By Ellen Madden
As we prepare for college, it is important to take time for ourselves by reading our favourite novel or watching a good movie. With the likes of Harry Potter, we can do both, as you know you won’t be disappointed with what J.K. Rowling has accomplished with this fantasy novel series.
Harry Potter was first published on the 26th of June 1997 in England, United Kingdom. The series is based on a character named Harry Potter and his two friends, Ron Weasley and Hermoine Granger, who are wizards in a boarding school, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In this series, Harry is challenged by an immortal villain, Lord Voldemort, who killed Harry’s parents and failed to kill Harry, which caused Harry Potter to become famous in the wizarding world. However, due to him living with muggles (his aunt’s family), he was very unaware of how famous he was until he got the letter of acceptance to attend Hogwarts.
Harry Potter covered various genres and themes, such as fantasy, coming-of-age fiction, and drama. Some themes associated with Harry Potter are death, prejudice, and madness. Due to the wide variety, Harry Potter has reached a large audience of adult and children readers; as a result, the Harry Potter series is the best-selling series in the world and has been translated into roughly eighty-five languages. As their success began early on into the series, the last four novels were titled the award of being the fastest-selling books in history.
As these novels became very popular amongst the general public, Warner Bros. Pictures adapted this series into an eight-film series, which starred Daniel Radcliff as Harry Potter. In 2016, the Harry Potter franchise was worth around $25 billion, taking on the title of the highest-grossing media franchise to have ever existed.
On the first of September, wizards attending Hogwarts board the Hogwarts Express at 9¾ to travel to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry. While the last book was published back in 2007, this is still a date that Harry Potter fans celebrate. Up to the first of September 2023, fans went to Kings Cross in the UK for the countdown at 11 o’clock when Harry Potter and his friends started their journey back to school. Fans around the world may celebrate by watching the movie version of Harry Potter or celebrate with their family and friends.
Harry Potter is a wonderful series to get into when preparing for college, as it is very academic-based, especially Hermoine Granger, who is constantly studying her different spells and hopes to excel in all of her exams. It is also important to celebrate going back to college and enjoying the different events Freshers Week has to offer, just like they do with their big feast when they arrive back at Hogwarts.