Harry Potter is certainly a large and important part of the millennial media paradigm. As the readings this week point out, many young people are using the Harry Potter universe as a springboard for creating paratexts and other creative endeavors. While fan-created media is nothing new, the Start Trek community has been doing it for a long time, but several things stuck out that made this seem particularly millennial. First, was the age of the authors or the paratexts. It seems a lot of younger teenagers, 13-16 years old, are active in the creation of works within the Harry Potter community. These are young people taking on impressive projects and utilizing digital media to circulate them. In addition, they are not simply creating short stories, comic books, youtube vids, and slideshows- some of them are writing full-length novels. That’s a big task for a teenager to take on- going along with the millennial attitude that we are capable of greatness and of changing the world. Also fitting into the millennial framework is that all of this fan community interaction takes place over the internet. While I’m sure there are fan conventions, the majority of these works are presented online and other digital platforms.

One millennial facet of the movie that really struck me was the magnitude of the struggle that depended on the action of the young main characters. Good, evil, and the fate of the well-being of the entire magic world rely on the action of the Harry and his friends. A group who directly identify with a millennial audience are saving the world, and the levity of the situation is not understated. In Harry Potter: Goblet of Fire, millennials are actually saving the world.