The series that has undoubtedly shaped a generation celebrates it’s 20th anniversary today. Of course I could only be talking about the enormous and rather monstrous Harry Potter series!
It so happened that for myself the anniversary coincides with me rereading the whole series (I am currently on Deathly Hallows as of June 26th 2017) which was a complete and utter happy accident. I was quite pleased with this if I do say so though.
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the series special commemorative books have been released for each of the 4 houses from the series, I myself picked up the stunning Ravenclaw addition and was thrilled. Each ones contents differs as even though they are the classic beginning of the franchise, The Philosopher’s Stone, they also include special information on the respective house and go into detail about them. A handy map is also included! The covers of the new editions are also coloured to match the house, so for Ravenclaw it is blue, Griffindor’s is Red, Slytherin’s Green and Hufflepuff has a Yellow cover. 
I think I am one of those that had a childhood shaped by Harry Potter, though it was rather my late childhood into teenage years that got shaped as I was born two years after the books got released in 1997. But all the same I still remember having the books in my house and reading them around the Year 5 region which is roughly about the age of 9 or 10. I also remember the release of Deathly Hallows which was crazy, and has me vaguely sitting from the living room sofa watching our television and the news was covering the story on the day of release. People had been lining up for days outside of bookstores to get their hands on this book… dedication people! Pure dedication! But of course this was to be expected.
People had spent the best part of their childhood growing up with Harry and his world, wishing that they could too be apart of it. Of course everyone wanted to be their to watch the final instalment be released.
Distinctively I can recall using my hardback copy of The Order of The Phoenix as my ‘potions’ book, which was me sat in the bathtub mixing Tabasco sauce with my bath water… I was a weird child, and the question still holds over me – how the hell did I get Tabasco sauce upstairs without my parents noticing?
Coincidentally Order of The Phoenix was the film that got me very interested in the series and was the one I remember got me buying merchandise related to the series and getting involved with the growing fandom.
But my copy of The Order of The Phoenix is of course very dogeared and broken, with the dust cover being ripped all over and sellotape holding it together, I know! It’s a crime and I hate it, but I also love it… all those memories are there in each tear and piece of sellotape, showing the love I hold for this book.
Somehow, this wonderful book series is still affecting people to this day and I imagine will carry on doing so for years and years to come. Harry Potter was a classic from the moment it was conceived and there is no doubt in my mind that I will still be reading this series throughout the rest of my life.
Each time I reread the series I learn something new about it and react ever so slightly different to the events than I had done beforehand. I can’t wait to see how rereading it in the future will affect me and how it will shape my view of the world then. Hogwarts is for all of us, a home to escape too and the Harry Potter series is a world to immerse ourselves in.
Thank you for reading, if you are a Harry Potter fan please comment your house, favourite book/film and character or characters (I know it’s hard to choose). Mine are Ravenclaw, Prisoner of Azkaban for both film and book, Lord Voldemort, Lucius Malfoy, Remus Lupin and Professor Snape as favourite characters!
Books, Movies and Life 
Well you asked for it! ☺ I’m a Slytherin, my favourite character is Luna Lovegood (closely followed by Snape!), and I can’t even begin to choose a favourite book 🙈🙈