Below is Kelly Balding's #FortheLoveofHarryPotter Honourable Mention submission!

Harry Potter- It’s a name recognised and loved throughout the world. But why? Everyday thousands upon thousands of people of all ages, from young children to adults, enjoy reading this series of books and passing on the tales of excitement to future generations. It also helps that the book has been published in over 60 different languages to accommodate those who  aren’t able to comprehend the book in its native tongue. So basically, Harry Potter has this massive worldwide fanbase which then leads onto the point of fanfiction. The series finished in 2007 (book-wise anyway), yet people are still constantly updating the fandom fanfiction pages. It’s still as popular as ever. But why? There must be some reason behind it all….

I'll start with something which I believe to be true, but it might not be fully correct. For a  lot of people, myself included, the books first came out when they were still attending school. Nowadays, the majority of school libraries will have a copy of the series for the new generations of Potterheads to emerge and continue the legacy it has instilled in today’s society. So when they eventually read about Harry Potter’s adventures in a school, they, as we did back then, can heavily relate to his pain of doing homework, attending classes etc. Obviously they weren’t the same classes and types of work, but it actually seemed more interesting and a place we could all enjoy going to school. Fanfiction in a school-type setting would prove to be popular as readers and writers tend to focus and write about what they know.

The next point is that the school is about magic. In all seriousness though, I’m sure that every person would love magic to exist as it does in that world.  It makes our current lives seem extremely boring in comparison. We’d all love to escape to a world where almost anything is possible by waving a wand. It can allow the imagination run wild when it comes to writing about it as there is literally so many different spells, potions, magical plants, creatures. The list goes on and on. People can use the premise of all these as a foundation to their story and create their own Hogwarts adventure and experiences. It’s a way to escape reality. I’m sure we’ve all waited for our Hogwarts letter to come through the door. So, why not write about what could have happened?

As well as all the magical things to include in our own fictitious pieces, we should take into account the amount of detail and depth the world has been created. It’s not all completely made-up. so many of the events found within the History of the magical world actually coincide with many real-life happenings, which just happened to have been answered by magic. For example, the Great Fire of London of 1666 is one of the lesser known events which has been included in the History of the magical world. Obviously, there is the Muggle version of the event, but the magical one puts it down to a dragon being kept in a basement of one of the many houses in the city. So, if we consider the small events like this, we can adapt that to fanfiction. Using historical places, events, etc. in the world created for Harry Potter can result in many fascinating stories. As said before, the option as to what can be written aren’t restricted to a single event, person, storyline etc either. I think this makes it more enjoyable for both the writer and the reader.

As with many other stories, there is the element of good vs evil, in a sense. Everybody always had a particular side they were rooting for throughout the story. But as the final page was written in the series, not all fans would have been happy with how the tale ended. They may have preferred the opposition to come out on top and as a result, they can create their own interpretation of how they would have liked it to end. I’m positive that there were many fans of Death Eaters among the ranks of Potter fans. It’s highly probable that there have been many short stories on being in their ranks and working under Lord Voldemort. People writing about these types of events gives readers a different perspective of events and the lives of everyone involved. It’s actually rather interesting.

Speaking of characters, I believe that there certain individuals who merit their own series and I’m sure that many have tried to create their own versions of how these people lived before and after the different events. One character that springs to mind is Dolores Umbridge. Every single person within the Potter fandom has a mutual hate for this character. At first glance, she didn’t seem like a really horrible woman. She seemed to be a normal woman who had a rather strange obsession with the colour pink and cats. Then after discovering that she is, in fact, pure evil sparks many questions in our mind- mainly associated with how she acts and behaves and why she ended up the way she did. It would be rather enjoyable to read many things from her perspective; to hear her thoughts and opinions on things etc. This is where fanfiction comes in and people can interpret it their own way and you end up with countless versions for all fans to read and enjoy.

Although fanfiction can cover many different angles, one of the most common types is that which involves ships- whether canon or not. You often hear many people fighting for a particular coupling which most likely didn’t occur in the proper story. People get attached to these pairings and come up with so many reasons as to why it should or shouldn't have happened. They then write their own stories of how the ship came about etc and sometimes they are rather amusing to read, whereas others are actually so good to read that they may even convince you to start supporting that particular ship. It’s incredible what the power of shipping can accomplish in fanfiction.

The final point I wish to raise concerning fanfiction and Harry Potter is the element of houses. Within the story, there are the four Houses of Hogwarts- each with their own traits. Every person who I’ve encountered who has read the series can associate with some of the characteristics from at least one house, though it’s often that one can find a place within more than house ,a Slytherclaw for example. Regardless of what house they primarily associate with, it’s fair to say that they feel a sense of belonging to that house and would be willing to debate or defend the beliefs of the house. In the book, pretty much everything was from a Gryffindor perspective, but for those which cannot associate with that house, they are able to construct their own adventure with one of the other houses. Again, it’s a way to escape reality and show things from their perspective and way of thinking. If they wanted to try something even harder, they could write about being a witch or wizard from one of the many other wizarding schools around in the world (i.e Durmstrang and Beauxbatons for example) as there is far less information on those schools so the writer could be a lot more creative. It all depends on what the individual wants to write about at the end of the day.

So, in conclusion, many people are a fan of the Harry Potter series for one reason or another, but there are so many different elements and aspects to them that keep the fans intrigued and interested. Sure, each individual may be a part of multiple fandoms, but at the end of the day, we can all relate to various parts of the book series and this is the key to keeping the fans interested in writing fanfiction. There are always new things to discover and it’s incredibly interesting to read all the different perspectives on various events. Harry Potter will always have a place within many people’s hearts and the legacy will live on for many generations down the line.