While the coronavirus seems to be swallowing the United States whole and the secret introverted charm of quarantine steadily wears away, what else is there to do but hop off platform 9 ¾ and onto a train headed towards the best magic school in the world, Hogwarts.
Harry Potter is hands down the best binge of quarantine. Though not as new and attention grabbing as the stream of teen-focused content pouring out of Netflix these days (Outer Banks, All American, Too Hot To Handle), the movies bring a sense of familiarity to a certain inner geeky elementary school soul who was secretly disappointed when she didn’t receive a letter, delivered by owl of course, from Hogwarts on her eleventh birthday.
The eight movies deliver an escape to everyone’s dream life, a passage to childhood hopes and fanciful wishes, delivering an innocent comfort through magic and honorable battles between a distinct and tangible good and evil.
Also, seeing as we all seem to be on a constant search to fill the void some semblance of a social life would have taken up, rewatching all of the Harry Potter movies—yes, Sorcerer’s Stone to Deathly Hallows—takes up 1063 minutes or 17.72 hours, a solid day’s work.
The fun doesn’t end at watching, or repeatably rewatching, the movies. The Rowling-run website Wizarding World has created a segment called Harry Potter at Home, continuing the quarantine fun after the movies are done. Though the site and the activities it offers is most likely geared towards current elementary and middle school aged children, who’s judging?
“Harry Potter At Home is the Wizarding World’s way of bringing Hogwarts closer to you, as we all continue to stay at home and keep safe… full of quizzes, puzzles, fun videos and features,” reads the official website.
One of the most notable features is the weekly readings of the Sorcerer’s Stone. Each week, a different celebrity sits down in front of their home camera and record themselves reading a chapter from the book. So far, the celebrities snagged include Stephen Fry, David Beckham, Dakota Fanning, Claudia Kim, Noma Dumezweni and Eddie Redmayne.
Courtesy of Screenrant
While all of these guests are exciting and important in their own way, the reader of the first chapter takes the cake. Daniel Radcliff is the first celebrity to greet you on this journey, reading the first chapter of the book, “The Boy Who Lived.” Radcliff’s importance in the series brings a renewed excitement and anticipation to the series, and what could be better than binge watching him age in the movies and then see him as a full-on adult read the book.
On this exciting guest, the Wizarding World website said, “As the figurehead of the Harry Potter films for so many years, we hope you love watching this incredibly special video of Daniel revisiting Harry’s adventure – this time not on a film set, but through the pages of the first book.”
While I am sure you can find the movies playing in re-runs on ABC Family, they tend to favor all day Harry Potter marathons. Streaming options are limited, however, and even though buying movies is never anyone’s first choice, in this case it’s worth it. Buying the Harry Potter movies is making an investment, knowing that owning a set of movies that are just as good as the books is rare and extremely valuable. Hopefully, sometime in the not-too-distant movie watching future, someone will be eternally grateful for owning the full set of Harry Potter masterpieces.
Grab some popcorn, dim the lights, and grab your wands because you are going to Hogwarts, home of Daniel Radcliff and the most magical place in England.
Featured Image Courtesy of Harry Potter Fandom
