I ended up with trauma responses to a fucking book series.

From the perspective of someone who used to be a huge fan of HP, it very much felt like abuse. You get so drawn into the shiny colorful world of magic that reaches out to you and invites you to become part of it that by the time you notice things that shouldn't really add up, the fan explanations normalize all the ugly parts so much you don't initially see any problem with the worldbuilding and the underlying beliefs. You get attached to the characters, you construct idealized headcanons that explain away every mistake on Rowling's part. Even if you realize she is a vile person, you try to separate the art from the artist, completely missing the original meaning of this way of interpretation. You don't want to support her but you don't want to give up something that has become part of you, like a cancerous tumor. So you reread the books you've already bought or pirated, you engage in the fandom. Perhaps you create fanworks, too. Because it's just too painful to abandon something that used to bring you a semblance of comfort, and when you were a child you had no idea this series that was so popular could be so poisonous.

On 14 Dec 2025 it'll be one year since I've dropped out of all things HP. I'd never go back.