How I stumbled upon the Land of Queen Jo…
Queen Jo has probably woven the most intricate net of fantasy in the history of mankind. She is the genius who has enthralled generations and will continue to do so in the years to come. In spite of what life has offered her, which were mainly brickbats, she fought her way through like a true warrior and we know she has taken on the world.

So the long tryst with the world of Harry Potter began like this…..
I was then in sixth grade and it was an awfully windy Friday and most unexpectedly, we had a free period. My friends were sitting across the room and I could not reach them with Ms. Hitler (oops!! the teacher) in front. So I was alone and forlorn and I tried my luck in the class library (sounds fancy???? it is just a corner table and some books stacked atop it).
There in the corner obscured from sight was a pink and violet edition of Harry Potter.
Thinking of the otherwise glum hour staring at me, I picked up the book. Imprinted across the front page was the Hogwarts Express bellowing out gushes of scarlet steam, a boy with an I-am-lost-but-this-place-is cool attitude, a scar, and a pair of round glasses with unkempt hair.

I opened the yellowing pages and checked the series order. So according to it, I had the first book of the series “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”.
Chapter 1:The boy who lived
“Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you’d expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn’t hold with such nonsense.”
Ok, got it. So whats next?? I kept reading and before I knew it, I had finished the first chapter. Knowingly or unknowingly I had begun my tryst with the world of Queen Jo. However, before long, the free period got over and I had to hastily stuff back the book. Every half an hour when the period got over, I would take a quick sneak-peak and stuff it inside, just in time for the next teacher to turn up.
Finally, the day got over and it was the weekend and therefore, I could read the book in peace. Over the next 2 days, I had finished the book and I knew exactly what to do next. Of course, read the next book.
Over a course of 2 years, I had finished all 7 books and the movies as well. When the Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows (Part 2) came out in 2011, I wanted to get tickets so badly that I knew exactly what to wish for incase a fairy godmother popped up near me.
But as years passed, I reread the books and started gaining better insights. It helped me figure out little clues that Jo had left along the path. For all Potter fans, these seven books are beyond the lead “GOLDEN TRIO” of Harry, Ron and Hermione. We share the world of the Marauders, The Weasley twins, The Order of The Phoenix and such and it is in fact a never ending treasure trove, a solace from the world as we know it.
We proudly call ourselves Potterheads, immerse in fan theories and even the Potter vocabulary has found it’s way into our everyday language (They say forever, Potterheads say Always!!!!)
Today Snape is not just a malicious, crooked nosed, overgrown bat swooping around, but a brave lover who forced himself into the life of a double agent for the woman he loved.
Dumbledore is not a perfect headmaster who could solve anything and everything, but he too had his share of insecurities, fears, regrets and mistakes (We know for sure that he did not see himself holding a sock in front of the Mirror of Erised).
Sirius (my personal favourite) just showed us how stubborn a son could be and how reckless a godfather could be. But we do love him, right??

And, Neville was not just a blithering idiot boy, but a brave and worthy Gryffindor. So it all boils down to the fact that each person is not born into any gerne, but is a mix of good, bad and most importantly, it is our choices that make us what we really are.
What makes Harry Potter endearing to scores of generations, is the fact that though it is a different wizarding world, it is strangely similar to that of ours. There is discrimination between ‘purebloods’ and others, there is to-the-death friendship between James and Sirius and there is Hermione fighting for the right of house elves with her S.P.E.W. There is allegiance, double crossing, betrayal, loyalty, and above all, the power of love, which surpasses the deadliest weapon of the enemy.

So the world of Queen Jo is familiar, but at the same time, a world away. People will find faults in movies and books, but it would never surpass her kingdom because every person, young or old, introduced to her world would secretly cherish a wish that all this was real. And you never know, perhaps it is!!!!!!

