Come along with me on my re-read of the epically magical series “Harry Potter”.

4th read: December 2018
I switched between the illustrated edition and the regular hardcover so I could annotate, and of course I love love loved it.

3rd read: April 2018
I tried out the audiobook (narrated by Stephen Fry) finally... and I loved it so so much. He does an incredible job bringing the story to life and his voices for every character are spot on in my opinion. Loved it

I LOVE Harry Potter, fantastic start to the series.

Reread December 2014 for #HarryXmasToYou

There are SO MANY foreshadowing things I never noticed before! Like the centaurs talking about the innocent being the first to die? And just so many things just mentioned that come up later, the dragon in Gringotts, Dittany, Sirius Black, Etc.
There's also a lot of things I've forgotten weren't in the movie, which is crazy! But so good. I love it just as much IF NOT EVEN MORE.

Reread for #HarryXmasToYou 2017

Thing I got emotional about this time because I forgot about it: Hagrid gathering pictures from people who knew Harry’s parents for the scrapbook. SO EMO. I ALSO STILL LOVE THIS BOOK. And the illustrated edition is BEAUTIFUL

OH WHY YES MY NAME IS SANA AND I REALLY DID NOT LIKE THIS.

DON'T KILL ME, THANKS. GOODBYE

i've been thinking a lot and this is actually 2.5 stars

_____________________________________________________________
Guys my little sister just came put to me with this book in her hand and asked if I wanted to BR with her.

She looked so happy when I said yes.

I decided on a whim to reread the Harry Potter series this year and flew through this one in an afternoon. This series is my favourite from childhood, and I haven't reread any of them in the past 10 years! It was so cozy and comforting to be back in this world and with some of my favourite characters in the world. My reviews will probably become more substantial when I get to some of the longer books, but I already know that rereading this series will be one of the highlights of my reading year!

“I hope you're pleased with yourselves. We could all have been killed - or worse, expelled. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to bed.”



I haven't read JK Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone since reading it aloud to my son about 15 years ago (probably with the Sorcerer's Stone title). Reading it was like walking down Memory Lane. So nostalgic. Reliving Harry Potter's adventures was such a fun experience! That is all!

n  n

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone was first published exactly 25 years ago on 26 June 1997. On this special occasion of celebrating 25 years of Harry Potter, I will share my personal experience with this book here.

Some years ago, I was a young child when the first Harry Potter book became a sensation. I was a lazy kid who thought that books, especially novels, were overrated and a waste of time. My only acquaintance with them was a couple of the Secret Seven books by Enid Blyton.

My father is a voracious reader. He knew I would start loving books if I found out how amazing books are. He never forced me to read. He just told me the importance of reading and kept a few books like the Secret Seven, Sherlock Holmes, and the first Harry Potter on my table. I still never bothered even to touch it.

One day I was stuck in my home and had nothing else to do. So I simply took the Harry Potter and the philosophers stone and decided to read just five pages. After that, I could not put the book down (just like all other kids); I discarded eating my lunch and finished reading it in just a single sitting. From that day onwards, I started loving books. I never stopped reading after that day. I am proud to say that after high school, I have been following a routine of reading at least ten pages from some book every day. I didn't drop this routine even during tough Med School exam time. This hobby has helped me a lot in developing my personality. It gave me patience and empathy and helped me a lot to become a Doctor. I have to thank my father, J.K. Rowling, the Harry Potter series, Enid Blyton, and Nandanar for developing this reading habit in me.

My favorite character in this book is Harry. It is because of his simplicity, vulnerability, and innocence. There is one more important reason why I love Harry. Yuval Noah Harari perfectly mentioned it in his book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. Harry was removed from his distinguished family and brought up by ordinary muggles, and he arrived at Hogwarts without any prior experience in magic. Nothing was given to him on a silver platter. He had to struggle and work hard to become the best. All the hard-working people who had to struggle in their life will find Harry as their inspiration. He is not the best in everything he does. He is vulnerable with all the negatives and positives like every one of us. JK Rowling shows every young kid you will succeed if you work hard despite the hardships through Harry's character.

Later, every character became my favorite, and they were like my close friends. When I enter a great educational institution or library in my life, the first thing that comes to my mind is, wow, it looks like Hogwarts. That is the standard that JK Rowling built through this book. Hogwarts (even though fictional) is the gold standard for educational institutions for every book lover in this world.

