Farewell Hogwarts

s we all know good things must come to a end, but who knew our beloved Harry Potter would be saying goodbye to all his loyal fans this year, with the final movie Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 coming out this July, I wanted to get fans reaction on how they felt about growing up with Harry Potter and now that it’s ending do they think it influenced them? I talked to Ole Miss sophomore Donnah Jamierson and this is what she had to say, “Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone was the first book series to peak my interest in fantasy stories. It also was the first series that I read from beginning to end. A lot of children don't read any more than they are required to for school, but Harry Potter made reading more popular as kids wanted to know what would happen next in each book”. Stephanie J. Coghlan mother of two said that she could never get her step son Ken Coghlan Jr (16) to read anything not even the cereal box until Harry Potter made its’ made it’s presence at Square Books 2002. Coghlan was first a little apprehensive to let her stepson 7 years old at the time start reading books about sorcery and witchcraft being Southern Baptist and all, but she over looked her spiritual believes and let her son read the books, she said instantly she saw a huge improvement on his willingness to read not just the Harry Potter books but school books as well. Now that Ken is 16 and a Junior in High school he’s in the top 10 percent of his class and now is a avid reader of American classics Charles Dickens’ (a tale of two cities among others)

The book that started a reading revolution 

In 2006 Scholastic released a statement saying how the Harry Potter series had a positive impact on kids reading and their schoolwork. Only once in a lifetime does phenomenon happen like this, to be able to start a reading epidemic. J.K Rowlings never in her wildest dreams would have foreseen not only a in fortune but in changing the way a child reads one book at time. Rowlings was a single mother on the verge of being homeless Harry Potter was only a figment of her imagination until she put she lets the words pour from her pin like magic, even though it’s taken 17 years to write this epic childhood series for Rowling the series it was more than a young boy learning to use witchcraft but fighting good and evil as we all do on a day to day bases. We all have our trials and tribulations, just reading the Harry Potter saga made some kids/teenagers felt like it was okay to be different and finally an underdog we can all relate too is winning. With the last wand stoke of Wingardium Leviosa right around the corner fans are wondering will there be an 8 or 9 book? J.K said back in October 2010 she hinted there could be. However it’s been confirmed that this will be the very last book in the series. Us muggles (humans) will forever be grateful to J.K Rowling for her contribution no just for our fantasy lives but in our everyday ones as well.