Fans Of Harry Potter: An Extraordinary Phenomenon

In this article, we will tell you everything you need to know about Harry Potter fans. Harry Potter is in the same league as The Simpsons in popularity. It has become such a phenomenon that, whether we like it or not, or whether we know very much about it, we can still identify with it, to some degree.

The most famous magician of the last few decades has left a deep impression on his followers worldwide. 

It’s been a long time since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows  premiered. However, far from being forgotten or nostalgic, the young magician has remained in people’s memory. He has managed to keep an extraordinarily loyal and productive fan base. 

How did this phenomenon come about? How will it develop in the future? In this article, we will answer these questions as best we can.

What are fans?

Broadly speaking,  we can define a fan as a person who admires or idolizes another person. This other person can be a sports star, a singer or an actor who, in general, is known in the media. However, one can also be a fan of a genre, a series, a movie or, in the case of Harry Potter,  a saga.

The fan effect is also particularly common among teenagers, as it is a time when their identity is being created. Fans tend to follow and even imitate the object or subject they admire. It is an identification process that takes place.

Fans get involved in everything that has to do with their idol. They group themselves into communities, and they share the same way of communicating or greeting, among other things. Thus, they can create stories or audiovisual material, related to the object or subject they admire.

The Internet has, to a great extent, promoted the creation of forums and communication between fans. As a consequence, we can easily find followers who produce, create, debate and research.

Companies and advertising companies know this very well. After all, fans are consumers and, no doubt, when a phenomenon of this nature reaches as high a level as Harry Potter, then companies are ready to take advantage of it!

Grades to identify with

In the previous point, we talked about an identification process between fans and the phenomenon they idolize. Likewise, we have noticed that this process, as a rule, is at its peak in youth. Therefore, if we transfer this idea to the  Harry Potter fan base, we find a rather strange fact.

Let us think, for a moment, about each of the books that make up the saga. What can we see? We can see that each book seems to correspond to a specific school year that Harry Potter is in, and, thereby, a specific age.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone hit the shelves in England in 1997. The marketing strategy decided to target the book to an, exclusively, children’s audience. It was the kids of the late 1990s.

The young magician quickly became famous, and the books began to be translated and sold worldwide. JK Rowling had given children the joy of reading back. She turned an entire generation into readers.

These young readers eagerly awaited the next book in the saga. The interesting thing is that the books became darker, more complex and more epic as they continued. Harry, like his fans, kept getting older.

Fans of Harry Potter

The movies came out every one or two years. Therefore, the producers managed something extraordinary. These young readers reached youth while being part of a solid society they could identify with. 

The film adaptations grounded this fan base and, at the same time, opened up to a wider audience – young people who had not read the books.

Harry Potter fans could identify with the characters who were the same age and who had the same worries in life. The only difference was, of course, the type of world they lived in. The characters presented in Rowling’s works seemed to reason with reality, despite facing incredible forces and phenomena.

Rowling introduced us to female characters that girls, to a large extent, could identify with, and it alienated the issue of feminism quite markedly.

Perhaps Harry’s case is the one that is furthest from the typical hero. He is, pretty much, an imperfect hero. However, he also gave us a new kind of masculinity. He showed us that boys and young men can be scared, and even cry, without being ashamed of it.

Active and prolific fans of Harry Potter

The Harry Potter fan base has been particularly active and productive. All of this activity has been helped by endless merchandise products and websites, such as Pottermore,  where all the fans are gathered. Likewise, the author himself answers his followers’ many questions through interviews and his profile on Twitter.

Of course, such a large community has a number of shared codes. They identify each other as  potterheads,  use terms such as  muggle,  and identify themselves through symbols and badges, such as death relics or the dark mark.

The  potterheads department  at Hogwarts is quite special, and sites such as  Pottermore have encouraged fans to have an “official source” to check which house they belong to. Thus, they have created new communities within the same fan base.

It’s all very similar to the division of zodiac signs. The fact that belonging to one or another house has to do with the personality traits of the occupants. Those who belong to Gryffindor will either be brave or strive for courage.

Those who belong to Slytherin will stand out for their ambition. This strengthens the sense of belonging and the sense of identification grows.

In addition to this, the  productivity of potterheads ‘ ones does not seem to know limits. In addition to  fanfics,  a common phenomenon in all types of fan base, we find an extraordinary creative community.

It’s a society that, far from merely discussing plot theories, has thrown itself into making their own film: Voldemort: Origins of the Heir.  It’s an unofficial spinoff that explores the life of the saga’s antagonist, and it’s the fans themselves who fund the film. 

The future of pots heads ‘ ne

We commented earlier that we can see this particular world of fans from a generational perspective. Therefore, we should, presumably, start thinking about the future. Could it be a problem to attract new followers?

Odd fans who gradually grew up with the magician, every young person, these days, has an entire franchise available. They can easily get their fingers in all the books, movies and information. In a way, the magic is broken. 

The fact that young people were growing up at the same time as the main characters while desperately waiting for the next episode, fed, to a large extent, the whole phenomenon.

Maybe it’s still too early to consider the possible development, but we can see how some steps have already been taken to find new niches or future fans. We can find examples of this in the creation of the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them saga.

Why create a new saga?

So why create a new saga? Because this, in addition to the already established fans who are now adults, opens new doors to the public. In fact, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them has been quite successful among younger generations who had not even read the  Harry Potter books. 

Over time, amusement parks have emerged that are inspired by the Harry Potter world and real places, such as King’s Cross Station. These have been used to contribute to entertainment in addition to the movies and books. An experience that brings them closer to experiencing the world JK Rowling dreamed of.

We do not know what the future will bring, but everything seems to point to the fact that this fan base is more alive than ever. In the meantime,  we will keep dreaming and eagerly awaiting our letter that we have been admitted to Hogwarts.