by Ben Davies

Created on: April 25, 2009

Inside every city slicker, OAP and professor is a teenage wizard destined for whimsical things. Reading Harry Potter, it is almost impossible to resist the urge to imagine what our life would've been like if we had got into Hogwarts as a Muggle, and alas, it is hard to come to terms with the fact none of this enchanting world exists.

Can you say honestly that you have not flourished a bedraggled stick and shouted "Expeliarmus" in a booming voice, or perhaps that you have whispered "Avada Kedava" to someone to scare them? How many times have you said an incantation and been disappointed that nothing happens? I'd be here for too long if I remembered every time.

The appeal for children is obvious - they are the same age as many students at Hogwarts, and they are allowed to rip the blankets off their bed, tuck them into their collar and ruin around brandishing poles, petrifying each other, and although parents may appear to be disgusted by this behaviour, they are probably secretly wishing they could join in. Some people do of course - I've seen wizards walking in Cambridge city centre (only to find out they're badly dressed university lecturers).

The appeal for adults is harder to comprehend. I don't know how many adults will read this, but as seventh year (preparing for my NEWTs), I would say it is because these days it is almost forbidden for adults to read child fiction, let alone enjoy it - it's an unwritten rule of society. I am at the age where I am meant to start reading epic classics by Dickens, and only watch the news on television, yet I occasionally find myself watching the Disney channel and I have read each Harry Potter book over 70 times to date. Is this excessive? Perhaps a little, but I would hope it is understandable.

I have just had the sudden shock realisation that some people may in fact not have ever wished they are a wizard, but if they are still reading, I must ask why? Surely you know what the incantations mentioned do?

Overall, we seek refuge in the abstract realm the J K Rowling has so cleverly crafted because we want to believe in magic. We want to believe that dragons and fairies and estranged warlocks exist, only that we can't see them for whatever reasons. We want to believe that the films are merely documentaries from a wizarding school and the novels are memoirs of a student in Potter's year who observed everything that happened, and the only times we can believe this are in our dreams or whilst reading the books.

Remember, we may be muggles, but we are really wizards at heart.

Learn more about this author, Ben Davies.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.