Wunderbaar

Fifteen years ago, if anyone saw a skinny bespectacled boy with a scar on his forehead on the streets, they’d probably scowl at his scruffy hair and dismiss him as any other ragamuffin.
Six books and fifteen years later, Harry Potter is as much a part of our lives as sliced bread and mixed fruit jam. Perhaps even more.
We’ll never know if it was the fact that he was as normal as the next person, or that he was a lonely abused orphan, that endeared him to us. Whatever the reason may be, the world loves Harry Potter. They may not like the way the books are written, they may hate the fact that JKR killed Sirius and then had the audacity to finish Dumbledore with a flick of a wand (How dare she!), but they cannot hate Harry Potter.
But making Potter lovable was not all that easy. When Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was first published, critics compared JKR to legends like Roald Dahl and C S Lewis. Taking baby steps in the area of fantasy is one thing, but JKR plunged in head first.
Philosopher’s Stone begins with Albus Dumbledore and his PutOuter. From the very minute Harry was placed at the Dursleys’ doorstep, a large and complicated story began. But JKR wastes no time in unleashing the world of magic.
In the beginning, the magic in Harry comes out here and there, as he unknowingly sets a snake loose on his cousin Dudley at the zoo. By the time a few chapters are up, Harry is redeemed from his tormenting foster family – he learns he is a wizard and enrols in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. From there, JKR takes us on a whirlwind journey, introducing us to out-of-this-world concepts. The Great Hall with floating candles and a magic ceiling, the Sorting Hat, Charms lessons, flying on broomsticks, Quidditch, an invisibility cloak, wizard’s chess and even a three-headed giant dog – the first book is all about exploring and discovering the wonders in the world of magic, where almost everything is possible. Almost.
Magic may be able to make the world a better place, but it can also corrupt. This is exemplified in Voldemort, the madman who killed his parents. Harry comes face to face with evil at the tender age of 11, but embraces his destiny without fear. He is brave, sometimes fearless to the point of stupidity, but with a strong sense of right and wrong. From this book begins Harry struggle to vanquish He Who Must Not Be Named.
But JKR does not make this her only premise. The books are not all dark, brooding and full of conflicts. She blends in comedy and drama in measured proportions. Take, for example, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
The second book has the wonderful comic element of Professor Gilderoy Lockhart, the vain fool who turns out to be bogus at the end. We also see a better picture of little Ginny and are introduced to Tom Riddle’s diary. From here, a highly intricate and complicated plot. We may not have noticed but the second book is littered with hints of JKR’s Great Plan, and it only gets bigger as we go on.
Book Three, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, emphasises the most important aspect of the series – family. Harry has his first encounter with his godfather Sirius Black, meets his parents’ good friend Remus Lupin and learns of the traitor Peter Pettigrew. Details of how the Potters were murdered come out, and the ground work for the Voldemort’s return is laid. We learn of the previous generation and pave the way for the next.
Goblet of Fire is the book where the darkness actually begins. While the magic in the first book was all rosy and good fun, it gets serious in Book Four, what with the Quidditch World Cup and the TriWizard Tournament. We see the first death in the Potter series, that of innocent Cedric Diggory. We also see Voldemort return. From now on, Harry has only one mission – kill Voldemort or be killed himself.
Many people feel that Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix had a lot of unnecessary details. “Get on with the Voldy battle,” I’ve heard some say. But few realise that it was necessary to show Fudge denying Harry’s claims. That was what Voldy wanted, to make Harry feel isolated and be called crazy, to make Harry mentally weak. You Know Who scored one point that way. By destroying the prophecy, but still learning its contents, Harry scored too.
Many, if not all, loose ends were tied in the sixth book. By far the most important thing is that we all learnt of Voldemort’s past, of how and why he became the grotesque aberration that he is now. This is the weapon Dumbledore gives Harry; his armour made from the love of his friends, extended family and sweet Ginny. When Harry says he won’t return to Hogwarts, we know the battle has begun, there’s no avoiding it.
Harry, and we, have lost dear ones on the way, but that’s the way life is. It gives Harry, just like it gives us, something to fight for.
People can speculate on what will happen in Book 7, they can give out spoilers or just fib for the sake of fun. The truth is that no one can predict what will come out of JKR’s mind. All we know is that deaths will be avenged, wrongs will be made right and the Potter series will finish with a magnificent flourish. That is what will make Harry Potter one of the most treasured books in history – that we lived life all over again with it, that it had a wonderful beginning and a beautiful end.