Harry Potter: Reaching Across Generations

 When I was nine years old my mom brought home a book she had heard a lot about from coworkers, who had bought the book and taken it home to read. One night, we cuddled up on the couch, me freshly bathed and ready for bed. As I snuggled into the comfortable and familiar spot between her chest and armpit, nestled into the curve of her arm, she opened the book and began to read.


"Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense..."{1} And my imagination took flight from there. I was riveted! Every night my mom and I would cuddle up on the couch, and she would read a chapter to me before bed.

As I grew older, and the books took years for the series to be completed and published, I eagerly read them myself. Even when I was sixteen and pregnant, I had my nose inside the newest Harry Potter book. As I started my family, I began to collect the movies. Willow at four-years-old was very much into the movies and watched them continuously. My step brother Darren and sister-in-law Harmony gifted us the first five movies, because they just weren't into the series the way I was, and the movies had been collecting dust in their house. When we lived in San Diego, we had a very awesome neighbor named Mike who had all seven Harry Potter books! He let me borrow them for nigh on a year before he moved, and I read through the series seven times in a row that year.

I have found so many truths and life lessons intertwined in the pages of these fictional books that have shown and taught me how to be a good person and live with integrity. My favorite people are within those pages. I wear my patterned socks mismatched in honor of Dobby. Hermione taught me to stand up for what I believe in, no matter if the whole world is against me. Dumbledore... is just an amazing old man; here are a few of my favorite quotes of his from the books:

"After all, to the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure." ~Dumbledore{2}

"It is our choices... that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." ~Dumbledore{3}

"It’s the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more." ~Dumbledore{4}

"There are all kinds of courage. It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends." ~Dumbledore{5}

"Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!" ~Dumbledore{6}

Well, as my daughter Willow has grown and out-shown all the rest with her reading abilities, I started her on reading the series last Fall. I checked out the first two books from the public library, and she finished them within two weeks. I turned around and bought her a second-hand copy of the third book from a little local used book store called "The Bookery," located at 326 Main Street, Placerville, California. I gave it to her as an early Christmas present, and she finished it so quickly that my mom turned around and bought her the fourth book for Christmas. She now owns books 3-6. She had read through them many times, nearing as many times as I have now.

The world of Harry Potter is truly a magical place, where imagination and magic thrive. Where heroes are created out of babies, wisdom is gained and shared through experience, and one teenage boy has to and does make the right choice to save the magical world from the reign of a selfish and evil Wizard.

May these books be a blessing to you and yours, may they inspire you and other people world-wide to live true and noble. May they remind us that good people ARE out there, even if they are few and far between, and even if the only ones you currently know are in the pages of a fictional book.

May your light always shine, and may you always find a reason to smile.

Until Next Time...

~Tanya~ 

{1} Excerpt from "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling

{2} Excerpt from "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling

{3} Excerpt from "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" by J.K. Rowling

{4] Excerpt from "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling

{5} Excerpt from "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling

{6} Excerpt from "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling