2022 started off with Harry Potter's 20th Anniversary Video in Amazon Prime. All who barely even know me, will know I am a Potterhead through and through. Damn, I was a Potterhead even before I read the books or watched the movies. It took me back to the time I was introduced to Harry Potter.
How it all started:
I was made aware of such a fantasy world when I was in my higher secondary. I was glued to the TV screen when glimpses of the first movie premiere was announced.
The visuals were enticing for I have not seen any children's movie with CG like that. The previous movie which I think came close to my admiration was Jurassic Park.
So I wanted get introduced to this world before watching the movie. I couldn't easily get my hands on the copy of the book. Buying a new one was an expensive affair. There was this classmate in school who had read the books. She started telling me the story during one of the free hours. Just as she started 'There was a boy called Harry Potter and when he was a baby he was attacked by a bad man called Voldemort' the bell rang. After this I couldn't get hold of her and that was the end for the narration of the remaining story.
I am not sure if it was HBO or any other TV channel. There was no subtitles when it was telecasted. So I had to watch with what little English I was able to follow in the movies. The enunciation was not as good as the cartoon network which was the only English channel I used to watch. Till the end of my school, I did not get any chance to read the books.
My first ever Harry Potter book:
In my first year of my college when I found a battered copy of the first book in a second hand book shop, I didn't think twice. I was a very proud owner of my first HP book. I dived into this new world of imaginary creatures, things, spells, witches, wizards and whatnot. I lent the book to one of my friends and that was the last I saw of that book.
My Harry Potter Journey:
My reading order was chaotic. Of the first 6 books, I went from 1 to 3 to 6 and then came back to 2, 4 and 5. Many things were puzzling because of this disorderliness. But nothing stopped me from ploughing through the books. After watching the movies in television, I realized that the movies were really good. But the books were MINDBLOWING. The detailing were impressed me. You are introduced to new concepts of this wizarding world in every book. But my favorite among all the books are Half Blood Prince and the Deathly Hallows.
When the Deathly Hallows released I was in my college final year and me with some of my classmates were anxious about the climax of the series. The ultimate question was - will Harry Potter live in the end? Funnily the pirated version of the book was doing its rounds - one the original and another a fake. In one Harry Potter dies and in another he lives. We didn't know which is which. Like the fools we were, mourning for his death.
By then I had read all the books using the mantra beg, borrow or steal (It means the pirated ebook version) and the Death Hallows was the only book left. I completed all the books by the time I started working.
So how did I like the movies?
My first theatre experience, favorite characters and buying the book-set, more on my next post....
