Life in Harry Potter

Like all the greatest stories, Harry Potter has saved and taught many lives. More than being a story about a boy who discovers his magical bloodline and sets out to vanquish He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, the tale of Harry Potter has been a reflection of the best in humanity.

A Great Fiction Story Inspires Reality

I haven't met one Potterhead who wouldn't love to discover that they had magic. Who doesn't want to transfigure objects, apparate, or brew cauldrons upon cauldrons of Felix Felicis? I'd love it! It's safe to say that the magic is a worthy contender for why people love the Wizarding World so much. But nothing could be so memorable as the beautiful and real themes contained in this series of books and movies.

Resilience

There are so many themes in this series so I won't get to all of them. I will highlight three themes that have been a personal inspiration to me, the first one being: resilience.

Life is not always easy. Struggle is universal. Many times we would rather cut ties with things that makes us even slightly uncomfortable. (Which, fair enough, some things should be.) It's stories like, Harry Potter that remind us that trials and suffering is a test of our strength and will to do what needs to be done.

Sure, no one has ever experienced erasing their family's memory of them in order to keep the former safe. But we have felt abandoned and forgotten by the ones we loved. No one has really encountered cloaked, wraith-like creatures that feed on your happiest memories until none is left. But many of us have dealt with depression and hopelessness. These are just two trials that Hermione and Harry faced respectively. Following these harrowing encounters, Hermione continued her determined pursuit of the Horcruxes with her friends. And Harry bravely defended Sirius, who he'd just met, against the Dementors despite knowing the clash would lead to reliving his parents' death and putting his own life at risk.

When fictional struggles reflect real ones, the way characters handle them will be what inspires readers and viewers to face their own trials in reality.

Friendship

Relating to resilience, Harry had been treated poorly ever since the young age of one. The Dursleys created hell on earth for him. He had every reason with every liklihood of becoming as bitter as they were cruel. Add a magical lineage to that outcome and we would've had a very different story. However, against all odds, Harry was able to keep his sense of kindness and compassion. Which led us to a friendship that would warm our hearts forever.

Other than Naruto, the Harry Potter series has taught me a lot about what a beautiful friendship should look and feel like. It's not perfect, as we've seen when Crookshanks entered the picture or during Severus and Lily's friendship. It's also not always about befriending those who are just like you or agree about the same things. Just ask the trio about Hagrid's terrifying love for dangerous creatures or Harry and Ron about Hermione's obsession with knowledge and obeying rules (until a certain point, of course.) Friendship is a wonderful balance of patience, service, loyalty, and love. This series portrays that well.

Goodness VS Greatness

Maybe it's my inner Hufflepuff talking, but I've always felt it important to establish that goodness and greatness are not synonymous. And I love the way this saga accomplished showing that. Albus Dumbledore learned the hard way during his search for power that doing so brought him on the dark side. His past reminds us that pursuing power with a single eye on greatness can cause one to lose sight of whether or not the work they're doing is right or wrong.

To be good, goodness must be sought in our daily pursuits. I'm not suggesting that greatness itself is a bad thing. It's when we seek greatness without first committing ourselves to a moral responsibility that can lead to a slippery slope. After all, a common characteristic of evil is that it works very hard to convince people that it doesn't exist.

There is no good and evil. There is only power and those too weak to seek it. - Voldemort; Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

A Home Away From Home

In closing, the Wizarding World will forever be a special magical universe that I and many others will return to. And that is because it's a story that tells our own, that reminds us of the beautiful aspects of life, and inspires courage to face the aspects that aren't so beautiful.

What Hogwarts house are you in? Show some house pride in the comments!