In the Harry Potter series one of the major themes that stick out in my mind is a coming of age story as well as a quest. There are so many ways that these two first books, The Sorcerer’s Stone and The Chamber of Secrets are a quest as well as a coming of age story. When I read Sorcerer’s Stone I can’t help but turn the page and feel as though I am there watching Harry, Ron and Hermoine try to answer the famous question who is trying to kill Harry now? The Sorcerer’s Stone had Harry first try to get away from the Dursley’s and that was a quest of finding out he was a wizard and didn't fit into the Muggle world. When he arrives at Hogwarts and meets Ron and Hermoine it begins the start of a quest that will follow Harry through all seven books. Towards the end of Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry, Ron and Hermoine are fighting about Snape; “Don’t you understand? If Snape gets hold of the Stone, Voldemort’s coming back!” (Sorcerer’s, p.270). This may not have been the first obstacle for Harry but it did begin a quest of huge proportions. It is a coming of age story because Harry goes through so much turmoil and has to grow into a man through everything he goes through throughout the series.

            These books are appealing to me because they allow me to escape into a world outside of the stress of my day. In the start of the series of Harry Potter, Rowling brought us into a world that was magical and mysterious. When Hagrid “tapped the wall three times with the point of his umbrella. The brick he had touched quivered-it wriggled-in the middle, a small hold appeared-it grew wider and wider.” In that moment we entered a world full of people, events and a life time of adventures. These events in both books integrated mystery and fantasy so that you didn't know what happened next and then adds fantasy in the way that it’s a magical world full of details, places and people that we could not have gotten to know if it wasn't for J.K Rowling.