Fantasy

Harry Potter is a fantasy story through-and-through, and a pretty traditional one at that. Wizards: check. Magical creatures: check. Castles: check. Magic spells that inflate annoying relatives into giant balloons: check.

However, modern fantasy tackles these traditional fantasy narratives from different angles. Game of Thrones, for example, adds steamy sex scenes. The Potterverse tackles the fantasy story from a young person's point of view. It uses its magical elements to emphasize the struggles we all face as young adults. Harry Potter doesn't just go to school—he goes to school with textbooks that can eat him.

Also, Harry Potter exists in our world, which gives us hope that someday we might actually find Platform 9 ¾. Cuarón emphasizes the real-world elements of Harry Potter in this installment by having his characters dress in street clothes like normal kids.

And it makes it a lot easier for us to cosplay when we don't have to get our robes dry-cleaned.