Jeff Moses

            With the Harry Potter movies coming to an end over the summer, there is no better time than now to examine the lasting legacy of “the boy who lived.”

            Of course there is the cultural significance of a book series so popular it spawned eight movies, uncountable amounts of signature merchandise, and even a Universal-owned Harry Potter theme park, but that doesn’t fully reflect the impact the boy has on the world as a whole.

            Just discussing Harry in the newsroom brought back fond memories of a cartoon-filled childhood abruptly halted by the introduction of a 500-page fantasy book about a skinny castaway born with magical powers.

            Harry Potter sent a generation of children raised by video games and television to a magical land full of adventures and intrigues.

No, I’m not talking about Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It’s the bookstore that I talk about.

            J.K. Rowling’s creation was able to take ridiculous terms, such as quidditch and muggle, and make them well-known all over the world.

            It seems that there are a great amount of Harry Potter fans on campus here at Mesa Community College, the ones who are able to recall the slightest detail of the teen wizard’s adventure at the drop of a hat.

But what about last night’s philosophy reading, or laboratory instructions assigned by a professor? Is that reading being approached with as much zeal as reading “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” for the seventh time?           

            Not to be