By Malika Bhagat
As John Green rightly puts it,” Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.” For any novel enthusiast, Harry Potter is equivalent to the bible of our childhood, adulthood and any part in between. J.K. Rowling did the world a great deal of favour by penning down this beautiful story of love friendship bravery and life.
For people like me, whose life starts and ends at HP (the number is huge, trust me!), the end of Harry Potter saga with the seventh novel was no less than the end of an era, the end of childhood as we know it. I write this in hope that every muggle who reads this article might somehow be convinced of the existence of nargles somewhere. There are Thestrals, then. You probably can’t see them, and I hope you never do (it’s pretty much painful to see someone you love, die. So let the “Hogwarts’ dwellers” deal with it.)
So what exactly is so extraordinary about this EPIC, that derives its fans and fandom to such a wide platform that would overflow King’s Cross 9 ¾?
HP brings to us a world, no different from our own, where there is a constant battle between good and evil, right and wrong. Fiction, you may call it, maybe it’s all happening in the book, but why should it be any less real?
Gryffindor: bravery is what defines a Gryffindor at its best! But it’s also sacrifice and love.
Neville, a character that so subtlely made a place in our hearts, we never realised what it truly was that endeared him to us. Maybe it was his sheer sincerity and transformation, from a nervous “forgetful” git to an amazing and ballsy
Gryffindor who ends up slaying Nagini. He stood up to VOLDEMORT when no one else dared, and even stood up to his friends who he cared for more than anyone else. He is a symbol of bravery and loyalty.
Yet not all Gryffindors are loyal.
Ron’s rat aka Peter Pettigrew betrayed his friends to Lord Voldemort. Friends, who would’ve died rather betray each other. Rightly, even the bravest do fall.
Slytherin: be it snivelly little MALFOY, or torturous SNAPE, Slytherins have exemplified evil, cruelty and anything that goes on in those dark dungeons.
Lord Voldemort aka Tom Riddle aka the Dark lord aka He who must not be named, himself was a Slytherin. And he did great things! Evil things, but nevertheless great! All HP fans hate him with the same impudence.
But negating all that was said and unsaid, Snape wins us over with his “always” forever love for Lily; wife of the man he hated the most, mother of the boy whom he died to protect. Snape gave the biggest sacrifice of all. Living in a shroud of darkness so that he could protect harry. Snape is the true hero and completely steals the show.
Ravenclaw: wit and wisdom. Luna Lovegood, an innocent and all-believing Ravenclaw teaches us that wisdom perseveres when nothing does. Things that we lose have a way of coming back to us in the end, maybe not in the way we thought, but nevertheless, they do. Like when Dumbledore leaves RON the Deluminator, Ron says’ “He must have known I’d want to leave you.”
And Harry quips back,” No, he must have known you would always want to come back.”
Hufflepuff: most often said to be the innocent and stupidest of the lot, not all Hufflepuffs are dorks. Cedric Diggory was a brave and just man (that was before he died and became a sparkling vampire!)
Who died a martyr in the Triwizard Tournament, to be remembered by all as a person of great worth.
We might not believe in magic, but that is what the world needs. A little swish of the wands that would bring back to our world the happiness and love it has long lost. We might not see flying cars or believe in apparitions and invisibility cloaks, but we believe in the biggest magic of all, love. We need the boy who lived to teach us love. The series might be over, but the saga lives on forever, in the hearts of those who call it HOME. As I turn over the pages, I see glimpses of my childhood and closing the book is like my childhood coming to an end. But I have complete faith in Rowling’s words,
“Whether you come back by page or by the big screen, Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home.”
