Harry Potter and the Life of a Teenage Boy

The boy who lived. He who shall not be named. You Know Who. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Dumbledore and Professor McGonnigle. You know these terms, your teenagers know these terms, your middle school children know them. 

My son knows all the books by heart — he goes to sleep, not to music on his iPod, but with the sonorous sounds of Jim Dale reading one of the Harry Potter installments. He knows quotes that only J. K. Rowling should remember. 

My older son used to know them; he read the first few, but I have a feeling that when he became uncomfortable with how similar Harry's temperment was to his own, he stopped reading. J.K. Rowling made this boy-wonder into a real teenaged boy, replete with intelligence, moodyness, anger issues, stumbling awkwardness, and guile. I was in awe of her understanding of how teenage boys worked. Had she been stealthily observing the comings and goings of my house?   

Last Friday, our family went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II.  It was an evening that we all looked forward to — dinner out, and then the long-awaited last in a series of 8 movies covering the beloved seven-book Harry Potter series. If you haven't been living under a rock, you know about Harry. But what is the draw, exactly? 

Harry Potter isn't a magician, he's a wizard; but, he's also a normal, teenaged boy.  He has a pair of best friends, one boy and one girl, and over the course of years, there was that old feeling of 'should I date her or should I just be friends with her?' He has huge arguments, even fights with Ron, his best friend. One or two of them over Hermione, whom Ron likes, and thinks Harry must also. Then when Harry dates his best friend's sister, there's another little bit of a tussle. But their friendship survives. Then there is the good vs. evil bit. Awful parents of one.  Wonderful parents of another. The inevitable comparisons between Harry's guardians and Ron's parents. Harry is so much like all of our children, that our kids get it. 

J.K. Rowling has found a way to talk about going through teenage years and solving problems without making it seem like a self-help book. She makes it exciting, with crazily named spells, that actually, when you look the words up, or examine their root words, really do mean most of what they do. She adds intrigue and amazing animals into her characters' lives. What child, teenaged or younger, doesn't want an animal in the house at some point? These kids HAD to bring an animal to school with them, Harry brought an owl, Ron brought a rat, and Hermione brought a cat. An unlikely trio of animals, but still, how cool is that?

She has also navigated the devlopment of her books into movies really well. If having these cool books available didn't turn kids into readers, watching the movies did. So many kids saw the movies, and wanted to know what else happened, so they read the books. Harry Potter book release nights at our local Barnes and Nobles on The Avenue were incredible. People lined up to get in, then people lined up to get their books. And in the middle, making wands, and reading books.

Then they lined up dressed as Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, and Bellatrix to come see the movies.  And cried when the last one ended, not because of some sad note that it ended on, but because the series was officially over. 

I hardly ever like the movies that come from books that I love. But this was a different experience.  I loved the books, and I loved the movies. Maybe because my kids grew up with Harry, and they are boys? Maybe because I wish I had been a witch, and had had the opportunity to go to Hogwarts with its moving staircases and dragons flying out of bell towers at 2:00 in the morning? Maybe because the folks who took care of the making of the movie made sure to bring to life all the really cool magic that JK Rowling wrote, and made it look better than I could imagine. 

Harry Potter, the Teenaged Boy. A great manual for growing up teenagers. And a great accompanying movie. If you haven't already, I recommend reading the books!