Harry Potter is the book in which I have seen the best world-building. It is amazing to see the author giving mannerisms to certain characters keeping in mind that they will be used for the final book several years later.

Rereading the 25th anniversary edition of this book will give you a special feeling. Harry, Ron and the Weasley family, Hermione, Dumbledore, Hagrid, Hedwig, platform 9 3/4, Hogwarts Express, Hogwarts, Quidditch, Nicholas Flamel, Draco, Snape, and even Voldemort will all bring nostalgia to everybody's mind who grew up reading Harry Potter.

Harry Potter is not just a book; it is an emotion! I am feeling blessed, like the author, the publishers, and all the fans of Harry Potter, for being able to celebrate this book for the last 25 years.

Re-read again, this time it was the illustrated edition!

It's Always Great, Coming back Home..

There's a reason us, the Fans, feel that we're connected, no matter where we from, different culture, ethics, ages..we're all graduated from there..

..Hogwarts.. even like we were in same class,classmates, no matter which edition we read..

..Cause Harry Potter is not just a story..it's a Life..

The Boy Who Saved Flourished the Book Industry

It's One of the most important novels in modern history, Sorry, it's The Most Important ONE.
This Review also for those who hate the series !
Please bear with me..

Without it, most Book stores & publishers may have the same fate of Video Stores like Blockbuster LLC, which, despite being super popular in the 90s, closed all the stores by 2013, shutting down forever.

Yes, without this Novel, and with the rapid change in technology, the ease of making e-books and reading it in PCs, Smartphones, Tablets..etc, the publishing and trade of new paper books may decrease rapidly.
It'd be limited for religious or educating books, classics, small novels. Even those could be just electronic too, and the Books be just like Good Ol' Video Tapes.


A Dystopia, right? very gloomy idea to the world without This novel, The One.

Well, in the case you think I'm exaggerate..Let's have,

n  A Brief !! History of Literature in the 90s
-------------------------------n

Well, let’s back to early 90s , where TV is in every house, even in every room, Video sets are there too, rental video stores everywhere, satellite receivers and cable channels growing fast packed with channels for kids & teenagers, making them attached more & more into screens, not to mention Video Games, Game boy and Nintendo…

Those of this new generation who read are “weirdos" or "nerds” to the rest of their peers.
And for those “few who read”, book stores mostly got for them comics and graphic novels, which most of them created early this century.


Classic Novels, they read just for Schools and Classes mostly.
And New Novels that make Best Seller are the ones made, or will be made, into movies for Julia Roberts, Tom Cruse or any of the 90s Hollywood celebrity, or the ones by Stephen King because ,of course, will be made into movies too.

Even these new novels didn't live up the selling numbers of Tolkien, Charles Dickens, Agatha Christie -what’s with the British authors and selling numbers :)?- , also in Russia no more Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, no more Hugo in France, in Egypt no more like Naguib Mahfouz & the great authors of the 50s to 70s..

No new Big Hit for novels, most of the selling books are those of Speculation about strange & mysterious things in the world or in religion, Dream interpretation , cocking books or celebrities rumors.


While in US & UK, Top Selling books mostly the Self Help ones, or those teaching Computers Programming and Web Sites -this brand new huge technology leap back then-


No new novels to attract the new generation of kids and teenagers, There's few Successful Highlights though, like R.L.Stine’s Goosepumbs in 1992 which made a very good success, and translated in many countries including Egypt.


And in Egypt there’s also a very successful project by respectful Publishing house that made “Pocket Novels” for youth, by brilliant Egyptian writers presenting huge variety of novels of many genres, Sci-Fi, Action Thriller, comics, Romance .etc.


There’s also “Reading for All”, project by the first lady “Susan Mubarak”, reprinting a huge verity of important books and novels from all over the world in very cheap prices.


But all these effort didn't attract “more and more” of new youth readers as intended, it just made more and more books for those few who already reads.
The vast numbers of those who don’t just read will increase if there isn't a BIG new attractive Reading Experience to get them into reading, specially with the more channels, more movies.
But the BIGGEST Obstacle for them to read came out in 1994, and became a real phenomenon by 1995..

