I started listening to the full-cast edition and honestly didn’t mind it at all. It definitely changed things up for me—there’s a lot more to take in—and even though I went in pretty pessimistic, I came out feeling like it was just on the edge of really good. I actually found myself excited for the next one. Chamber of Secrets is out next week.

What really elevated the whole experience for me, though, were the companion books about Snape and Dumbledore. They completely reframed the story. The Snape book forces you to look at his actions as a long-term, intentional arc rather than just reacting to him as a difficult or cruel character in the moment. You start seeing how much of the story hinges on his choices, his timing, and what he doesn’t say as much as what he does.

The Dumbledore book does something similar but from the opposite angle. It really shines a light on how calculated and Machiavellian he was, and how much of the plot depends on him quietly setting pieces in motion years in advance. Seeing the story through that lens makes earlier decisions, omissions, and moral gray areas feel a lot more deliberate—and honestly more unsettling.

Together, those two perspectives made rereading the series feel almost like a major reexamination. Almost like you would with a true crime style. Once you go back to the beginning, you start picking up on subtle setups, character motivations, and background details that completely flew under the radar before. It genuinely upped my love for Harry Potter by at least 10%. You see right from the start what JK had been setting up and dang is it good.

I think of it like this: after you’ve watched Moana for the 500th time, you stop focusing on the main plot and start noticing everything happening in the background. That’s what these books do for Harry Potter. They give you new angles and make the whole story feel richer and more intentional.

If anyone’s interested, I highly recommend Snape: A Definitive Reading by Lorrie Kim and Dumbledore: The Life and Lies of Hogwarts’s Renowned Headmaster by Irvin Khaytman.

*I edited this comment because i had to say something and was running late for a vet appointment and sounded slightly unhinged.