The idea that Harry Potter inspires hope to young kids is ridiculous. Take the fact that there are only a few Asian characters in Hogwarts. As shown with Hermione, there is a clear relationship between book-smart skills (what Asians have) and proficiency with magic (what they don’t seem to have). Everything Potter accomplished was either through the direct help of one of his friends, characters making the ultimate sacrifice for him (at least three come to mind at the moment), or the indirect help of his murky, innate wizardry skills. The fact that he’s a whining, pathetic, self-centered, arrogant, unskilled, and unbelievably lucky angsty teen doesn’t help his case either. In fact, I would go so far to say he is the worst popular fantasy series’ protagonist in recent memory–the obvious exception being Bella from the Twilight series, but she’s not a real person anyway. I loved the first four books as a kid. I remember reading Triwizard Cup over and over because I couldn’t get enough. It was thrilling, and the cringe-inducing interactions between the characters were still definitely overshadowed by the vibrant world that evoked a sense of exploration and wonderment. The fifth book, though, sucked, and with it Rowling set a trend for mistreating well-loved characters. That problem was seen in the sixth book, but the last book, The Deathly Hallows , had an unnecessary amount of deaths in order to create the darkness Rowling thought she needed to create. But Harry Potter is nothing like A Song of Ice and Fire , a fantasy series inspired by the factional killing in the English War of the Roses. Harry Potter is a light, hopeful fantasy series. If she really wanted the story to be grittier, why not have Harry finally grow up and make the ultimate sacrifice to balance out all the people who died for him? He didn’t, and we all had to read the painfully sappy epilogue and go to the hospital because our eyes were bleeding. Profusely. In this way, Rowling is similar to George Lucas, creator of Star Wars . Both created brilliant worlds with amazing potential for backstories, and both created legendary series that inspired millions. Lamentably, mistreating their series and creating terrible protagonists to inhabit their worlds are feats they also share. The creators should have had Sirius Black and Mace Windu change Harry and Anny’s respective, worthless hides into decent, likable people instead of tossing them out. Anny had to go to the dark side, so betraying Mace Windu is slightly understandable. However, that is no excuse for making Anny’s descent anti-climactic and lame. In Rowling’s case, it is completely unacceptable. After killing off Sirius, she let Ron’s dad live because she “couldn’t bear to kill him.” I can’t speak for the entire Harry Potter fanbase, but to me, this was a poor choice and a shining example of how much she hates her fans. While JK Rowling and Harry Potter are terrible people, the movies are worse. I only ripped on Rowling and Potter because I am under the impression the movies are so bad and boring that not one of the bright and intelligent people at Ames High would ever pay money just to feel disappointed in the inevitable letdown.