..it’s Playstation, The giant Japanese Gaming leap..
Football, Crash, Pepsi man, even the comics heroes also have their games, so why reading Superman, Batman’s comics when you can play them..

n  ~~~~~~ A beat. ~~~~~~n

So by 1996, with this growing leap in Gaming, also the Computer 3D games getting much improved, Books get replaced bit by bit by a gaming controls.

So do you think it’s wise for publishers to publish a book for new writer?

Of course not, it may not even cover it’s publishing cost.

So it was very normal when in this year, 1996, when Joanne, a 31 years old lady from England , handed the manuscript of her first novel to 12 publishing houses, all of them rejected it...

A manuscript of over 200 pages of a novel, that she had hard times in her personal and professional life while writing it, and for children??? Seriously is there still any Child left who still read? it’s 1996, the Era of Playstation and Video Games.

But then, the Modest “Bloomsbury“ agreed to publish it , with 2 advises for her, first that she’d get a day job, since it’s a little chance of making money in children's books. - later she received a grant from the Scottish Arts Council to help her continuing writing.-
But the significant advice was to change her pen name cause young boys might not want to read a book written by a woman..
So with her name & her grandmother’s "Kathleen" come the 2 initial of her pen name..

n  J . k . Rowlingn

And in 26 June 1997 , with 1,000 copies, 500 of which were distributed to libraries, come out in UK, to our World The Greatest..

n  n  
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stonen

And Bam!! , everything happened so fast..
Before the end of this year the novel was awarded many important literary awards in the UK.

An American important publisher, Scholastic, won the rights to publish the novel in US, with a huge check Rowling would never dreams of.
Just with small change, 'Philosopher's Stone' to be 'Sorcerer's Stone', as the American publisher feared 'Philosopher's' may not be that attractive to young readers..
And Thanks to Harry Potter, now Every young readers worldwide know much more about Philosopher's Stone's legend.

In 1998 Book Two released in UK , 1999 in US, winning more literary prizes. And becoming NO.1 Top Selling Book in UK , US and many other countries which start to publish the translated first book.

n  n

And on 8 July 1999, The n  First Breaking Recordn made when Book Three sold 68.000 copies in just three days after its release in the United Kingdom.. and more copies when it released late 1999 in US..

With the fast growing popularity of Harry Potter among readers, more records had been broken..

The 3 books takeover the Top Spot in all charts of Best Selling Books for weeks & months, and it's even still in hardcover editions.
This conquer of the Top Spots made some literary magazines & newspapers separate the 'Harry Potter books' selling records from the rest of the top selling books, splitting the lists into 'Children Books' and 'Adult Books' sections, under pressure from other publishers who were eager to see their books given higher ranking.

And then it was year 2000 , where everything is about to change ... forever..

The Playstation 2 is out there, and even higher leap in Computer Games..

But even with this much of temptations, thousands of children, teens and parents gathered in the Midnight of 8 July 2000 in UK and US at the same day in front of stores, not in front of Cinemas as usual, not electronic stores as Apple stores as happening theses days, But it was in front of Bookstores, for The First time in the Book Stores History, to buy a copy of...

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
And They didn't mind to find out that the book is over 700 page, it was even for their pleasure, more than double the size of any of the first 3 novels.. double the thriller, double the fun..

Over 3 million copies sold at that day only in the US , a New World Record, totally unexpected one.
Huge story, bigger plot , mysterious and very well written.

And more literate prizes for Rowling... more translated editions to more than 40 language.

And a huge budget for the upcoming first movie of the series, which beautifully visualize the magic of the novel by the faithful producers and the director...and it also made some Cinematic Records back then, but that's not our subject now.

n  ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~n

With the announcement of pushing the publishing date of Book Five to mid. 2003 , and with 2 movies out so far, The Hunger for reading Harry Potter kept on..

So, As more readers from this generation start to increase , Publishers and Book Stores start to promote for more books for those readers who are hungry for more..
Older Fantasy books , like Lord of the Rings -which was a super successful movie by then too- Narnia , Golden Compass and many other novels start getting more reprinted editions. And so Book Stores prosperity increased as it get more and more readers.


More countries welcomed the Harry Potter phenomenon.. The English edition AND the local translated ones , both been sold everywhere worldwide.


Even in Egypt English edition sold at many books stores. And, hopefully, some New Book Stores specialized in English novels and books start to open in Cairo & Alexandria by 2002-2003..

