The Boy Who Lived. Hogwarts. Platform 9 3/4. All of these are terms familiar to people who have read the Harry Potter books, which first appeared in the late ‘90s and became a seven book series that has in many ways influenced the generation of students at Iowa State.

“Not everybody has read them. Not everybody cares to read them. But, it is surprising what a kind of common denominator the books are,” said Susan Yager, associate professor of English.

Yager teaches an Honors seminar on Harry Potter that in the past has been filled in under a minute when registration opens.

The series has been challenged several times from many different places, including even a challenge in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. According to the American Library Association website, the series ranked in the top-10 challenged book lists in 2001, 2002 and 2003.

“Most of the challenges to the Harry Potter series were made when the first several books came out,” Yager said. “Some of those challenges were from people who were culturally, usually religiously, conservative who have a literal reading of some Old Testament passages.”

The Harry Potter movies first started coming out in 2001, when most traditional age college students were in elementary school. A total of eight movies were made.

“I wanted to learn how to read, so I could learn to read Harry Potter,” said Katie Thielmann, sophomore in materials engineering. “The last movie came out when I was a senior in high school. It was just kind of my whole childhood was Harry Potter.”

Jill Krygowski, sophomore in kinesiology and health, started reading the books at a young age. She said the Harry Potter series has also changed some people in different ways.

“I think it’s influenced people just through, like, friendship and knowing the values of love and family and being a good person and doing what’s right,” Krygowski said.

Harry Potter has also impacted the ISU community and taken a life of its own. 

For example, Quidditch, a sport played on broomsticks in the books, is an Iowa State recognized athletic sports club.

“Really the only thing Harry Potter’s done for us is given us the sport, basically,” said Andrew Folkmann, president of the Quidditch Club. “People are starting to see us as more athletic than just a Harry Potter fan club extension.”

Folkmann said Iowa State has the only Quidditch team in Iowa..

“I read the first one, and then I couldn’t stop,” Krygowski said. “[The books] took me from a C average student to an A- student within six months.”

Krygowski said she still studies to the music from the movies to this day and has dressed as one of the characters from Harry Potter for Halloween several times.

“Every child in our world will know his name,” said Hogwarts Professor Minerva McGonagall in the first book.

In many ways, this has proved true in the real world, but Yager said she does not believe that will be true for long.

“I think Harry’s time has passed,” Yager said. “Give it another two or three years … and it won’t be cool anymore. That’s what I predict. I mean, everything comes and goes. I think his star will set in another couple of years.”

The final Harry Potter book was released in 2007. The final movie came out in 2011.