Just wild (again, beguiled again) about Harry...
I came late to the party. Millions of people, most of them younger than I, had already read five Harry Potter books before I picked up the first one, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. This is not new in my behavior patterns. As a child, I read so-called "children's books" until I was about 10, but then vaulted from the Black Stallion books to Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind (all 1037 pages). and then further, to Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. What I gleaned from that book served me well in later years, when I had a manager who believed in Rand's philosophy. I was no Dagny Taggart, but he wasn't really John Galt, either. I read Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series when I was 30. Madeleine L'Engle's Time trilogy (A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind at the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet) hit my bookshelf in 1983, and The Wind in the Willows landed between Brideshead Revisited and The Gospel of John. Madeleine often said that it was up to the publishers to decide whether they were for children, young adults, or grownups. She just wrote them.
Even so, I had thought of Harry Potter as a children's phenomenon. When I finally opened HP 1, I read it up to the third paragraph, and then fell into the story, and into the bliss of a profound "reader's trance" the likes of which I had not experienced since discovering Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. I read voraciously, unwilling to let time pass between closing the cover of one volume and opening that of the next. As Rowling's characters matured (and her writing grew ever more powerful), I was as concerned about them as if I knew them. And, in a way, I did. Not those exact characters, true, but their flaws and their glories were certainly familiar to me. I saw them in my friends, my family... and in my mirror every day (especially the flaws). I finished the last book with tears running down my face, stunned by the power of the emotions called forth. And by what Rowling had accomplished; I didn't know her, but I was proud of her.
Time passed. Pressured by the reality of living in a NY studio apartment, I gave the books away. There was not enough room on the shelf, so out they went. Which was fine... until last week, when on an evening of cold wet skies that added a darker shade to an already-blue heart, I borrowed the first book from an understanding friend, poured a glass of Montepulciano, and started to read, once again: "Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much."
This time, I read (for me) more slowly, and noticed things about Rowling's writing I'd gone too fast to see the first time, seeds planted deep at the beginnings of the story that did not sprout until the 4th or 5th volume. And I noticed more consciously what I had felt in the first read: that this is a faith-infused work. What Harry and his friends - and enemies - learned about power, loyalty, and love is what we all need to learn. Jesus tells us: "Love your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength... and love your neighbor as yourself." It seems to me that this is what I see running throughout the HP saga: love, and sacrifice for the sake of that love.
The influence of the books does not end with the last page of the last volume. WIthin the Harry Potter fan community, there are readers who are organizing to take what they have learned from the HP books into the world to effect change for the better. The Harry Potter Alliance is just one example of the community's intention: "As long as there are those that are aware that the weapon we have is love... it's time to use that weapon." They've organized a literacy campaign and book donations. These are young ones, galvanized by what they see: the tragedy of hunger in our own streets, economic injustice, prejudice and discrimination, who find outrageous the very idea that there are people in our world who can't afford the luxury of a book.
At The Leaky Cauldron, another fan site, there is a great collection of essays written by thoughtful readers. In browsing, I stumbled across this one, Harry and his Cloud of Witnesses by Amy Austin-Taggart, which is what got me started on this post. Read it.
So.... Another evening falls. There is jackhammering in the street again as a worok crew continues to repair water and gas lines that were compromised a few days ago. I have fed the cat, learned two new songs, cleaned my apartment,made a dozen business calls, and finished Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. I am hoping my neighbors find the copy of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban they are certain they have somewhere in their apartment. While I wait, I am wondering. Where are my fellow 40-50 something Harry Potter fans? Is there a party of my peers that I am missing? What magic are we creating? Come on! You know you want to be a Gryffindor...
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