And in summer 2002, after the Movie wild success, Nahdet Masr publishing house got the rights and published the Arabic edition.
Although it cut some of the lines for length issues, the edition still hold the magic of it ..making a very good sales.

n  ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~n

The good news is, the literary movement didn't stop there, Harry Potter and Reprinted Classics. No , there's more new books come out for the increasing demand from the readers..

By 2002 ,Life of Pi, Man Booker winner make very good sales numbers.

And in April 2003 Dan Brown (previously published 3 novels, making good sales) released a novel that made Huge Fuss around and making a new sales records, The Da Vinci Code..
The funny thing that there's a reference in this novel that Harry Potter is 'the Second Most Selling Book in History after the Bible', a speculation that happens to be true in less than 5 years after that.

A month later, May 2003, Khaled Hosseini released his first novel, The Kate Runner which also made a very good records too. -Don't you agree if there's no Harry Potter before, this Afghan-born author would have a chance? He'd be rejected by 12 publishers like you know who :)-

And all that didn't affect the main reason for this new 'Literal Renaissance'.
All that didn't affect the Records Breaker to break records one month later..

On 20 June 2003 book Five 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' comes out..

Ten thousands of all ages conquer the Book Stores in UK, US and other countries too at the same day to get The One Book they've been waiting for at least 2 years. Shipping agents like FedEx made the delivery to many countries to get the book at the same time.

A New world Record ,5 millions copy at the first day only..
For the first time in France a non french language book placed in no.1 of the bestselling book....

Some kids got a headache called 'Harry Potter Headache' as they read the whole 850 pages of the book five, the biggest so far, at the same day without resting.

And in Egypt, September the same year, the Arabic edition of book three comes out with unexpected sales records, first edition run out of the stores by the first week only, though it's nearly the beginning of the School year, and the movie of this 3rd book still filming.
ِAnd the price of it get higher 20% in 2 days and still with increasing demand..

More English books and novels sold in Egypt too, along with the Arabic ones, publishing more books for new Egyptian authors and writers along with more of the famous ones, Alaa El Aswany's debut Novel 'Yaqubean's Building' making a very good selling numbers..
n  n
And in July 2004 the Arabic edition of Book Four makes a price war between book stores and magazines stands.
January 2005 , an abridged translated edition of Book Five make many readers angry in Egypt , specially that many already read the English edition before, so the publisher release an unabridged one by May.

n  ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~n

And on 21 July 2005, A Higher Record that breaks all the previously ones

n  n

6.9 million copy of Book Six sold in US in its first day only...
A huge book, it may not be as the fans' expectations of being full of action , but it get a twist that blow minds about one of the most interesting characters, Professor Snape. That made many fans and even big authors like Stephen King and Salman Rushdie talk about for months..

With Pre-Final Book of Harry Potter is out, it followed by a massive variety of New Novels, New Series, New Authors..
Twilight series, Percy Jackson series, and much more, more Books Sales not only in US, UK but worldwide..
More Novels hit the top sales..
A Real Prosperity.

But still Harry Potter is the Records Big Breaker...

At the midnight before 21 June 2007, Everywhere around the Globe, the scene of thousands of people lining in front of Book Stores was repeated...even Bigger than any time before..

A Huge Record for Pre-Orders online reach to One Million copies by Amazon only, and total sales of 11 millions copies in UK and US in the first day only.

The book sold at the Same Day almost in Every Single Country..


even in Israel which made a big religious fuss because the Book Stores opened to receive and sell the book at the releasing day which was their holy Saturday, But it's Harry Potter after all, the world's most unusual, unexpected phenomenon and sales records breaker.

And that's not bad, it was the Miracle of bringing back readers to Book Stores...

And it's not just Harry Potter...
Now, that n  'All was well.'n , thousands of topics went online asking 'what to read next'....
Indeed, although there's the e-books, e-readers..etc, still there's thousands of new books and novels published and sold every year , in every where in the world.

The gaming devices is increasing? yes, But not as expected though by the 90s and early 2000s 'remember Nokia N-Gage?'.. but so does the reading devices which first come out by Sony in 2004,make big step by Amazon's Kindle in 2007...the ebook applications on every device.


New books and series come after that, and still on, making super sales, attracting more readers... more writers come with more books and novels, some are just a rip off others and some are really original and brilliant. in UK, US , Egypt ..everywhere all over the globe..

No matter a Playstation 4 is out, or new Xbox, the Books still there...with its most beloved magic..

