More Than Meets The Eye: A Nostalgic Read for Harry Potter Fans

Nostalgic. That is one major emotion I felt while reading Tom's book. For starters, the first page reads "I dedicate this book to the Muggles who got me here." This line just set the tone for the entire book. Without giving too much away, and with just using 11 words, it makes you want to keep reading. It makes you want to learn Tom's side of the Harry Potter story and how us "Muggles" helped him and what we helped him through. It intrigues you and forces you to turn the page. Now, once you turn the page, you see the table of contents. The first line you see is "Foreword by Emma Watson". That within itself will make someone want to keep reading. Whether you are a Dramione fan or not, it is still so wonderful to think that Tom asked Emma to write this for him. And trust me, it gets better once you actually read it. Disclaimer: of course I know Tom and Emma are not Draco and Hermione, but Dramione is a state of mind, not a reality and I am okay with that.

The book continues on with 27 chapters and an Afterword all written by Tom. The first 6 chapters Tom talks about his immediate family, his school life, how he was raised, some mischief he got in, and his first few roles in acting. Now as a Harry Potter fan myself, I wanted to get to the good parts. Those parts started with Chapter 7, "The Potter Auditions or When Draco Met Hermione." Of course, not that reading about Tom's life was boring or I didn't enjoy it, but since this book is an auto-biography, it moves slower than other books I am used to reading. The Dramione fan in me wanted more than just Chapter 7, but to be honest, it was a bit of a let down. Luckily I was very happy to hear Tom mention his friendship with Emma in later chapters, but that will be a surprise for you readers once you pick up the book. I wouldn't want to spoil everything now, would I?

Continuing on, the rest of the book spoke about Tom's experience involving Potter. Each chapter had 2 separate titles, much like the example above with Chapter 7. One part of the title introduced the Potter angle, while the other part of the title summed up his personal experience or take on that Potter topic. Most of the remaining chapters focused on Tom's relationship, interaction or even one important moment dealing with a specific person, such as Alan Rickman, Helen McCroy, Jason Isaacs, Rupert Grint, Daniel Radcliffe, and more.

Each chapter goes into detail with one particular person and they are each quite unique. The way Tom speaks about Jason Issacs and Helen McCroy for example is just beautiful. He gives examples of how Jason has become more of a friend to him that he expected and how Helen, rest in peace, was the motherly figure that he needed on set. He spoke about Robbie Coltrane, rest in peace, and how Robbie was the actor who made everyone laugh. He wasn't there for comedic relief necessarily, but he made the child actors feel more relaxed. Robbie made it known to the kids that yes, they were on a job, but you have to have fun otherwise what is the point?

Tom also talks about Emma of course. Cue my Dramione heart beating really fast. Tom mentions something I find rather funny in Chapter 16 "Dramione or The Chicken and the Duck." Once Tom and Emma were old enough, and started spending time together outside of work, rumors started circulating saying that their relationship was more than friends. With that, Tom said he denied that he liked Emma in that way, but the truth was different. He said even his girlfriend at the time knew that there was something unspoken between Tom and Emma, but Tom used the basic line of "oh I love her as my sister." Tom did admit that there was more to it than that. Tom set the record straight saying that he wasn't ever sure if he was inlove with Emma, but just that he loved her in a way that he could never explain. Emma was one of the only people who during the filming of the Potter movies, Tom spent time with off of set. He said one day he picked up Emma, they took a long walk around a lake and Emma then said something that sticks with Tom still to this day: "I've always known I was a duck, but I've spent my whole life being told I was a chicken. Every time I try to say 'quack' the world tells me that I have to say 'cluck.' I even started believing that I was a chicken and not a duck. Then we started hanging out and I found somebody else who quacked. And that's when I thought: To hell with them, I really am a duck!" Now even to a reader, I was so confused where Tom was going with this quote, but the way he explains that in that moment he knew exactly what she meant, melted my heart. He spoke about how they were both kindred spirits, how they understood each other and that they both helped each other make sense of themselves and their lives. Tom says they have been quacking ever since, and just like that, my Dramione heart weeps.

I can go in depth on each particular chapter, who Tom speaks about in the chapter, what the set of Potter was like, how he managed being a young adult actor, etc. but I'm not going to. I'm going to talk about how I felt while reading this book. Circling back to my main emotion while reading this book; nostalgia. Of course while reading I felt nostalgic. I felt glee. I felt safe, and I hope everyone who reads this book feels this same exact way. The best comparison I have is it felt like I was reading a letter a close friend wrote to me about their life. Almost like I knew what the next line would say and I sought comfort in that. And within that comfort, truth be told, it took me a while to finish this book. That is why I rated it a 4 out of 5. There was enough nostalgia and emotion to keep me sucked in, but as I have mentioned previous, it was slow. There is no other way to describe it. It wasn't until the last few chapters that I couldn't put the book down.

