Prisha Khimavat

This is part of a writing challenge. Click here to read more about it.

July 31st.

What a special day.

A day that millions of people around the world celebrate. A day when we all take a magical journey, once again, with the boy who lived under the stairs.

So, to that boy, Happy Birthday, Harry.

Harry is perhaps one of the best examples of a human protagonist that I know of. It’s true that he is brave, a leader. He takes initiative to fight for what he believes is right. He puts his life on the line over and over again for the people around him. He loves his friends fiercely and is humble despite his fame, and in the times when he isn’t, he’s quick to return to earth. But despite all that, he is a deeply flawed character. He doesn’t know how to ask for help. He’s broken and hurt. He’s lost so many loved ones, and he doesn’t know how to deal with that pain. He shuts people out when things get hard because he thinks he has to do everything by himself. At times he can be arrogant. He acts his age and has desires that aren’t always noble. He uses his situations for personal gain sometimes. He’s not perfect.

With every positive quality, there are exceptions and the same with the negative ones, because he’s imperfect. He’s inconsistent, he struggles, he needs help. He’s hurting, he shuts others out, but at the end of the day, he’s human. But more than all that, he’s willing to grow and learn. As life goes on, he matures and grows deeply, he realizes his flaws and he learns to ask for help. He understands that he’s not really meant to do anything alone, and that help is always available. At the end of the day, the books aren’t about just about him, because he’s nothing without the people around him.

To the wonderful woman who wrote him, Happy Birthday.

J.K. Rowling.

A woman who felt she was at the lowest point in her life, found inspiration in her pain. She created a world with such meticulous details, complex characters, an intricately woven storyline and most importantly the magic that has touched millions of lives, lives like mine.

She made a world that so complex that every time I go back, I’m drawn in by something new. A world where the characters grew up with her audience and made mistakes just as they did. A world where at times things sucked, and characters that didn’t always know how to deal with situations, but they learned. A world that discussed complex social and philosophical issues, like the fight between good and evil, racism, slavery, deaths of loved one, heartache, bullying, abusive homes, broken homes, unfair leaders, corruption, deception, difficult decisions, mental health, children growing up too quickly, the effects of war, and so much more, all intricately woven with stories of friendships, relationships, normal kids who go to school and have normal teenage struggle, joy, happiness, and, of course, a whole lot of magic.

There are so many things about this series that I am in love with that I couldn’t even begin to express, so I’ll just end this with saying thank you.

Thank you, for allowing me to get on the Hogwarts express, get sorted into my house (that’s Hufflepuff, in case you were wondering), go to classes and learn magic, get into trouble and attend detention, fight trolls and basilisks, come to face to face with Voldemort, learn to make feathers fly, battle dragons in the Triwizard tournament, learn how to fight dementors, join an army, hunt Horcruxes and amongst many other things, fight in the battle of Hogwarts with my favorite people. This world has grown me in ways I couldn’t have imagined, it’s taught me things and caused me to think about complex issues. It’s given me a home that will never go away, it’s given me companionship both in the wizarding world and in my own. But most importantly, it has filled my mind with imaginations, and my life with magic.

Thank you.

Immense love,

A Potterhead.

~ Prisha Khimavat ~

Duration: 33 minutes and 21 seconds