The magic of books is back and , I believe, to stay..

Don't you see with me that the magic of Harry Potter is one of the main factors of this magic?

n  
“This boy will be famous. There won’t be a child in our world who doesn’t know his name”
n

That's what Rowling wrote at the very early pages of her first book.. The one that rejected by 12 Publishing Houses in 1996..

Well, what about now?

God, Talked too much in the "Brief" introduction , didn't I?

Well, that's it for this review... I guess some still think it's just the Propaganda that made that all....
Well I'll try to prove them wrong by the upcoming next 6 reviews at the other 6 Books of the series..
Links will be here as soon as it'd done ..

But for The First one... sorry to add one more , but 20000 characters aren't enough.

The Ultimate Review of Book One

Now I'll be back to go around Hogwarts...


For the Zillionth time I guess..

Hope to see you there too, come on and try first year :)


From Hogwarts

Mohammed Arabey
The Craziest Potterhead of Egypt


Re-reading the new edition -Guess I'm addicted to new editions BUT this one really rocks.."Bloomsbury-2014"
from 12 Sep. 2014
to 23 Sep. 2014

المقال بالعربية من هنا

Pathetic. Really pathetic.

Harry Potter is more of a Mary-Sue than Eragon. More than Nancy Drew. More than the worst of fanfiction I've seen.

He's rich, popular and famous for absolutely nothing of his own doing. He destroys the power of the big bad guy before he's a year old. He has the whole angsty past down pat. He instantly becomes the best at flying without ever having done it before, wasting all the older and more experienced flyers. And get this - he fries bad guys when they touch his skin because the power of his mother's love is so amazing that it protects him.

I mean, gosh, the only Sueish habit we aren't subjected to is multipage rants on his appearance each morning. Or the devoted unicorn of unusual powers, of course, but I'm expecting him to show up in the very next book. After all, she has to keep some plot devices for the next one, doesn't she? Can't put all her brilliant twists out at once...

*heavy sarcasm*

Don't even get me started on the plot. Epic failure. 'Nuff said.

Harry wasn't any excuse for a hero. He did nothing, he just sat around and things happened to him. End of story. His fame was inherited, his fortune was inherited, he lived with his relations and allowed them to bully him, and couldn't even manage to read his own mail. His wonderful skills were not worked at and studied for years but picked up instantly, and he bet the bad guys by electrocuting them with his infamous zapper skin.

I could go on for hours. The thing that really gets to me is that this is the great literature of our age? What hope is there for any decent writers if all kids want to read is this utter garbage? What hope is there for the world if kids are growing up thinking this is good literature?

This is a dangerous book. It made me consider both suicide and mass homicide, and it is definitely not suitable for children.

n  ❝This boy will be famous. There won't be a child in our world who doesn't know his name.❞n

Everyone grew up with Harry Potter. They read all the books when they were young and watched all the films. They would re-watch and re-read them. They would fall in love with the Wizarding World and would completely adore Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They would talk about them non stop, about Hogwarts, about its teachings, about them wanting to become students there and pretending they are, about joining the HP fandom, about loving every character and instantly missing the world. Everyone would adore Harry Potter and knew about it since they were young ones.

Except me.

I didn't grow up with Harry Potter. Not because I didn't get to, but because I chose not to. I know, it's like living a life where everything has been a lie. Worse even. It's just, the movies would appear on my tv. From the first one, to the next and the next, and every time I saw the trailer for the upcoming one, I wouldn't be interested and would skip it when I came to it. I wouldn't bother and wouldn't care, and that made a big problem in my life now. Here I am now, being left out because of such poor choices and decisions I made when I was 7, 8, 9, and older until now. But now, as 2016 and having over 500 friends that are caught up and have read the recently published novel, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, I have finally read the first book and am able to continue the series and watch the films. Now, here I am, wishing to go back to my past and change this nightmare and actually watch the films or read the books because I have literally missed on so much, missed too much, and have been missing too much. I have been out of this world and never realized how good it is, and how special it already has become.

n  There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it.n

Harry Potter is one of the most famous, loved, and top series out there. It is loved, adored, cherished, and amazing for HP fans every time they read it. No matter how many times it is read, it fills the person's heart with warmth and happiness, as they are going back to the wizarding world. As for me, I have finally entered it and feel young and new and early to this, because I am new to this all.
Other than that, Harry Potter is considered a Children's book but in my opinion, it's in between middle grade and young adult because it can be hard to read for some. Although it was very very easy for me to read and understand, I see myself reading this all these years before and having a lot of trouble pronouncing some names.