The last few chapters focused on Tom's life after Potter. The reason why I couldn't put the book down was because I was genuilenly shocked. Now, I'm not sure if it's because I was living under a rock or I just really don't pay attention, but Tom talks about his struggle with fame, alcohol, mental health and all sorts of problems every day people have. Tom went into depth on what caused his addictions, whether it be the pressure of being a Harry Potter actor, someone trying to make it as an actor, or just a young man in his 20s. Tom spoke about how he was checked into rehab in Malibu and it was not something he would have chosen for himself at all. He goes in depth of how he "escaped" his rehab facility, hitch-hiked back to West Hollywood and his 3 saviors along the way. I am not going to go into too much depth because it is truly a great story. It shows you that much like other addicts, he thought he was fine and it took him literally being stranded on the side of the road after fleeing a rehab facility to come to terms with his life. Tom talks more about how he turned his life around, how his life is now and who he is today. It reminded me a little about Draco Malfoy's character. Not literally of course, but if you keep reading, you'll hear why.

In Chapter 18 "Draco and Harry or Two Sides of the Same Coin", Tom mentions something about playing Draco that I think everyone should hear, whether you read Tom's book or not. Tom talks in multiple other chapters about what it was like playing a character like Draco Malfoy. He spoke in Chapter 9 about how his grandfather helped him perfect Draco's sneer, and in a different chapter about how being rude to Emma upon first meeting her may have helped him get the role as Draco, but it is what he says in Chapter 18 that really made me think. Tom says that the first 5 films of Potter, he was really just standing in a corner sneering all the time. He didn't think much about Draco's development because in total honesty, there wasn't much development. The turning point for Tom was in film 6, Half Blood Prince. The reason why is because this was a time where as an actor, Tom needed to get his audience to try and feel empathy for his character. He needed to show his audience that even though Draco, who has been nothing but a bully, needs love and understanding.

Spoiler alert: Draco is ordered to murder Dumbledore in book 6. The build up to the murder is how Tom's gets his audience to feel empathy towards Draco. We learn that under all that male bravado, he is just a boy who is trying to survive. Draco is trying to protect his mother and father while also trying to still play the role of prissy, spoiled, pure-blood Malfoy.

Tom continues on his Draco explanation which I found intriguing. "Draco Malfoy was the boy who had no choice. Dominated by his overbearing father, coerced by the Death Eaters, cowed into fear of his life by Voldemort, his actions were not his own. They were the actions of a boy whose agency has been ripped from him. He could not make his own decisions, and the turn his life had taken had terrified him." I mean how talented of an actor are you to convince an entire audience to have empathy for a boy who has been practically hated for half a franchise? Let me answer that for you. A pretty darn good one. It is a talent not many actors possess, and for Tom to successfully achieve this character development, well I was impressed.

Some would say Tom was playing two different characters, when in reality, he was. This is my explanation of where I think Tom and Draco are similar. They both felt a need to play 2 separate characters in their everyday life, and both of them realized it wasn't worth it. Something else was Tom noticed some similarities to Draco that I'm not sure he was happy to admit. "Draco acts like a real dick, it doesn't mean I have to." Hell if that doesn't put into perspective the similarities that Tom is trying to break free of Draco from, then I don't know what will.

Earlier on in the book, Tom says that with playing Draco Malfoy, he sees himself as a placeholder in people's memories, and I couldn't agree more. He states that watching the movies transports the viewers into a different time and place, in the same way that listening to a certain song can do the same. Now, you might have noticed that I did not put any song lyrics in the beginning of this review. As I was reading this book, I thought of a bunch of different songs, ones that made me feel like I was 10 again and watching Harry Potter in theaters, ones that had absolutely no correlation to Harry Potter at all, and some that just popped into my head random. In truth, I couldn't come up with just 1 song for this review, so I want to ask a favor. For anyone who reads this review, please email me with what song makes you nostalgic, or what song(s) do you think of while reading this book? I would love to know so I can listen to them.

Besides that, something I want everyone to take away from reading this book is you never know what is going on in someone's life. Some famous person could appear to have "everything" when in reality they could be drowning and scared to breach the surface. Please take care of yourself and ask for help if you ever need it. I am just an email away and all ears if anyone wants to use it!

To finish this review off, in my personal opinion I could not have imagined anyone else playing Draco Malfoy. I was still pretty young when the films and books were still being released, but with growing up on this franchise, it is quite hard to imagine someone else in Malfoy's shoes. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Tom's perspective of the Potter days and it made me feel like I was living it with him, to a certain extent. Harry Potter is a big part of my life and with the movies being over and no more books to be released, it was a nice little slice of my childhood being able to see this franchise in a different light. I hope whoever reads this book enjoys it as much as I did. Stay magical my friends.

Rest In Peace to everyone who brought us Magic ~

Leslie Phillips - Sorting Hat Robbie Coltrane - Rubeus Hagrid

Alan Rickman - Severus Snape Richard Griffiths - Vernon Dursley

Richard Harris - Albus Dumbledore Helen McCrory - Narcissa Malfoy

Verne Troyer - Griphook Robert Hardy - Cornelius Fudge

Rodger Lloyd-Pack - Barty Crouch, Sr. Dave Lenego - Fenrir Greyback

Sir John Hurt - Garrick Ollivander Timothy Bateson - voice of Kreacher

Terence Bayler - The Bloody Baron Robert Knox - Marcus Belby

Sam Beazley - Professor Everard Paul Ritter - Eldred Worple

Derek Deadman - Tom, landlord of Leaky Cauldron Peter Cartwright - Elphias Doge

Hazel Douglas - Bathilda Bagshot Alfred Burke - Professor Dippet

Jimmy Gardner - Ernie Prang Elizabeth Spriggs - The Fat Lady