Juliana Avila, Journalism student, related that Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was her first “large book” in life. “Although I was young, I read it and absolutely loved it.” Afterwards, she was in all the movies premieres: “I watched all Harry Potter’s films with some friends that, from that time to nowadays, are very special to me.”
“It helped me from creating reading habits to connecting myself with people that enjoyed, as I did, the story. Once, I went to a meeting with fans of the saga. In Universal Parks in Orlando, I visited the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and it was incredible.”
“When I think about Harry Potter, I connect myself with an amazing magical universe that allowed me having positive moments and amazing friends, still beloved ones to me.”
Ana Carolina says that she and 4 friends started reading Harry Potter when the last movie was in time to be released.
“We read all the books and went to the movie’s pre-release, maybe the first time that my hometown hosted something like that. The section was scheduled to midnight. The previous months were only about Harry Potter and it made the four of us more intimate, even considering that we’ve been friends since childhood – since our two years old, actually. That is why 2011 was one of the greatest years in my life. “
Going to the movies to see the end of the Harry Potter’s era couldn’t be regular, specially for Ana and her long-time BFF’s: “We wore matching t-shirts and the whole group had a Dark Mark arm tattoo. One of the girls sculpted Hermione’s wand in a stick.”
Beatriz Santoro is a huge fan of the saga, and it is certainly demonstrated when you search for her name on Google: there’s a link that guides you to a Harry Potter promotion, in which she was one of the winners! True fans never give up.
“When the first movie came out, I was seven years old. Considering that since then I started enjoying the saga, it is difficult to me imagine my life without it, and that’s because I grew up with Harry, Ron and Hermione. They were there as I became a citizen, a woman and an adult.
“ I remember how bothered I was reading that part when the trio sees the monument which muggles had witches on their backs. These are stuff that make you think about everything. I saw an reporting with data that Harry Potter’s readers are less propitious voters of Donald Trump, as example.
It sounds cliche, but the value of a friendship runs through everything in the whole story, and it also made me who I am today.”
Julia Rondinelli not only learned with all the values inside Harry Potter’s books, but also became an avid reader and student.
“I was nine when I had the first contact and is was love at the first sight. However, I had difficulties with the reading, and my sister helped me in this process. She used to ask if I was understanding, and she made all the imagination process with me as we read. She stood there until the fourth book, because I was so addicted that I finished the rest of stuff in three months, a record to my little-me.
It wasn’t just the reading, was the discovering of literature, a change in the way I saw school, and, of course, the lessons you take from Harry: as a child, he had to deal with all kind of struggles, that became harder as he went older. It taught me that everyone has to grow up sometime in life.”
Mariana Agati, senior in Journalism, said that