Blog 2: A Coming of Age Journey

J.K. Rowling’s ability to make the characters in the Harry Potter series relatable is what makes the series so compelling to me. My generation had the unique experience of being the same age as the kids in the series as the books were released. Another words, I was 17 when the final book was released (the same age as Harry in the final book) and while I was not fighting Voldemort, I was experiencing many of the same things as the characters. This made Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s coming of age story meaningful because in a way, it was also my coming of age story. I had my first “boyfriend” when I was 14, the same age Hermione and Krum had their fling. I spent my first summer away from home when I was 12, roughly the age they were when they went to Hogwarts. And I was first feeling the exhilaration of being part of a team when I was 11, the same age Harry was when he first played quidditich. And so as they came of age, so did I.

Hermione’s coming of age story really struck home with me. Like Hermione, I was that nerdy book girl who seemed to have all the answers. I did not have all the social answers however. It took me a while to distinguish the difference between being intelligent and being a know-it-all. In the beginning of the series, Hermione is an “insufferable know-it-all” as Snape so eloquently puts it. Her need to be the best turns off many of her classmates including Ron and Harry. This takes a turn in book 1 when Harry and Ron save her from a mountain troll. Harry and Ron act in complete selflessness and caring as they bravely fight against a troll, a creature that should be able to take them easily. Not only do Harry and Ron move another step in their coming of age journey when they develop the ability to break the rules to save a person, but Hermione takes a step when she takes the fall for it. A girl once so concerned with the rules and what’s right, Hermione realizes friendship and loyalty might matter more. Throughout the series, but especially in the first couple books, Hermione learns that the world does not operate in blacks and whites, rather on a complex gray scale. Her coming of age story is about figuring out what shades of gray do right by her. I think this is something every person learns. By the end of the series, Hermione has stolen books out of the restricted section, made illegal potions, broken into Gringots, dropped out of school, broken into the Ministry of Magic, and fought some of the greatest dark witches and wizards of all time. The girl from book one would never have been able to do that because all of those things would be considered “bad” out of context. But as she grew, she was able to see that sometimes “bad” things are the only way to do what’s right.