Harry Potter

I love Harry Potter. There. I admitted it. It's out there. No more hiding in the cupboard under the stairs about it. I am a Potterhead. I don't just like Harry Potter, I love Harry Potter.

Now that I've lost all the non-Harry Potter fan readers, I'd like to lose all the Harry Potter fans by saying this: I don't think J. K. Rowling is the greatest writer ever. In fact, I don't think her writing really is all that particularly amazing.

At this point, my mother is the only person still reading. Mom, let me tell you why I love Harry Potter, despite my above statement about the very woman who made Harry Potter happen's writing. I love Harry Potter for the fans. Though I tried to lose 'em all, I know they're all still reading. After all, this post is titled, "Harry Potter," and if it has to do with Harry Potter, a Harry Potter fan will keep reading whether they like what's being said or not. (If not, they're getting ready to pull a Gryffindor and heroically prove why Harry Potter is the best thing ever.)

"Wizard rock fans are the sweetest bunch of fans." Thank you, Matt Maggiacomo (The Whomping Willows)! It's true. And I don't mean to sound arrogant; I'm not really including myself in the legions of amazing Harry Potter fans. See, there are these people who make music about Harry Potter called wizard rock, or wrock, and they are so ridiculously passionate and talented alike, that it's hard not to love them. They are true fans.

And then there's fanfiction. Comics. Stories. Quidditch matches. Huge festivals. Theme parks. Gatherings of all sorts. And no matter how uncool and nerdy it is to love Harry Potter to the extent that many fans do past the age of fourteen, they do. And they don't care one single bit if anyone thinks they're nerdy or uncool; they're too busy having fun. That's why I love Harry Potter fans. And that's where my respect, adoration, and awe for J. K. Rowling comes in.

I wish I could create something which could inspire so much love, so much passion, so much good. These fans donate time, money, and energy to causes all the time, trying to spread the love and joy that they've found in Harry Potter. It's just . . . crazy.

I was listening to some Ministry of Magic today, and I couldn't help hearing how much the music relates to everyday life. It's like this way of communication for fans. "A Pheonix Lament" is among one of the most powerful songs I've ever heard, and it's Harry Potter music. But that's exactly where it gets it's power from. Harry Potter fans have journeyed with these characters, have literally grown up with them, and it becomes such an integral part of their very existence, that when you write words like, "In the sacred space behind the lids of my eyes, Mad-Eye darkly holds my gaze, and I can still see Fredrick's laughing face" it reaches into that deep core and does something no other song can: it speaks directly to you personally.

If J. K. Rowling had written exceptionally, if she had used elaborately poetic prose like, say Nabokov, this would not have happened. The beauty in Harry Potter is not its complexity, but its simplicity. Despite the many elaborate plot details which made it so realistic, the story boils down to one simple idea: love conquers. That is the idea which possesses fans, which fills wizard rock, which makes me love Harry Potter.

People like Luke Conard, Alex Hinksman, Jason Munday, Kristina Horner, Matt Maggiacomo, Alex Carpenter, Jace "Catchlove", Joe and Paul DeGeorge, and so many others give Harry Potter fans so much incredible music to come together under. And that's not even to mention all the Harry Potter sites like Mugglenet, Leaky, and HPLexicon, and then all the visual artists and writers and so many other people who all make being a Harry Potter fan such an amazing experience.

"This is your chance to see with your own eyes that justice can be done, that good triumphs over evil, that bravery, courage, loyalty, friendship, hope, and love make us all wizards and witches!" - "The Flaw in the Plan" by The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, Alex Hinksman