Somehow close to reality. Review on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J K Rowling

Harry Potter... a wizard... and orphan... a famous wizard... a hero... who has a bad enemy... his fall... then his resurrection.... then the battle to prevent his activities... spells, charms, magical objects, prophecies, creatures... far-fetched unreal sounding theories about forces of magic and evil... there is something in you, Harry, which Voldemort does not, and can not, possess which is the sole power you have over him...

Doesn't this all sum up to childish imagination in the minds of mature individuals... in the minds of individuals who sit before their PCs typing articles... people who have (or at least claim to) the power of intellect? Well it does to those who are wonderfull observers of the surface...

But to the very organised mind, this doesn't look like childish imagination at all. In fact (most of you would say you expected this) this looks like the portrayal of some real battles that all of us face all the time... except that the portrayal is such that it doesn't look like what it is.

Of course, Joanne Rowling might say that this interpretation of Harry Potter and his tale is much of an... erm... accusation rather than being what she really meant... but, to the organized mind, the picture I am about to paint before you, the picture of Harry and the environment he lives in, might just look like something that would make you feel... you're Harry in some respects.

Harry Potter is very much the person who you want to be... or believe yourself to be. Don't so many of us complain loudly and quite often about the injustice the people around us put us to? Don't we always grudge about the incredulity so many people hear us with? Don't we all say that half the world is out to pull you down?

All of us have met or shall unfortunately be meeting people who do not want us to achieve our goals... nobody has been given the boon of having no adversary... nobody has been granted the convenience of having an unobstructed path to one's dreams.

It's like having Professor Umbridge who would, with greatest sincerity and pleasure, go to any extent in order to thwart you in your progress. It's like having Professor Umbridge who would confiscate away from you, rid you of those media through which you derive great pleasure...

It's like having some guy called Draco Malfoy out to catch you even if you sneeze in a silence zone.

Similarity?

Then...

So many of us have met people on whom we rely, in whom we confide, we see one's refuge in times of sadness or fear. We have come across such persons to whom we can always tun without having any restrictions of protocol... who would, in the best possible way, bring you joy and happiness... who would give you their support and advice... who would stand by you and yet tell you when you've gone wrong.

It's like having Hermoine Granger who'd make a homework planner for you to try and coax you into doing what's really good for you. It's like having Hermoine who would tell you off for wanting to bunk classes... who would try to keep you out of trouble from people like Malfoy.

And there are people who stand by you always, who keep chasing you along your fantasies, without caring really whether it is correct or moral...

It's like having a foolhardy but very loving friend like Ron Weasley... who would put his life to risk... who would see you be popular, be idolised and be satisfied as your sidekick yet be as loving as ever... it's like having Ronald Weasley... few of us meet such really good friends... it's more difficult to be Ron than Hary... you'll see why... it's tougher to love someone as a brother if he's always the super-cat, the sigma-total of everything... and you being his sub...

And we all have people on whom we unleash the softer parts of our hearts. There are people who touch a very soft portion of our mind... leaving oneself with a smile melancholy and happiness slightly tainted by something sad... something of a very subtle sorrow... something of a very enjoyable pain. I'm talking about love.

It's like having Cho Chang. It's like having somebody who thinks she can cry on your shoulders... who trusts you even when she could accuse of something like murder... even when half the world believes you're insane...

Don't all of us dream of having somebody who's permanently like that? We all want to be in love.

All of us have met a mentor. All of us have met people who would advise us. Who would chanalize their faculties for our well being. Who would stand tall and strong in your defence forever. Who would even lie and risk an arrest for your pleasures... Somebody who would have solutions to all your problems... and beautiful consolations for all of your sorrows... who would have answers to almost all our questions... who would show us where truth lies and where morality lives...

It's like having Albus Dumbledore. It's like having Albus Dumbledore who could actually set up a a guard to protect you from evil... to save you... to keep an eye on you... to see that you could do what you please without fear...

I could go on listing characters in the book. And then telling you how similar they are to people we meet.

Oh but did I forget Voldemort?

Yes.

Don't tell me you don't have fears. There is something... some person or thing you never want to be like... there is a particular level of existence that you never want to reach... there are tendencies and addictions that you always want to keep away... there are dark truths about yourself that love to feed on your happiness... there are so many such dreadfull things around us...

That's Voldemort for you.

I daresay... we have all met a Voldemort.... even if we haven't met Umbridge, Malfoy, Ron, Hermione, Cho or Dumbledore. We all have come across a Voldemort.

Either he lives or you.

Either Voldemort lives or Harry.

Not both at the same time.

We are too close to Harry...

his story is somehow real.

Somehow...