Why I got hooked on Harry Potter
1. Good writing.
The writing was good, interesting, and naturally flowing. Enough said on that vein.
2.Black magic and demons weren't involved in any way.
3. Harry was a real kid.
While you were sympathetic for Harry and cheering him all the way through, he did have his moments of impatience, confusion, and loud-mouthness which made him neither a perfect hero nor a brat, but an actual person.
In fact, all of the kids were like that, neither fully wicked or fully good.
- Hermione is bossy but loyal
- Ron is brash, but cares very deeply for others
- Draco is haughty but initially friendly to Harry
- Neville is clumsy and timid but courageous when the time calls for it
4. Non-villainous adults! (IS THAT EVEN LEGAL NOWADAYS?!?!)
In nearly all teen/middle grade fiction, the adults are:
A. Dumb.
B. Evil (from the scale of 'you're destroying the ecosystem!' to 'you took money out of my highly expensive college account to pay for my younger sibling's cochlear implant without telling me!' to 'you lied to me so I would stay in this house forever because you're a selfish jerk!')
C. Just there as an obstacle ("Don't do the thing!" Hero does the thing and situation becomes BETTER! (see A.))
Meanwhile, in Harry Potter world:
Not to mention that time when...
- Remus Lupin found out that Harry couldn't go to the local village with his friends (Unsigned-permission form), he took him into his office and shared butterbeer with him and told him all about his father and what they did at school and how to defeat dementors, etc.
- Hagrid watched over Harry like a mama bear from the moment they met.
- Arthur Weasley wouldn't let Harry leave the Dusleys until they said goodbye to him.
5. Lack of fantasy cliches
There's a giant, but he knits and tends the shrubs and bakes cookies.
There are ghosts, but they just like to gossip about/with their students and try to figure out what to do with the obnoxious poltergeist roaming the halls.
There are centaurs, but they mostly avoid contact with humans and want their woods to be off-limits.
There are unicorns, and their blood grants life, but you'll live a cursed life if you drink it.
There's a phoenix, but he's the headmaster's pet.
There are hippogriffs, but you've got to mind your manners with them and you can't expect that they'll just let you push them around.
There's a werewolf, but he's a professor who just wants to read books and drink tea (or butterbeer).
Then there are the thestrals....
6. NO LOVE TRIANGLES!!!!!!!!!!!! (at least in the hero group)
7. NO HIGHSCHOOL CLICHES!!!!!!
Harry was a jock, but he wasn't a jerk,
Ron was poor and from the country, but knew more than Harry did about a lot of things,
Hermione was a bookworm, but wasn't reclusive or boring,
Luna was odd, but not emo,
Neville was clumsy, but not dumb,
McGonagall was stern, but not mean,
Dumbledore was supportive, but not perfect,
Draco was stuck-up, but had good grades and wasn't a jock primarily,
Snape was mean, but not heartless,
Cho was emotional, but not dumb,
Arthur wasn't dumb,
Molly wasn't manipulative or overtly under-handed,
The stuck-up kid's mom was protective of him,
Fred and George were tricksters and teasers, but were ready to beat up whoever called Hermione a mud-blood and helped Harry in the face of problem or danger,
THERE WAS NO DUMB ADULT
AND THE KIDS ACTUALLY DID THEIR HOMEWORK!
8. Friends
Hermione and Ron risked getting eaten by a three-headed dog to help Harry in the first book alone, and stayed with him from there.
And even though they went through hard times and argued and sometimes did things for one another that they didn't completely understand ("HARRY, IF WE DIE FOR THEM I'M GONNA KILL YOU!") they were always there for each other and thinking about each other and their relationships weren't based off superficial interests or what they could get out of the other person, but love.
In short:
(Enjoy it, guys, that's the only time I'll use that scene in a positive light)
The writing was good, interesting, and naturally flowing. Enough said on that vein.
2.Black magic and demons weren't involved in any way.
3. Harry was a real kid.
While you were sympathetic for Harry and cheering him all the way through, he did have his moments of impatience, confusion, and loud-mouthness which made him neither a perfect hero nor a brat, but an actual person.
In fact, all of the kids were like that, neither fully wicked or fully good.
- Hermione is bossy but loyal
- Ron is brash, but cares very deeply for others
- Draco is haughty but initially friendly to Harry
- Neville is clumsy and timid but courageous when the time calls for it
4. Non-villainous adults! (IS THAT EVEN LEGAL NOWADAYS?!?!)
In nearly all teen/middle grade fiction, the adults are:
A. Dumb.
B. Evil (from the scale of 'you're destroying the ecosystem!' to 'you took money out of my highly expensive college account to pay for my younger sibling's cochlear implant without telling me!' to 'you lied to me so I would stay in this house forever because you're a selfish jerk!')
C. Just there as an obstacle ("Don't do the thing!" Hero does the thing and situation becomes BETTER! (see A.))
Meanwhile, in Harry Potter world:
Not to mention that time when...
- Remus Lupin found out that Harry couldn't go to the local village with his friends (Unsigned-permission form), he took him into his office and shared butterbeer with him and told him all about his father and what they did at school and how to defeat dementors, etc.
- Hagrid watched over Harry like a mama bear from the moment they met.
- Arthur Weasley wouldn't let Harry leave the Dusleys until they said goodbye to him.
5. Lack of fantasy cliches
There's a giant, but he knits and tends the shrubs and bakes cookies.
There are ghosts, but they just like to gossip about/with their students and try to figure out what to do with the obnoxious poltergeist roaming the halls.
There are centaurs, but they mostly avoid contact with humans and want their woods to be off-limits.
There are unicorns, and their blood grants life, but you'll live a cursed life if you drink it.
There's a phoenix, but he's the headmaster's pet.
There are hippogriffs, but you've got to mind your manners with them and you can't expect that they'll just let you push them around.
There's a werewolf, but he's a professor who just wants to read books and drink tea (or butterbeer).
Then there are the thestrals....
6. NO LOVE TRIANGLES!!!!!!!!!!!! (at least in the hero group)
7. NO HIGHSCHOOL CLICHES!!!!!!
Harry was a jock, but he wasn't a jerk,
Ron was poor and from the country, but knew more than Harry did about a lot of things,
Hermione was a bookworm, but wasn't reclusive or boring,
Luna was odd, but not emo,
Neville was clumsy, but not dumb,
McGonagall was stern, but not mean,
Dumbledore was supportive, but not perfect,
Draco was stuck-up, but had good grades and wasn't a jock primarily,
Snape was mean, but not heartless,
Cho was emotional, but not dumb,
Arthur wasn't dumb,
Molly wasn't manipulative or overtly under-handed,
The stuck-up kid's mom was protective of him,
Fred and George were tricksters and teasers, but were ready to beat up whoever called Hermione a mud-blood and helped Harry in the face of problem or danger,
THERE WAS NO DUMB ADULT
AND THE KIDS ACTUALLY DID THEIR HOMEWORK!
8. Friends
Hermione and Ron risked getting eaten by a three-headed dog to help Harry in the first book alone, and stayed with him from there.
And even though they went through hard times and argued and sometimes did things for one another that they didn't completely understand ("HARRY, IF WE DIE FOR THEM I'M GONNA KILL YOU!") they were always there for each other and thinking about each other and their relationships weren't based off superficial interests or what they could get out of the other person, but love.
In short:
(Enjoy it, guys, that's the only time I'll use that scene in a positive light)
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