The author who-should-not-be-named!

We all know who she is, don’t we? It’s the author who wrote the story of the boy who lived. A story of love and acceptance, of ending discriminations and creating a safe society for all living beings. A story loved by children and adults alike.

A story that transcended every boundary there is. It’s practically impossible to find a person who hasn’t heard of the boy who survived the killing curse and became a legend overnight. Yes, I’m talking about Harry Potter.

But the author royally screwed up. Not herself, oh no, she doesn’t believe she did anything wrong. But she royally screwed her readers. Her controversial comments about transgender people have left her readers between a rock and a hard place. In my native language Hindi, there’s a saying “Na nigla jaye, na ugla jaye” which translates to neither can you swallow it nor can you spit it out.

And I find myself in a dilemma, gagging at her transphobia and gasping without Harry Potter. It was a huge part of my life, it still is. And I can’t bring myself to hate it, to give it up all.

Because it’s difficult to suddenly cut off a thing that was a huge part of your childhood, something that has stayed in your life for decades, something that has brought two strangers together and turned them into friends, all because of their common love for this book.

So, I made to a resolution. From now on, I’ll not spend a penny if it fills her pockets. That means, no new Harry Potter books and no official merch.

But I’ll keep supporting independent creators— sellers that sell unofficial merch, artists making fan art and writers writing fan fictions. It’s a fine line to walk on and I’ll try not to fall.