You're a wizard, Harry!

I often wonder what my life would be like if Hagrid had never uttered those immortal words. I also wonder what my life would be like if I wasn't such a Harry Potter obsessive. I've concluded that it would be hell.  Some people would say that it's concerning that I'm doing a degree in English Literature and regularly make the case for the Harry Potter books being the best books ever written - I think it's fantastic. Those who went to see the last film with me will remember how I fashioned my own wand to take to it. If you think I'm making this up, I'm afraid you're very much mistaken. My friends actually had to ask me to put it away as I was embarrassing them. It was excellent though; elm, 11 inches, dragon heartstring. I'm lying, it was a glorified twig that I'd whittled into a wand shape with a bread knife. My weirdness aside, I was massively disappointed with the last film; comparable in its poorness only to the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy. Don't get me wrong, they're enjoyable films, but no one can actually tell you the plot five minutes after you've left the cinema.

I wasn't expecting a lot from the latest offering from Warner Brothers and and David Yates. I've come to accept that the film adaptations will anger me, and in no way emulate the magic of the books. This might be a bold statement, but I honestly believe that in 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' they have, at last, nailed it.  I am of the opinion that it is the best of the franchise so far, and actually does the book some justice.  There were no gaping plot holes, and they really captured the poignant scenes, such as Dobby's death and Ron's departure, perfectly. The scene in Godric's Hollow was exactly as I'd played it out in my own mind, and the take over of the Ministry, and indeed the use of 'Magic is MIGHT', was disturbingly, yet obviously intentionally, resonant of "Arbeit macht frei." My only criticism of the film would be the way in which it was shot. At times I found the action was moving too fast for the shots, and even simple shots, where they were panning out, were often out of focus and shaky. Look at me, pretending I know about the technical elements of film. However, as I said to Chloe, my grandma could have filmed that up on her JVC better.

While the film was a respectful translation of the book, I must wonder whether this is because it's the weakest of, what I like to call, the infallible and authoritative works of Harry Potter. These being the last three texts. I argue this as I see a shift between the first four books and the last three.  In a similar way to the shift there is between the Old and New Testaments,  I believe the last three books to be the 'New Covenant', if you will, of the Harry Potter world.  Perhaps it translated better as a film as there was less to translate, or that what there was to transpose to film was easier to do so.  I'm currently writing an essay on why it is that adults love these books as much as children do - yes, I'm aware that I'm in third year and it's utterly ridiculous for me to do this. I haven't actually got an answer to this question yet, however, what is obvious to me is, the reason that everyone loves the books so much is that, to each person Harry Potter is something different. The world they create is entirely unique to their own imagination, and in translating it to film, it places a restriction on the magic that isn't actually the magic of the story, rather the magic that allows the story to manifest itself in such a way.  For me there a two types of Harry Potter fans: those who love the films as they have only ever watched the films, and those who love the books. I admit, I love the books and quite like the films, but I enjoy them on their own merit, not because they are the films of my favourite books - in the same way you can enjoy a lesser form of anything you love.  For those people that love the films in their own right, it's because they've built their entire concept of the world of Harry Potter on the basis of what the film has presented them with. For those that love the books, the films tend to destroy the very foundations of what you loved about the books in the first place.  This 'discovery' has allowed me to make a few conclusions about my general dislike of the films, and my view that loving the films and loving the books are mutually exclusive.  This leads me on to why I believe the latest film is such a triumph, and why it is the weakest book.  J.K. Rowling explicates every detail in the last book, in a way that she didn't before. Whether this is because she developed her writing skills to a greater degree, or whether she wanted to leave no questions unanswered in her last book, I do not know.  However, a book such as this will translate well to film as we are receiving it exactly as the author instructs us to. Unfortunately, I've recently been studying Philosophy and Literature which puts paid to any idea of the author, and actually advocates the death of the author - with respect to interpreting a text. However, with Harry Potter the author is only instrumental in the telling of the story. I often like to argue that Hogwarts must exist because no one, no matter how brilliant, could possibly invent such an intricate and mesmerising world, in which millions of people can immerse themselves, limitlessly.  This idea, however ridiculous, does have some truth in it. The story exists in and of itself; as an organic entity which remains unchanged by the author, but by each reader.  Unfortunately for my ever-dwindling street cred, I have read a lot of FanFiction. Partly because I am a massive loser, and partly because it helps me write, in a very odd way that I can't actually explain.  These stories, written by fans, only serve to reiterate this point further; Harry Potter is magical because of its essence rather than its substance.  If it was the substance that made it excellent, then there would not be hundreds of thousands of stories online, read and loved by millions, and it certainly would not be the case that it is the best selling book series of all time. On the face of it, the books are only appealing to a rather small demographic, yet the entire rational world is gripped by Harry Potter fever.

I'm actually at the point now where I actively judge and dislike people who don't love the books or, at the very least, the films. In my mind there's a special place in hell reserved for these people, along side; those who don't have Facebook, those who don't have a mobile phone and those who don't like pizza.

I'm in love.

P.s. I've NEVER written any FanFiction, honestly.