The Magical Journey of Harry Potter
by Giselle Lam
The Harry Potter story is a saga about love, family, and loss of friends, as well as the choice between good and evil. It is a tale of three friends embarking on a journey in a school called Hogwarts where they face dangers and many enemies, including Voldemort (or the one everyone in the wizarding world calls You-Know-Who). The first book was published on June 26, 1997, leading to many sequels, movies, and even theme parks. Let’s take a look at the origin of this incredible franchise that has grabbed the interest and curiosity of so many fans.
The Harry Potter stories have been created by JK Rowling, whose full name is Joanne Kathleen Rowling, born July 31, 1965 in Yate, United Kingdom. Although she is currently the richest author in the world with a net worth of approximately $1.2 billion, before she came up with her imaginative stories, she wasn't doing very well financially. In fact, after her divorce, she had to rely on state benefits to support herself and her children. After she had finished writing the first book, she took it to many companies, but got rejected by 12 publishers before finally being accepted. This part of her life was definitely a rags-to-riches story. Now, she owns a 290-foot mega yacht named the Samsara, which she bought for $150 million in 2023.
The story of Harry Potter came to JK Rowling’s mind when she was on a train that had been delayed in 1990. Her mind began to center on a boy who is a wizard and has a magical journey in a school for wizards. During this train ride, she made up the character Harry Potter, Ron, and Hermione. Rowling had no paper or pen at that time so everything was stored in her mind. Aspects of her stories came from some of her own memories; for example, the last name Potter came from her childhood neighbor. Hermione was created from a version of herself as a girl, someone who loved studying and never liked failure. Lastly, the character Ron was inspired by Rowling’s best friend Sean Harris. Other than those two, a few of the teachers from Harry Potter were based on her own teachers, like Rowling's secondary school chemistry teacher, John Nettleship, who was the inspiration for Severus Snape.
I was curious to find out how much interest our students have in Harry Potter, so I created a survey. Here are the results:
Do you like the Harry Potter Franchise?
Yes
Sort of
No
How would you describe your familiarity with Harry Potter?
A huge fan, having read most/all of the books and seen the movies
Have seen the movies and read the books but only a few
Have only seen the movies
Somewhat familiar with the stories
Know very little or nothing about it
From 1 to 5, how would you rate these Harry Potter characters?
Harry Potter
Hermione Granger
Ron Weasley
Which Hogwarts house do you most relate to?
Gryffindor
Hufflepuff
Ravenclaw
Slytherin
What is your favorite Harry Potter book or film?
Would you rather have butterbeer or a chocolate frog?
Butterbeer
Chocolate Frog
If you had a magic want for a day, what would you do with it?
Make $700 trillion dollars
Get rid of everybody you don't like
Have unlimited cars
No homework forever
Make unlimited candy
No school forever
Who is your favorite Harry Potter villain?
Draco Lucius Malfoy
Voldemort
Bellatrix Lestrange
The Dursleys
Dolores Jane Umbridge
Professor Quirrell
Lucious Malfoy
Peter Pettigrew
Barty Crouch Junior
According to club presidents Susie Lisenkov and Reyang Pelkyi, the Harry Potter Club meets every other Friday in Mrs. Butler’s room W305: “This year, we have an exciting lineup of activities planned, including Harry Potter themed games, crafts, baking, movie showing, book discussions, competitions, trivia, and more.” So if you’re a long-time “Potterhead” or a newly interested fan, swing by and check out the Harry Potter Club.
