“Harry Potter’ inspires loyalty, variety, vitality

I still remember what it was like to be nine years old and wander among the shelves of the Crown Books that used to be in San Diego’s Clairemont Square. I would usually turn to this bookstore when I was looking for fresh reading material but one such excursion stands out sharply in my mind.

That was the day I was first introduced to Harry Potter.

A friendly clerk saw me meandering back and forth down the children’s fantasy aisle and suggested I check out the latest new series, hot off the press. She led me to the end of the aisle where a large display was set up with dozens of books in front of an enormous cardboard cut-out of a disheveled boy with vivid green eyes, jet black hair and a now-famous jagged lightning bolt scar.

While that bookstore has long since disappeared, Harry Potter certainly has not. What began as a children’s story scribbled on napkins has exploded into an international phenomenon that is now being stoked by the latest film, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.”

Potter fans know no single demographic, and their loyalty and dedication to the Potter series rivals that of “Star Wars” fans.

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Bookstores across the nation and here in San Diego held midnight release parties whenever a new Harry Potter book was unveiled. The night before the release of the final book, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” the Bookstar in the Costa Verde shopping center was abuzz with Potter fans of all ages lining up to purchase the book as soon as possible and to participate in the evening’s festivities. Potter fans’ fervor has also led them to line up hours in advance for midnight premieres of the latest Potter movie, tickets purchased weeks in advance and safely ensconced in pockets stuffed with Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans and licorice wands.

The undying craze for everything Potter is strongest at its epicenter, the books themselves, but this passion extends well beyond them. J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series hasn’t only spawned film adaptations, video games and seemingly limitless merchandise. It’s responsible for an entire subculture based on the “Harry Potter” universe.

Not satisfied with the mere 4,250 pages of the Harry Potter saga that Rowling published, hundreds of fans around the world keep the story alive by writing their own fan-fiction stories using characters and events within the Potter universe.

Authors sometimes maintain the same Potter universe constructed by Rowling, but more often than not they explore new relationships, new friendships and new dimensions of character that often contradict what Rowling herself wrote. Websites like FictionAlley, FanFiction.Net and Riddikulus allow authors to post and share their own fan-fiction stories with other users. I have dabbled in fan-fiction; a few years ago I wrote a Hermione/Draco love story titled “Anathema” that garnered some positive fan reviews.

Two brothers in Massachusetts took their own participation in the world of Potter beyond the written word. Paul and Joe DeGeorge were so enthralled by the series they donned Harry Potter outfits and began writing music with lyrics based on Potter’s exploits. Calling themselves Harry and the Potters, the duo released several albums of what they’ve dubbed “wizard rock.”

Since the band’s founding in 2002, Harry and the Potters have performed nearly 500 shows in 49 states and several foreign countries, playing in libraries, bookstores and other unorthodox venues, including three libraries here in San Diego. Harry and the Potters were the first in an ongoing wave of wizard rock artists, with other groups taking on names like Draco and the Malfoys, the Hermione Crookshanks Experience and Siriusly Black.

The DeGeorge brothers also started the Wizard Rock EP of the Month Club, a subscription club that disseminates new releases from wizard rock artists and donates the proceeds to literary- based non-profit organizations.

Harry and the Potters are not the only socially-conscious aspect of Harry Potter fandom. The crusade of good against evil detailed in the pages of “Harry Potter” inspired many readers to take a stand against darkness in our own world. Potter enthusiast Andrew Slack and the DeGeorges co-founded the Harry Potter Alliance (HPA) in 2005 as a social activism group “dedicated to bringing together Harry Potter fans from everywhere to spread love and fight the Dark Arts in the real world.”

The HPA has so far been involved in raising money for Darfur, organizing book drives and benefit concerts, collecting food for local food banks and other humanitarian work. Word of the HPA and its work has even reached J.K.  Rowling herself. Rowling wrote that she is “honoured and humbled that Harry’s name has been given to such an extraordinary campaign, which really does exemplify the values for which Dumbledore’s Army fought in the books.”

The work of the HPA, the musical stylings of Harry and the Potters, and the thousands of pages of online fan-fiction are all sterling examples of the inspirational power of “Harry Potter.” They’re also a testament to the importance and influence of a cultural phenomenon that extends far beyond the pages of the books.

Easton Connell is an SDNN contributor.

Tags: FictionAlley, Harry and the Potters, Harry Potter Alliance, Harry Potter and the Ghostly Hallows, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling, Riddikulus, SDNN, wizard rock

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 16th, 2009 at 3:05 pm and is filed under Arts & Entertainment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.