Harry Potter Castle

Diehard Fan Says 'Goodbye' to Harry Potter

I am a typical Potter maniac. I watched the movies at their midnight premieres and sometimes dressed up like a favorite character (Harry, Hermione and Prof. Trelawney). I frequent websites like the Leaky Cauldron and MuggleNet . I reserved the books before their release and read them cover to cover over weekends. I visited the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando,FL. squealing with glee at the shops and their treasures.

This is how the fan community of Harry Potter behaves. We know what it’s like to read a 1,000-page book in two days. We organize real Quidditch teams, even if we can’t fly. We cry when characters die and when they succeed.

I understand that those who aren’t a part of the mania must think we’re all nuts. Trust me, I feel the same way about Trekkies. Those who aren’t fans, however, have to admit it’s pretty cool that mere fantasy books can have this kind of effect on the world of reading.

Since there is no way I can possibly speak for all the fans who span the globe, all I can do with this farewell column is explain what the series means to me. The best way to properly do that is to return to the beginning.

When the Harry Potter books first came into my life, I was 12, just a year older than Harry was when he first entered Hogwarts. Like many in middle school, the reading I once enjoyed in elementary school had primarily been replaced with things like friends, sports and outdoor adventures.

Then I enrolled in a reading course that changed my life. Our only task every morning was to read for the full hour. After seeing a fellow student paw through "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone," I decided to give fantasy books another whirl.

What followed in those few weeks I spent with book one was magical, in every sense of the word. I realized that I not only missed reading, but that books could bring you into their world. J.K. Rowling made me feel like one of her Hogwarts students—hopefully a Ravenclaw—and I haven’t stopped voraciously reading since.

Therein lies the strength of the entire phenomenon: once you are a part of Harry’s world, there is no leaving it. Harry Potter is in all of us and his magical world is just like our own.

In fact, there isn’t a single social issue or personal dilemma from today’s world that the Harry Potter series ignores. Throughout the pages of these seven books, Harry Potter’s world is fraught with discrimination, classism, dirty politics, dictators, torture, loss and death. His world, like our own, attempts to fight these issues with love, friendship, courage and help from Dumbledore’s Army—also known as the Harry Potter Alliance in our world.

#! Best Products Reviews LEGO Harry Potter: Hogwarts Castle Set (4709)

The castle features secret hidden compartments and treasure chests, a spiral staircase that moves, torches, one of the boats that carry students across the lake to Hogwarts, and many of the book's characters in Lego form, including Harry, Hedwig, Ron, Scabbers the rat, Hermione, Dumbledore, Snape, Hagrid, Peeves and Draco Malfoy. The architecture is brilliant; arches, grated windows, stone texturing, a balcony, multiple towers and a large interior. Quite honestly this is the coolest Lego set ever created, period.

The Ultimate Guide to the Harry Potter Fandom

The Harry Potter Companion

Harry Potter Collector's Handbook

The psychology of Harry Potter, an unauthorized examination of the boy who lived

Critical perspectives on Harry Potter