Do we miss Harry Potter?

On my desk, I have a quote from the great author Roald Dahl. It reads: “And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.”

The quote is there to remind me to be constantly on the search for magic, because it is truly special when you see it. And being a fan of Dahl’s since I could read, that magic always found a way into the words he wrote.

Dahl died in 1990, which was seven years before Harry Potter was unleashed on the world. A cursory reading could lead you to believe that there isn’t much in common between “James and the Giant Peach” and the Potter novels, but you would be mistaken. At the core of most Dahl books and the world of Hogwarts are stories about friendship, loyalty and tenacity to do the right thing when doing otherwise would be much easier.

They also are about believing in the hidden magic surrounding our lives.

It was about 3 a.m.on a Friday a couple of years ago when my wife and oldest son made it home after a midnight screening of the latest, and last, Harry Potter movie.

I rolled over, acknowledged they were home, happy they safely found their way back and returned to my slumbers. And in the intervening week, I’ve been told how “awesome” the movie is, and how sad it is that the series is over.

No more Harry Potter and his friends, except of course for all the books and DVDs which will be around for the rest of my life.

Am I sad it’s all over? Not especially; I think J.K. Rowling, who wrote the books, was wise to end it all with everyone wanting more. It remains to be seen whether she will keep her promise and let the work stay finished. After all, Arthur Conan Doyle brought back Sherlock Holmes after he had killed him. Edgar Rice Burroughs kept bringing back Tarzan, and do I need to go into the whole “Star Wars” fiasco?

I wouldn’t call myself a “fan” of Harry Potter, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the books, and, to a lesser extent, the movies. I’ve read all the books a couple of times, the first to make sure that they were appropriate to read to my oldest son when he was little, the second to him directly and the third time to my youngest son.

It’s a good, epic story of good versus evil and it is fairly well-written and engaging. The Harry Potter books are highly derivative of English boarding school novels as well as “Lord of the Rings.” As juvenile fiction, it is nearly perfect; its protagonists have special powers, get to carry deadly weapons and confront strange creatures. Its young characters, we are told, are all special in some way despite their own failings. How could all of this not appeal to a kid?

The first book, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” was unleashed on the public in the summer of 1997. Later that year, my oldest son was born, so we didn’t really get to reading the books for a couple of years, but it does seem that as long as there have been children in our house, Harry’s been there as well.

One year, the oldest dressed as Harry for Halloween, complete with a Hogwarts robe, round glasses and a scar drawn on his forehead. The costume was recycled a year or two later when the youngest decided that he would dress as Ron Weasley, Harry’s best friend. (I secretly cheered because I’ve always had an affinity to sidekicks, best friends and little brothers.)

Each time, I fashioned a “wand” to go with the costume, and through the years have had them pointed at me while a child screamed a spell at me, “Expelliarmus!” Sometimes, I would act as if the spell actually worked.

While I’m not a fanatic for the series and I hope to one day never have to read it again — you start to see the author’s idiosyncrasies after awhile — I would not discourage anyone from letting their children read them.

While the whole premise is that there are witches and wizards out there who really fly on broomsticks and make potions, the real appeal is encouraging readers to seek magic in the most unlikely of places.