The Harry Potter books and movies dragged on for about seven years through which the plot raised the young kid Harry to the confident teenager. Those who followed J. K. Rowling’s magical drama books were distraught every time the astute writer declared she was writing the final one. She stopped writing when Harry Porter was old enough to go to campus. He never really went to college, and we never got the chance to experience the adult Harry Potter. Dramatic and chaotic as the book series got, it was innocent. He never grew up, and millions of fans really wanted to find out how he would be as an adult. Well, Grossman’s story “The Magicians” paints that picture while excluding all the Harry Potter characters. The popular fantasy series show provides us with the adult version of Harry Potter, and we absolutely love it.
Without a doubt, Lev Grossman was inspired by J.K. Rowling when he decided to write down The Magicians. He heavily applies the Harry Porter storyline in his writing although he twerks the content to relate to adults from the reality of ten-year-olds. The context similarity only differs in that Harry Potter was admitted not a magic school for kids while Quentin Coldwater gets accepted to a magic school for adults.
Similarities between Harry Potter and “The Magicians”
The main protagonist is an ordinary person.
Harry and Quentin were both ordinary individuals having a hard time coping on earth and with people. Harry used to live under abusive relatives while Quentin was going through depression and social rejection before joining their respective magic schools. They were not initially charismatic and neither did their main antagonists even consider them as worthy or credible threats.
The drama unfolds in magic schools.
Both Grossman and Rowling set out their main plots within the premises of magically protected institutions of supernatural learning. Harry Potter goes through his Hero’s journey at Hogwarts while Quentin becomes a hero by studying at Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy. The magic schools are always faced by the constant danger of falling to super-powerful magical opponents. Another danger that both magic schools face is human beings finding out about them. To legitimize the myth, the authors of the two story lines protect the magic schools with veiling magic that hides them in plain sight.
The students are always saved by well-practiced magic teachers from imminent danger.
The sweetness of Harry Potter’s and Quentin’s story lines was their magical naivety and their learning experiences. Their naivety always exposed more powerful magic that led to the development of the plots and the conflict. Their teachers always saved them to provide more learning and show just how much they had to learn before they could face their destinies. The teacher in Harry Potter included Dumbledore, Hagrid, McGonagall and Snape. Quentin’s savior teachers were Dean Fogg and Prof. Sunderland.
The Adult Difference
Apart from the fact that Harry Potter was just a kid and that Quentin was just a depressed young adult, there are various other things that set out The Magicians as an adult version of Harry Potter. In fact, the ages of the two main protagonists are the bases upon which the entire difference is premised. The age difference allowed Grossman to include adult themes like:
Drinking
Brakebills University students and faculty took booze casually. That would have been preposterous for the kids at Hogwarts to do. The students were damaged adult unlike the innocent kids at Hogwarts, and they could drink while out of their classes. The students live among the people of the real world and aren’t secluded at all. They drink and party as much as they want: just like campus students do. In fact, Eliot stands as their resident mixologist.
Sex and violence
Brakebills students exhibit a lot of sexuality and nudity. When they throw their mad parties, they drink and engage in sexual activities. They engage in vulgar talk that isn’t all that family-friendly, and the show seems to be scripted for adults rather than innocent kids. Sometimes, the students conduct themselves violently. While Harry Potter was based on magical triumph only, The Magicians is based on much more including physical fighting as well as sexual politics.
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