19 Years Later...

J.K. Rowling has managed to create her own army of wizards.

The series that she first began publishing in 1997 (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) has earned a huge following. The author herself has over 12 million followers on twitter and continues the series discussion throughout the years revealing secrets during her time writing them. She continues to engage fans in the world that she created, a world that absorbed the imaginations of millions. The novels can be seen in high schools (and elementary schools) around the world. They sit snugly in bookcases, in backpacks, and on beside tables. Movies are played on TV while families gather and enjoy the magic together (the movies earning $7.7 billion in total). A world has been created based upon the magic that stemmed from the imagination of one individual: an amazing task to be accomplished in the literary world. Harry Potter World opened to thousands of excited fans who wanted to get a chance to enjoy the wizarding world they grew up reading about. They wanted to experience Diagon Alley and Platform 9 3/4; introverts and extroverts alike came together in a giant social setting to engage about a literary phenomenon. Twenty years after the first novel was published (ten years after the final, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) people are still bonding over the series. Toys and models are still being sold in stores depicting the famous characters with their lightning bolt scars, ginger hair, and intelligent stare. These novels have brought people together in a world that appears to constantly be drawing them apart. The author herself has added to this drawing together by continuing conversations and remaining down to earth in her public appearances.

Harry Potter has become the most successful series in literary history (yes, even more popular than Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings). It has sold over 500 million copies worldwide. These are novels that are looked at with love, they are novels that have dog-eared pages, torn covers, and coffee stains littering their lines. My own copies have had a rough life. I can remember bringing them to lunch when I was in fifth grade and spilling food on them in the cafeteria. I remember leaving one in a car overnight when it was raining, only to go out in the morning to find the binding ready to explode, the pages soggy with water. I remember begging my parents to take me to Barnes and Noble the day the final book was released. I walked into a building full of novels, but I only had eyes for the final Harry Potter book. I needed to know how their story ended. I remember staring eagerly at the book in the car before finally opening it on the way home. I read from morning to night, staying up after lights out and reading by the glow of an old cell phone. I damaged my eyes to continue reading. J.K. Rowling is not selling novels. She is selling a way for people to make memories. An entire generation grew up reading about Hogwarts and the created world that Harry Potter lived in. It is no surprise that it is the most successful; the series itself holds actual lessons and characters that everyday people can relate to. There's the fighter, the assumed coward, and the nerd. Every individual has these characteristics within them; seeing these traits appear in others allows for individuals to accept themselves a little more.

On September 1, the new year at Hogwarts begins. On September 1, Potter fans around the world pick up novels and return to the school of witchcraft and wizardry with their favorite characters: Harry, Ron, Hermione (Draco, Ginny, Fred, George, etc). Around the world a buzz begins again, "will there be more?", "I want just one more", "I need to know about James." Rowling has created a fandom that will never quiet.

Today, September 1, 2017, I pick up the final novel of Harry Potter. I will read to the last scene one more time. A scene that takes place on September 1, 2017, 19 years later.