The monumental, worldwide, unique Harry Potter phenomenon has its origins in one of the oldest forms of mass entertainment-a book. It was the popularity of the book that led to the various marketing techniques like Harry Potter movies, screen savers, posters, trading cards, toys, games, lunch boxes etc. and not vice versa. The scrawny, black-haired bespectacled boy wizard has won the hearts of millions of people of all ages and dispositions-from the young to the old; from the simple and the peace-loving to prisoners suspected of terrorism.

What is so appealing about Harry? What are factors responsible for the popularity of these books? The appeal of Potter is known only to the readers. A lot of articles have been written and a lot of discussions have been held all over the world regarding the popularity of Harry Potter. The child readers have grown with Harry, their own growth being reflected in each year Harry spends in Hogwarts and grows. Thus, they have identified with their beloved boy wizard hero. Adult readers have relived their own long lost childhood through the enticing tales of Harry, his friends and their thrilling adventures.

Harry’s popularity has created two sharply divided groups, which have opposing schools of thought about Harry. One school of thought strongly advocates the banning of the Potter books on grounds that each page supports the devil and his doings and is opposed to Christianity and also that the Potter books have the capacity to lure innocent children into the dark, forbidden territories of the occult. The fact that Harry Potter features on every annual list of most-banned books doesn’t upset the author, JK Rowling. On the contrary, she considers it an honour as it puts her in the list of great writers like Harper Lee, Mark Twain, J.D Salinger, William Golding, John Steinbeck and other writers she reveres. The other school of thought is of the opinion that Harry Potter not only inculcates the habit of reading among a youthful generation, which-specially boys-finds more pleasure in video games and movies, but also teaches timeless positive values such as friendship, love, truth, honesty, courage, tolerance and self-reliance.

The Origin of Harry Potter

JK Rowling’s website reveals the fact that the idea for Harry Potter “simply fell into her head” as she was traveling on her own from Manchester to London on a crowded train. Greatly excited about the idea, she thought about it for four delayed train hours and started writing “The Philosopher’s Stone” that very evening. It took her five years to write the first book, though at that time, she was also planning and writing parts of the six sequels. She had always conceived it as a seven-book series because she decided it would take seven years from the ages of 11-17, inclusive, to train as a wizard, and each of the books would deal with a year of Harry’s life at Hogwarts. The theme of Harry Potter is the age old combat between Good and Evil, resulting in the ultimate triumph of the Good. The writer has warned, right from the beginning that as her books would deal with evil in all its ugly aspects there would be many casualties and that each book would be darker than the previous one. There is absolutely no doubt that the Harry Potter books are the result of intensive, meticulous research into the occult. Most of the intriguing names of places and characters that delight readers so much come from Rowling’s imagination and some of them are products of her research.

Harry Potter Reaches the Heights of Success

As a single mother living in poverty and writing most of her first Potter novel in cafes, JK Rowling did not even dream that her hero would be a source of such great wealth. First, the Scottish Arts Council gave her a grant to finish the book. The book was rejected by a series of publishers, including Penguin and Harper Collins. It was Bloomsbury who finally accepted it. Bloomsbury Chairman, Nigel Newton, gave a chapter of the manuscript of “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince,” to Alice, his then 8-year-old daughter. When she kept pestering him for more, he realized that he was on to a winner and decided to take the crucial step of publishing the first Harry Potter novel.

After its sale to Bloomsbury and Scholastic Books, Harry Potter zoomed to the zenith of success. The novel won the British Book Awards Children’s Book of the Year and the Smarties Prize, and attracted reviews from either side of the Atlantic. Book rights were sold to several European countries.

A new Harry Potter novel appeared every year for the next three years. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Askaban (1999), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003)-all hit the shelves of bookstores all over the world and sold like hot cakes. In 2005, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was released. On the first day, 6.9 million copies were sold in the United States alone, that is, about 80 copies per second. The books have been translated into more than 60 languages and more than 300 million copies have been sold around the world

Thanks to her wand wielding wizard, the year 2000 saw Rowling as one of the top earners of Britain. She received an OBE (Order of the British Empire), a medal of achievement from the Queen, in March 2001. In 2003, she earned 125 million pounds from “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” and profits from the “Chamber of Secrets” film. Rowling earns a 15% commission on the full price of each Potter book sold, a 5% cut of the licensing income on Harry Potter branded books and toys, and her share on films is 1% of the box office take, which is worth around 5 million per film. In 2004, the Forbes Magazine estimated that she was worth one billion pounds. This would make her the world’s sixth wealthiest woman-the first person ever to make a billion just by writing books.

The Warner Bros, have signed a contract to produce motion pictures based on each of the seven Potter books. The first four books have been made into films. The “Sorcerer’s Stone” made more than 950 US dollars, the “Chamber of Secrets” made more than 850 US dollars, the “Prisoner of Askaban” made more than 780 US dollars, and the “Goblet of Fire” made more than 890 US dollars.

What will happen to Harry?

Harry Potter fans all over the world now wait with bated breath for the last Potter book, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” to be released one minute after midnight all over the world on Saturday 21 July, 2007. The fans have to guess what is going to happen to Harry. Is he going to be killed in the final book? Many die-hard Potter fans hope not, and many wouldn’t care otherwise. The writer has dropped a few hints that she may have to kill off one of the main characters. This may break the hearts of not only Harry’s fans worldwide but also of the publishing companies, booksellers and licensees who have made a lot of money on the international Potter Phenomenon, since its inception with “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”

The writer claims that, though she loves each of her books, the last one is her favourite. She says: “I always knew that Harry’s story would end with the seventh book, but saying goodbye has been just as hard as I always knew it would be. Even while I’m mourning, though, I feel an incredible sense of achievement. I can hardly believe that I’ve finally written the ending I’ve been planning for so many years. I’ve never felt such a mixture of extreme emotions in my life, never dreamed I could feel simultaneously heartbroken and euphoric.”

According to an online news source, JK Rowling finished writing her last Potter novel in the room of a five-star hotel in Edinburgh on 11th Jan 2007. She had scribbled a note in black marker on the back of a marble bust in Edinburgh’s five-star Balmoral Hotel, which read: “JK Rowling finished writing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in this room (652) on 11th Jan 2007.” A worker captured the message on a mobile phone camera. Rowling’s representative confirmed that she had been writing the novel at this hotel.

One may not be sure of the above bit of news. JK’s last Potter novel might be finished or not. But it is quite certain that millions of Potter fans all over the world are eagerly waiting to know the fate of their favorite hero, in a state of almost breathless suspense–will Harry live on or die?