Enjoy the Little Things

Every once in a while, probably every month to two months, I like to rewatch Harry Potter. I keep meaning to reread it as well but I’ve been trying to read other stories. “Trying” being the prime word. Anyway, rewatching Harry Potter, and I mean all eight movies, has a calming and cozy-ing effect over me. As I’m rewatching them now, I can honestly say it’s a fantastic feeling of knowing I can be in the worst mood and HP will make it better. I can be in the happiest mood and HP will continue that happiness. I can be depressed and it will make me feel whole again. I’ve met a few several people who say that they haven’t gotten into it and they don’t understand why myself or other people are into it, well, here’s why:

1. Family/Love: Harry is sent to live with his aunt and uncle but they’re, as Professor McGonagall would say, “the worst sort of muggles.” If you haven’t read (or watched) HP, “muggles” are non-magic folk. He grows up being bullied by his cousin, Dudley, and his uncle Vernon and aunt Petunia are both horrible to him but he finds family and the love that he deserves among his friends at Hogwarts and the Weasleys. The love that he’s shown reminds me of my own family: the acceptance, the protective nature between all of them and the unconditional love.
2. Harry’s perseverance to do the right thing: If there’s any role model that has these specific characteristics in your life, keep them. I feel like Harry and his friends are the most determined in every way to continue to do what is necessary for the greater good. No matter the cost. They broke several school rules and then later, several laws (probably) for the protection of the magical community. Of course, that doesn’t make it okay to break rules. Duh. Although his thick-headedness can get in the way of thoroughly thinking things through, he continues to take risks to eradicate the fear from his friend’s world.
3. Friendship: The friendships and relationships are strong and keep getting stronger as the story progresses, especially amongst the trio and the marauders. They don’t give up on each other no matter how difficult or how angry they are at each other. Relationships are hard sometimes but true friendship is getting through the messy stuff together and coming back from it. And they continue to do that very thing. International friendship whilst the Triwizard Tournament- Dumbledore said, “Even though we come from different places and speak different tongues, our hearts beat as one.” This quote should mean something more now in the real world. We have growing tension as the United States, especially the president, continues to do whatever suits him and the only way to make peace again, is to understand that we have to come to the realization that we all want the same thing: to live in a world with love and peace and to raise our children in a safe environment. We’re all humans made of flesh and bone and we all have similar hardships, don’t you think we should respect each other as such?
4. Strong female characters: These women have continued the rebellion in the last book/movie beside the men. Hermione Granger, played by Emma Watson, was right at the beginning the “brightest witch of her age.” She was at the center of the battle and finding all the horcruxes to defeat Voldemort. What impressed me the most and also broke my heart, was when Hermione had to erase her parents’ memories of her so they wouldn’t be in danger. Emma Watson is a complete badass outside of the wizarding world too. She’s fighting for gender equality with her HeforShe movement and making influential steps to making the fashion world safer for the environment. Ginny Weasley and Mrs. Weasley are mother and daughter. They have the fierceness, veracity, and cleverness that helped the defeat of the rebellion. Luna Lovegood is never afraid to be herself and that is quite the feat in itself. Rowling calls her the anti-Hermione because, well, she’s strange and sees the abstract instead of logic. But I think she brings quirkiness, wit, and wisdom to the darkness of Harry’s world. Bonnie Wright, who plays Ginny, and Evanna Lynch, who plays Luna Lovegood, are ambassadors for Lumos as well as environmentalists. Professor McGonagall, for being at Hogwarts as the head teacher, she is a talented, powerful witch that looked out for the trio and protected all of the students at the school. These women fought for the rights for half-bloods and muggle-borns to be part of the magical community. They all share the same commendable strength to stand up for themselves and what’s right.
5. The storyline and the depth of the story: With every book in the series, J.K. Rowling pays attention to every small detail in each character and part of the story. She is one of the best storytellers because of this alone. She goes in deeper and deeper in each book about the characters’ back stories, the development and the main plot between Voldemort and Harry Potter, Severus Snape and Lily Potter, the Marauders. Not only does she bring depth to the story but her wisdom and teaches life lessons such as being yourself and doing the right thing. One of my favorite quotes of hers is “It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live,” spoken by Albus Dumbledore. I always say that to myself when I feel like I’m losing my mind. I also love this quote spoken by Sirius Black, “If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”
6. Magic: I keep hearing, “Nancy, why don’t you read some non-fiction?” “Why do you always read fantasy?” “Don’t you want to read something that actually happened?” Well, I do, I read a lot of articles from the news and some from medical journals but why should I read something I know will give me heartache when I can read something that inspires my own writing. Nowadays, the news is depressing so yeah, I totally will read books that will get me out of reality with dragons and magical creatures. I do believe in magic but I also think the meaning of the word changes with how you use it. In Harry Potter, it’s the pure turn-a-petal-into-a-fish kind of magic but I also believe love is magic. Energy, or what you put out into the universe, is magic. That’s my own personal thoughts on the subject.
7. Enjoy the little things: Harry and his friends do this very thing. Harry and his friends had a wedding during the darkest of times. They had Christmas dinner and loved being with each other. They noticed how beautiful it was to be at a place like Hogwarts, which was filmed in Scotland. In a world with so much hatred and chaos that was the wizarding world, they found time to see that life isn’t worth living unless they enjoyed the little things and had a sense of humor.

I could be here all day justifying Rowling and this story but only you can decide to read it. If you do intend to read the books, and I truly recommend that you do, you will understand a lot more because the book is always better than the movie. Always.

Audere est facere.