birthday, when Harry finds out the truth about where he came from and what he is destined to become. The Harry Potter adventures start here. The stories revolve mainly around the adventures of Harry and his friends at the greatest magic school in the world, Hogwarts School for Witches and Wizards, so the seven Harry Potter books will basically cover Harry's seven years at school and we will get to watch he and his friends grow up. When new students arrive at Hogwarts School, they have to go through a ceremony to decide which school house they will belong to during their time there. This is the very important Sorting Hat Ceremony. This old and magical hat is placed on each student's head, one by one, and it decides which house it thinks they are most suited to. There are four school houses in all, Griffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, each house being named in honour of the four original founders of the school. Four novels have been published so far in the Harry Potter series:
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Sorcerer's Stone in the US), 1997
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, 1998
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, 1999
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, 2000.
The eagerly awaited fifth book, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix", will be published on 21st June 2003.
A little about the author herself. Joanne Kathleen Rowling was born in 1965 in Gwent. Her rise to fame reads like a modern day fairy tale. When she began writing the first Harry Potter book approximately ten years ago, Ms Rowling was an unemployed, single mother living in a tiny Edinburgh flat, relying on public assistance. She wrote much of the first Harry Potter book in Edinburgh cafes. The cafes were warm, as opposed to the freezing flat in which she and her daughter lived. During this period, Rowling was so poor that she could hardly afford paper to write on. Eventually, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was published by Bloomsbury in the UK. Soon after, Scholastic Press published the first American edition, and the rest, as they say, is history.
The mystery and magic surrounding Harry is addictive and indulging (but in a thoroughly nice way). You can't not fall in love with him, as you eagerly follow his adventures, almost even feeling his emotions at times, laughing along with jokes, and just feeling completely satisfied when you close the book after a good read. I know I always do. Harry is the kind of person you know will prevail and you always have every faith in him, yet there are points in the stories where you really lose yourself and forget that and get caught up in the suspense, wondering if he will get through his latest scrape in one piece and whether everything will work out ok in the end. We are unwittingly introduced to this little boy in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, this scrawny, unfortunate boy, living a sad, bullied existence and there are probably lots of little boys just like Harry out there, but we know Harry is rather different from all those other little boys. Harry really is special. So, along with Harry, we are thrown into another world where there are witches, wizards, gnomes, ghosts, dragons, werewolves, centaurs, unicorns, phoenixes, three headed dogs, bewitched ceilings, goblins, giant snakes, ghouls and spiders, and much, much more and you just can't help falling into it all and adoring it.
So that's Harry Potter, our kind, brave but fearful, hard, funny, cute, smart hero, developed by a wonderful person. Thanks a lot, Jo Rowling.
The Harry Potter books are � by J. K. Rowling, Bloomsbury and Scholastic.
Images used on this page are chapter illustrations, artist unbeknown to me at this time. Have a nice day.
