Harry Potter wasn’t made for classrooms

For many, Shakespeare is the greatest writer of all time. For most ICSE school students studying his plays, he’s just a reason for the extension of the number of unit tests.

When something gets included as a part of the ICSE syllabus, most students, no matter how brilliant the quality, develop a certain sense of repulsion towards it. This happens solely due to the reason that most readers live to read. The curriculum does not let you live the content that is being read, it narrows the point of view to that of a single examiner. You study it to get the impression of one or two numericals on your answer script. It reduces the larger story to underlined phrases and the reason for all-nighters to take place. 

The Harry Potter series was an escape for many students. It introduced them to something beyond the ordinary  — magic. When this same series gets included as a part of the syllabus some students tried to escape from, it just highlights the unfairness of the curriculum and reduces the weight of such a brilliant piece of literature. A lot of Potterheads think that Voldemort is the actual hero of the series and they have exceptional reasons for their choice. A lot of people also think that Remus Lupin was a negative character. A lot of people, who have lived Harry Potter and not just read it, have the most bizarre choice but the best of explanations. This becomes a problem when an examiner who has only thought of one perspective and a single answer to a question faces these uncommon choices in the answer scripts. It also becomes a problem when certain lecturers conclude that Severus Snape only tried to protect Harry because of what he felt for Lily and for no other reason whatsoever. It becomes a problem because Harry Potter was meant to be a different, magical route of escapism from classroom lectures. It was never meant to be one of them.