Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
So, my best friend, Tyler, had given me two simple yet demanding demands as a credit to my nerdism and my status as a bookworm. He insisted that I give the Harry Potter series a read as I’m a writer. And, since I’m slowly creating a universe for my space opera series among other things, it started to become clear that reading this series would be a good idea. And, with that (in 2018), I began the mission of reading the Harry Potter books.
First and foremost, I have to give J.K. Rowling a tremendous amount 
of credit and gratitude for the amount of time, patience, effort and dedication it took for her to create this marvel of a world. I noticed she took the “every detail counts” approach when implementing people, places, food, and items into the stories. She made sure that readers and fans, alike, understand that she took her time in immersing them in her world. It’s the #1 cardinal rule in writing fantasy and she followed it to the letter. Even after the series was collected, J.K. Rowling has no problem with answering questions, confirming theories, releasing updates regarding her world to keep her fans engaged.
Each book of the series was filled to the brim with action but they followed a deliberate pace set up to keep the reader engaged. See, the first three books were meant to let up to the fourth book with each other revealing ONE KEY DETAIL. For example, The Philosopher’s Stone was meant to explain how Harry Potter actually survived that night when the main antagonist, Lord Voldemort, tried to kill him and thus unable to touch him. Furthermore, The Chamber of Secrets shredded a little backstory on the dark lord and his first act of evil. Finally, The Prisoner of Azkaban explained how Harry Potter’s parents were located and killed in the first place leading to a heartbreaking revelation and a heartwarming reunion. This all led up to The Goblet of Fire where Harry Potter comes face-to-face with his archnemesis after his subordinate killed a student in front of him.
Since Lord Voldemort was at full power and in a corporeal form, the man was now able to touch him. So, he was until the impression that he could kill him only to be foiled the psychology behind wands – something that was explained at the beginning of The Philosopher’s Stone and, even further, at the end of The Goblet of Fire. To put it simply, two wands of the same Phoenix, thus brothers, created a Reverse Spell (Prior Incantato) giving Harry Potter a chance to get away. It was a relief but the very event itself still resulted in some heartbreaking moments and the true faces of fear and denial showing across many people in the Wizarding community.
That’s where The Order of the Phoenix comes into. This was a more grounded and intimate storyline having to deal with, by far, the most subtly vile sociopathic bigot I’ve ever read: Dolores Umbridge. See, the world in it of itself are divided on the return of Lord Voldemort including the Head of the Ministry of Magic. J.K. Rowling, in my opinion, wanted to showcase what happens when fear plays into the equation of a man drunk with power. It’s funny, though, because, in every attempt to silence and control the student body (the Blood Quill was especially cruel), the complete opposite occurred and forced the Ministry to accept the truth. Talk about irony…
But, back to Dolores Umbridge, Rowling did a great job with creating a more grounded villain. She wasn’t on a grand scale as Lord Voldemort by any means but that was the point, really. Think of it this way, Umbridge is basically what we have to deal with every day (racism, to be exact) on a more intimate scale. She’s no Death Eater but she might as well be one. The woman was pretty on the outside but hideous on the inside that, of course, came out on the outside. Racist, prejudice and hellbent on control and power was her main goal in life and, eventually, became her undoing – not once, but twice.
Furthermore, The Order of the Phoenix marked the beginning of the Second Wizard War as a lot of things began to make sense revolving around the link between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort. The (lost) prophecy ended being created by Lord Voldemort on accident because of him jumping to conclusion. Check it out:
The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches … born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies … and the Dark Lord will mark him as equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not … and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives … the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies …
Reading the book, it could have been talking about Neville Longbottom, Harry’s friend who was struggling with confidence, but Lordemort thought differently and, ironically, completed the prophecy. It was way too funny when the realization hit me. Haha!
The last two books, The Half-Blood Prince and The Deathly Hollows, revolved around how Lord Voldemort managed to stay alive all these years and how he plans to stay that way, along with all-powerful. This shed some lights of the Horcruxes, their origins, and purpose. It even talked about the Deathly Hollows, a children story that turned out to be real, and the realization that Harry Potter owned one and acquired another one with Voldemort looking for and, eventually, finding the last one: the Elder Wand. But, again, the greatest evil is also the greatest slacker with knowledge. Plus, it revealed the truth behind Snape and his involvement with the Death Eaters from the very beginning turning him to an annoying villain to a sympathetic anti-hero/hero. He was, indeed, a brave BRAVE man.
In the final confrontation between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort after the latter killed the former (BIG SPOILER, sorry…), both the reader and the dark wizard began to see every single flaw in the latter’s plan. I’m going to list them all because I’ve already spoiled too much but let’s just say that, like all villains, Lord Voldemort should have done a bit more research on the Deathly Hallows because seeking them out. Finally, I found the way J.K. Rowling killed out Lord Voldemort was very poetic. No, I’m not going to tell you as it’s a spoiler that can’t be spoiled.
Overall, I give each installment of the series, the following grade:
- The Philosopher Stone (A+)
- The Chamber of Secrets (A+)
- The Prisoner of Azkaban (A+)
- The Goblet of Fire (A+)
- The Order of the Pheonix (A)
- The Half-Blood Prince (A)
- The Deathly Hollows (A+)
Oh, and FYI, Minerva McGonagall is my favorite character out of the entire series because of her sass and motherly demeanor. She is one woman you don’t want to mess with.
