Real-world Mudbloods

Harry Potter is perhaps the most realistic fantasy book, ever. I know what you're thinking- I'm crazy. And though I do love Harry Potter with all my heart and though it pains me to say this, no- I do not believe that dragons exist, or hippogriffs, or giant spiders or 3 headed dogs. And though I pray to be proven otherwise everyday, neither does Harry. He's not real, Ron's not real, Hermione's not real, and Hogwarts is not real.

So, you're now you're thinking "ok, she's not crazy but, I still don't get it, if none of this is real, then what's the realistic part?". The realistic part is the people (and no, I don't mean that werewolves or giants or wizards are realistic) but, the realistic part is that the basic way that their society works is so similar to ours, especially as young people. Which is what, I think, make this books so universally loved- everyone can connect to it.

The feelings that go on in adolecents are similar to those of the ones in real-world teenagers. Fame still exists, stores and banks and schools still exist. It is our world, with an added element- magic.

But what makes it the most like the world we know is perhaps, discrimination.

The discrimination against muggles or "mudbloods" perpetrated by certain pureblood wizards throughout the series is similar to the discrimination that has been going on in our own world since the beginning of time. The thinking that they are superior to muggles is the same thinking Hitler had with killing so many jews, it is the same thinking Americans had in enslaving African Americans. It is the same thing that went through the settlers minds when they invaded and took over the Native Americans' land and resources, and when the English colonized America. J.K. Rowling took something very true and used it to make this book more human, more... well... real.