Harry Potter, a story about a young wizard that didn't even know he was a wizard. Harry Potter, a 10 year-old boy, who turned 11, is living with his horrible, rude and awful "family", The Dursleys. Mrs. Dursley is known as Harry Potter's mother's sister. The problem is, they didn't like each other, nor blend in with each other. They were different. Her sister was a witch, while she was just a Muggle, a person who cannot seek the magic and find it, nothing and no one special because they aren't able to turn things into other things, aren't able to fly on a broom, cast a robe on fire, defeat a villain, confuse a troll, aren't able to do anything, really.

The reason for Harry living with this family and having to go trough all this trouble and mess is because he was actually given to them by Professor Albus Dumbledore, known as one of the greatest wizards and the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. When Harry was a baby, his parents were killed by Everyone-Knows-Who but as he tried killing Harry, he really wasn't able to. His mother was killed because she was trying to stop him, but as he tried killing Harry, he couldn't bare to do it and left him a scar, the scar that has made Harry known and popular for surviving this evil person. Once saved and taken, the only people they can rely on are The Dursleys, and as Harry grows, they expect them to tell him he is a wizard and tell him everything and fix all the lies. Except they don't.

As days pass, Harry has been getting letters from someone he doesn't know. He doesn't know who it is and what they want, but he knows there is something going on, due to the amount of letters being sent. After getting the chance to open the first one, his Uncle Vernon decides to snatch it away from him, read it, and burn it. He knows, he knows who it is and what they want, but he doesn't want Harry to know. But even with him burning letter by letter and collecting them all, letters keep arriving and arriving, until the person finally shows up face-to-face with The Dursleys and Harry on his 11th birthday.

He's huge, introduced as a half-giant and half-human, known as Rubeus Hagrid. Hagrid is the one who tells Harry the truth, telling him he is a wizard, and a well-known one as well. He's got talent, and has some of the same abilities as his parents. One being a witch and the other being a wizard, Harry is known as a wizard as well. And as Hagrid tells him the truth, Harry does too. He doesn't know what he is talking about and doesn't know what is going on. He doesn't believe he is a wizard, and doesn't believe the reason for his parent's deaths. But of course, Hagrid decides to tell him the truth and tell him his parents did not die on a car crash, for that seemed impossible, but they were killed by Everyone-Knows-Who and is the reason for his scar.

When Harry leaves with Hagrid, they go and buy him what he needs, including clothes and supplies for the school. As they go to the shop, he is introduced as Harry himself but is instantly known by everyone else. Everyone is pleased to meet him and feel proud because they have shaken his hand. He's famous, his name is everywhere, and he can be considered a legend for what happened. But even with all this going on, Harry is still a little confused and figuring things out. As Harry and Hagrid get what they need, it's time for Harry to go to school, where he meets Ron Weasley, as to what I know, one of his best friends. Ron is small, red-haired, has freckles, pale, and has two twin brothers going to Hogwarts with him. He's not accepted into the other groups, and that is why he blends in with Harry and becomes his friend. Harry also meets Hermione Granger, known as someone annoying and as a nightmare to them both because of how bossy and unrealistic she can be. Of course, they are all so small and Hermione is a little nerd that enjoys every teaching at this school, so I was just like "we get it."

Days pass, and Harry is being trained. He's a neutral to broom-stick flying, is able to play Quidditch, the most popular game in Hogwarts, is given special supplies, and is of course, known by everyone. Other than that, Harry suspects his own secrets and wants to find out truths, but in order to do that, he must find a way to find them and figure them out. With the help of his two friends, he might just be able to figure out the real reason behind him being a wizard, more about his parents, history about himself, who this "You-Know-Who" person is, remember his past, and see how his life really will be changed, forever.

n  Humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them.n

Harry Potter was easy to read, understand, and there was no hesitation when it came to rating it 5 stars. Now, I hate myself once again and ask myself, again, "Why did I not read this earlier?" The answer is obvious, because I already know it and it's because I was never a fan of it. I hate speaking about my past, but this is one ugly past and I hate it. I hate the choice I made and I hate myself for allowing it. But soon I'll get over it and will be able to re-read this as many times as I will be able to during my last 3 years of being a teen. Yes, a 15 year-old that has not read Harry Potter simply because she chose not to when she was able to and when she was young. PATHETIC.

