Oh, It's Just a Kid's Book

The Harry Potter series is a kid’s series. There’s nothing arguable about that- there’s good versus evil, fantastical wizarding battles, and a villain that always loses. However, people keep going back to the story- parents having their kids read it, older siblings passing it on to younger, or simply adults returning to books that reminded them of their childhood. The universality of Harry Potter, and why people keep coming back to it, comes from the relationships of the characters. People can’t relate to being able to cast spells or brewing potions that can “even stopper death,” but they can relate to feeling alone and awkward and wishing for a friend (Rowling 137). Harry, Ron, and Hermione need each other- without the others present, they couldn’t achieve the things they do, just as we need those around us to help us better ourselves.

Whenever Harry, Ron, and Hermione decide to pursue the Sorcerer’s Stone, all three of their skills are necessary to fulfill the task. After falling into the Devil’s Snare, Hermione’s the first to realize “what [it] is” and that the plant likes “the dark and the damp,” but Harry devises the idea to “light a fire” (Rowling 277,278).  However, without Ron’s call to sense- “ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?”- Hermione wouldn’t have had the presence of mind to use her wand to light a fire to help them escape the potentially life-threatening plant (Rowling 278). From the key room utilizing Harry’s “knack for spotting things other people didn’t,” to the chess board requiring that Ron sacrifice himself “to be taken,” to Hermione’s confidence that she and Harry had “everything [they] need[ed]” to solve the potions riddle- each of them play an integral role in getting Harry through to help protect the stone (Rowling 280, 283, 286). However, their skills and talents working together isn’t the central message in this section of the story. When Ron is willing to sacrifice himself to allow Harry and Hermione to move on, the audience isn’t commending his strategic chess ability- they’re admiring his willingness to protect his friends. When Hermione and Harry have to separate as Harry goes to fight for the stone, Rowling doesn’t intend for her audience to focus on Hermione’s logical prowess- the emphasis lies not only in saving the day but also on “… more important things – friendship and bravery” (Rowling 287).

The wizarding knowledge and books and spells aren’t the most important part of Harry Potter- Hermione says it directly: there are more important things. Both in the series and in real life, the things that matter most to us don’t lie in the things we know or can recite- it’s what we can feel and in the connections we build. Although these connections in Harry Potter occur in a world with three headed dogs and men with two faces and mirrors that show your truest desire, the universality of the relationships creates a timeless story that people have passed down, and will pass down, for generations to come.