Harry Potter and the Hero's Journey
The Hero's Journey is a concept describing a common story telling pattern in many tales around the world. It was first described by Joseph Campbell in 1949 in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Cambell referred to the journey as a "monomyth," a universal story, and summarized the theme like this:
A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.
In laying out the monomyth, Campbell describes a number of stages or steps along this journey. The hero starts in the ordinary world, and receives a call to enter an unusual world of strange powers and events (a call to adventure). If the hero accepts the call to enter this strange world, the hero must face tasks and trials (a road of trials), and may have to face these trials alone, or may have assistance. At its most intense, the hero must survive a severe challenge, often with help earned along the journey. If the hero survives, the hero may achieve a great gift (the goal or "boon"), which often results in the discovery of important self-knowledge. The hero must then decide whether to return with this boon (the return to the ordinary world), often facing challenges on the return journey. If the hero is successful in returning, the boon or gift may be used to improve the world (the application of the boon).
Very few myths contain all of these stages—some myths contain many of the stages, while others contain only a few; some myths may have as a focus only one of the stages, while other myths may deal with the stages in a somewhat different order. These stages may be organized in a number of ways, including division into three sections: Departure (sometimes called Separation), Initiation, and Return. "Departure" deals with the hero venturing forth on the quest, "Initiation" deals with the hero's various adventures along the way, and "Return" deals with the hero's return home with knowledge and powers acquired on the journey.
Harry Potter is the protagonist of a hugely popular series of seven novels by J.K. Rowling, which have been adapted into a very popular film franchise. While Rowling has never confirmed or denied that she has read or been influenced by The Hero with a Thousand Faces, each of the seven novels, and the series as a whole, is an almost textbook example of a Hero's Journey.
The Harry Potter series is a coming of age story told in seven parts, and each part forms a classic Hero's Journey. Hero's Journeys can also be seen as metaphors for coming of age (leaving the shelter/comfort of home, experiencing various trials and tasks that prepare them for adulthood and shape their world view, and finally a return as an adult and their own person with their own set of skills to offer the community). As such, the series as a whole, which is a coming of age story, is also itself yet another, larger Hero's Journey.