The fantasy is cute, I will say. It's easy to understand and the book is easy to fly through. It's not long, it's not hard, and it's not boring. It's gripping, fun, and everything is filled with some kind of magical element that has me turning page by page. Having no regrets anywhere, I am finally able to talk about HP and the world of wizards, where students learn how to make potions, talk to ghosts, learn about other creatures, transform things into other things, read minds, become invisible, fly in the air with a broomstick, play soccer in the air, have a feast and enjoy it all, learn magic, have a wand, and just be filled with happiness because of the friends and families considered in the houses. Well, I guess in most.

Everything was fun to read. I laughed at some parts and found the story to be more affective to me as Harry was figuring out his new and changed life. He was confused, but he found out a lot more. There's still more, but I know that as he grows, I will be able to follow along the late ass journey and see where he grows to and how. I'll see how strong he gets and find out some strengths and weakness'. I'll be able to join an invisible magic carpet and fly through the series because I just want to know what happens next and how everything goes. I want to see Harry become a better person and be able to prove Draco and his stupid friends wrong about what they think. I want his friendship with Ron to grow and become stronger. I want Hermione to stop being so talkative and take a little break of being so bossy. But more importantly, I want to have a fun journey reading this and feeling like I'm on an adventure. Reading it for the first time feels like one. I've never watched the films. I've watched parts, but skipped them. Now, I won't skip anything. It's like an adventure where I'm dived in and can't seem to leave because I'm so alive and intrigued.

What can I say about Harry Potter that others have not said? Nothing. Reviews are always similar, and this one might be too. Everyone loves it, and so did I. Yes, I rolled my eyes at times because there were moments where I was annoyed. But nothing was boring, and even when I rolled my eyes, there was a reason for that eye rolling scene. Maybe it was Hermione being annoying, or Draco being a rude boy, mocking an adorable red-haired. Or both. But I was also laughing. I would always laugh when it came to Hagrid. Since the beginning, I instantly loved him and considered him hilarious. I love how he turned Dunley into a pig but failed because he was already too much of a pig. I remember laughing and noticing my parents looked at me weirdly, but that's okay because I needed a novel where I was happy and ended up laughing at times. Oh and also, Hagrid is honestly so nice and adorable guys, I love him. He's so funny and protective and is such a good friend to Harry. I loved everything he did for him and was glad he was the first one to introduce himself to Harry. He cared for him since he was a baby and saw him as 11, bring him a present and giving him another one at the end.

Ron is honestly the cutest. I don't understand how anyone could be mean to him. He may be weak, but he has his own strengths. He's so adorable and small and I hated how Draco treated him. There were some times unnecessary and I hated Draco for it, but I'll probably end up loving Draco some time throughout the series and probably regret it because I know he's still gonna be really mean throughout the series. I'm sure. I haven't spoiled myself, so I have no idea how his or anyone else's life goes, but I do know that he changes in some way. Hermione is a small and cute nerd as well, but sometimes I hated how sassy she was and bossy. She hated losing points for her house and because she, Ron, and Harry were in the same house, they had to work together and find a way to become friends to find out other truths and earn points for Gryffindor. She took everything very serious and showed off at times because of her perfect test grades and assignments, but I was glad she was able to put up with Ron and Harry while they put up with her.

The friendship between Harry, Ron and Hermione was probably one of my favorites. I know it didn't work out at first and they honestly hated her, but I was so happy it literally had to work toward the middle. Thanks to the troll, she became their friend and actually was able to cooperate with them. She didn't yell at them for fighting the troll, but instead told them to be careful and send word if anything goes wrong when Harry went for the mirror again. As it was ending, she was saying goodbye to Harry and Ron and was even awkward because she couldn't really figure out what to say. But also, my heart was really happy when she hugged Harry because it felt real and it felt like something I had been waiting since the beginning. It was friendship goals as they were becoming friends, and it just made me happy seeing them all together, same house, same team, same classes.

