I was an avid reader as a child, but nothing compared to Harry Potter. I picked up the first book when I was 10 year old and I was immediately hooked. That may sound cliché now because you can’t go anywhere without stumbling upon a Harry Potter fan, but it was truly a different experience entirely for those of us in the Harry Potter generation.
What Defines the Harry Potter Generation?
The Harry Potter generation had to wait for the next book to be released to continue the story. We went to every midnight book release, and we reread the books that were already out to hold us over during the long, agonizing gap between the release of the fourth and fifth books. Some of my books are held together with duct tape at this point, and I refuse to replace them, as unreasonable as it sounds.
And even though we picked apart every movie for not including our favorite parts, we still saw each one at midnight the day it was released and rejoiced when the final book was split into two movies.
Harry Potter was, and still is, so much more than a good series to me. I literally grew up alongside Harry, and it shaped who I’ve become and what I believe as an adult.
I believe that it doesn’t matter what you were born, but what you grow to be.
I believe that if you want to see the true measure of a man, take a look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.
I believe that youth cannot know how age thinks and feels, but old men are guilty if they forget what it is to be young.
I believe that humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them.
I believe that the world isn’t split into good people and Death Eaters.
I believe that it is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.
I believe the consequences of our actions are always so complicated, so diverse, that predicting the future is a very difficult business indeed.
I believe that it is the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness.
I believe that, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.
I believe that numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it.
I believe that we are only as strong as we are united and as weak as we are divided.
I believe that the truth is a beautiful and terrible thing and should therefore be treated with great caution.
I believe it does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.
I believe differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.
I believe that love, loyalty, and innocence have a power beyond the reach of any magic.
I believe it is important to fight and fight again, and keep fighting, for only then can evil be kept at bay though never quite eradicated.
And I believe soon we must all make the choice between what is right and what is easy.
The Harry Potter Generation and the U.S. Election
Like most of the U.S. population, I had strong feelings after this presidential election. I can’t stop thinking about the future — what does this means for our society? For our country? For overall social progress?
Furthermore, as an adult that grew up during the Harry Potter generation, I can’t stop seeing the parallels, and instead of making me sick and disgusted, it is inspiring me to speak up. Because every Harry Potter fan knows how this storyline ends.
We know what happens if good people stay quiet and shut their eyes while an evil man gains power. I refuse to stay quiet and I refuse to shut my eyes.
