Growing up Potter
By: Heather Johnson, Gryffindor House
I didn’t grow up under a stairway or in a small town over the pond. I lived in typical suburbia with average friends who went to an average school. Yet, in 1997 I met a boy named Harry Potter. He was 11 years old, growing up with his terrible Aunt and Uncle after his parents met an untimely death and he had just received an invitation to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was at first magical owl bearing these invitations that I fell in love with Harry.
J.K Rowling has penned seven books in the Harry Potter series, each connecting to the other, chronicling the tale of Harry through his years at Hogwarts, and through his epic battle of good vs. evil with his nemesis, Lord Voldemort. With Harry I have met some wonderful people. I’ve laughed with Ron Weasely and his family, learned from Hermione Granger and stood beside Professor Dumbledore as an epic battle raged on. I would stay home, on every release date, from school or work, lock myself in a room and read, cover to cover about Harry’s latest adventure. Though I can recite spells to levitate objects and people, I, and the millions like me, learned about friendship and dedication even when “dark times are upon us”. Though the series is and forever will be only seven books per J.K Rowling, true Potter fans know there are two subsequent “textbooks” as well as an 800 word prequel which was handwritten for charity and can only be found in the back allies of the internet.
In 2001, Harry made his silver screen debut portrayed by a young Daniel Radcliffe. Finally, Harry was given a voice and a face to bring to life the adventures we’d so loved years earlier. It seemed as though each year’s book couldn’t get here fast enough so it could be brought to life thanks to Warner Brothers. The Potterverse was abuzz with delight! We still needed more. Harry Potter was our drug, and we were addicted.
Thanks to Electronic Arts, we joined in on our Playstations, Wii’s and PC’s to help fight off the Deatheaters. We screamed at our televisions while we played Scene It?: Harry Potter and lastly, turned ourselves into building blocks for Lego Harry Potter.
On the dawn of the next to final film, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1”, we were given the greatest gift…we were able to visit the Potterverse. Unveiled June 18th, 2010 (see previous issues of RCT for my review), Universal Studios: Island of Adventure brought forth their seventh “island”…The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Here you can visit Hogwarts, stroll through Diagon Alley, eat with Hagrid in Hogsmeade and even buy a pint of butterbeer. Life was good. So good in fact, that in March of this year, Warner Bros. announced plans to build a tourist attraction in the UK to showcase the film series. Warner Bros. Studio Tour London will be a behind-the-scenes walking tour featuring authentic sets, costumes and props from the films. The attraction will be located at Leavesden Film Studios, where all eight of the Harry Potter films were made and two new sound stages would be constructed to house and showcase the famous sets.
Finally, on July 15th “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” was released. This spectacular visual finale (in both 2D and 3D) astounded audiences all over the world as we bid adieu to our hero’s and friends. Helena Bonham-Carter’s performance like in every film before this was amazingly evil, even making us wonder if she was worse then Voldemort! The film brought in a whopping $43.6 million dollars upon it’s first night internationally, $150 million of that being just the US and $32 in advanced sales! If you don’t know what that means, I’ll tell you…not only has it put “The Lord of The Rings Trilogy” at the bottom of the barrel where it belonged, but it broke every box office record beyond “Titanic” and “Star Wars”. So far, the entire series has banked upward off $6.37 billion dollars world wide which makes it the most successful film series of all time.
So what does J.K Rowling have up her wand next? Follow the Pottermore.com website to see what’s brewing and maybe you’ll be one of the lucky ones to read the unreleased chapters from the series. So farewell Mr. Potter, you’ve been a great friend and we hope to see more of you soon…Stay Tuned.