The writing of course is, like I said, easy to understand. There were no words that were confusing in any way or words that got me mixed up because of how similar they sounded, and there were no problems. I didn't know what was gonna happen next and I know books are always better than movies, but I will watch the films after or after finishing one book just to see the differences. I hear they are kind of the same, just that the book provides some more information and detail. Like always, it's no surprise.

n  There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.n

Overall, I am so proud of myself for getting the first book over with, now wanting the 2nd and the 3rd and the rest. Really excited to see where this all goes to, and how Harry becomes a better wizard.

I was never a Harry Potter kid. I honestly harshly judged Harry Potter readers my entire life. I was a Series of Unfortunate Event's weirdo. I was a Lemony Snicket child. I was a member of VFD and I knew how to write acrostic poems.

  

Harry Potter was too popular. It was too cool. It was too massively praised. JK Rowling made too much fucking money (still does). It was TOO MAINSTREAM and edgy middle school me didn't want to be LIKE EVERYONE ELSE.

But I am so fucking old now. I pay taxes. I am a married woman. I get home from work at 6 pm and I change into my pajamas, complain about the government, rant about gen zer's, mention how different things were back in my day and fall asleep after a glass of wine.

I am too fucking tired of this world, I am too fucking tired of being angry at everything. I am too fucking tired of thinking about global warming, cancel culture, and the inability of my generation to afford housing. I just want to escape.

I am still a romance reader and romance lover. But I am not gonna lie, I am also so tired of the oversaturation this booktok market caused. Romance books have had the same rinse/repeat for a few months now. I read so many romance books in the last few years that it became almost impossible to find something that hasn't been done before. I have to read 20+ books just to find a new one I actually like. That might be my own fault. Or the market's fault. Or tiktok's fault. Where only the popular/same old ever sells. But I digress.

I decided to pick up Harry Potter for the first time in my life at the age of 27. Because of the culmination of these reasons. And because most of my best friends are Harry Potter fucking fanatics and they forced me to. And you know what? I am glad they did.

  

Listen, say whatever you want.

You can like this author, you can hate this author. You can think of Harry Potter as the most boring children's fiction that could ever exist in this world. You can think of her writing as simplistic, unremarkable, overrated... I mean, the woman is British and I can't even tell. And yet...

You cannot sit here, look me in the eyes, and tell me that what she has created here is not worthy of praise. The level of creativity, the characters, the world building by itself... All her controversy aside...

There is a reason why these books got movies. Hell, there is a reason these books got two entire amusement parks that make billions daily, and will continue to do so for years.  HARRY POTTER IS FUCKING MAGICAL .

There, I said it.

  

Don't tell me that you would not even set foot in an Universal Park if you didn't get a chance. I myself have been twice and even without reading the books, or watching all the movies, that shit was emotional.

Separating the craft from the creator, and even if I don't - as an editor - I'd never be able to sit here and tell you this world building isn't the most fantastic thing I have read in my life.

So, you know what? Politics aside, do fucking read Harry Potter. Do love this series. Do talk about it to this day and to pass it along to your children, because I for sure will.

Some things will exist and live on despite of their makers. And I can't for the life of me hear another one of my friends tell me: oh god, I feel so guilty about loving Harry Potter still. God, I am afraid to talk about it online.

Well, I am fucking not.

  

I sat on my couch with this book at the age of 27 and all of a sudden I was inside of that train with Harry. I was touching that letter, I was hugging Ron after my Quidditch match. I was scared for my life when Hermione got stuck in that bathroom with the stupid dumb troll and for a few hours, I was a kid again. I had fun. I was immersed. I couldn't put the book down.

If that's not a good book, I don't know what is.

So yeah, I am too old to be wasting my time trying to prove strangers on the internet I am a good person. I know what I stand for, I make a difference in political matters when voting. I actually care about things that count. I am active in ways that will make a difference for the people I want to protect.

And I am also too fucking old to be burning Harry Potter books at the stake because it's author has opinions I disagree with.

So here I stand before you, good reads community, and I absolve the child in you. I give you permission to love and appreciate Harry Potter like you always have.

The child in you never had ill intentions, the child in you didn't have all that prejudice talk instilled into you. The child in you just wanted to escape. So do. Do escape to Hogwarts. Allow yourself to keep all the magnificent things this series has brought to the world. And do support your local library while you're at it for your September yearly reread.

I know who I am.

I am a fucking Gryffindor. (I took the test lol)

Onto the next book. Can't wait to read Dramione fanfic.

n  n