i basically had to because for two years every discussion of every piece of fiction in english class came down to harry potter comparisons.

so when i was finally allowed (thanks for the cultural hobbles, weird evangelical parents!) i read the series so far at the time and kept up with the last several books as they were published and my god it sucks so bad.

i related what a literary and moral trainwreck i thought the series was in detail to several teachers, and was universally lambasted as a contrarian who hates everything popular, and it became my reputation for the remainder of my high school career. all for taking the the trouble of consuming and analyzing a work of fiction as i'd been taught when i didn't strictly "have to" (even though i did "have to" in order to fully participate in class) and presenting a well-formed (for a high schooler) critical opinion thereof.

you're better off reading literally anything else than harry potter, and i don't understand the loyalty verging on derangement people have for that overhyped piece of hack work.

read literally any other book.