When beginning to dive into the world of magic, I simultaneously stumbled upon another American classic enjoyed by teenagers around the nation—Avatar: The Last Airbender. While reading and watching these two stories, I noticed many similarities between the two tales. In both series, there are four groups that are crucial in understanding the storyline and characters, there are child protagonists in the sagas, and there is a main character we closely observe who becomes the hero that protects and saves the lives of many. Additionally, themes such as coming of age, friendship, and desire all seem to coincide between the two stories, allowing me to think that the tales of Aang and Harry might be similar in many ways.

When comparing and contrasting the four groups of both stories, we can closely analyze the traits of characters and connect the houses in Hogwarts to the elemental tribes in the Avatar. Gryffindors tend to be brave and courageous, Slytherins are be ambitious and cunning, Ravenclaws tend to be intelligent and witty, and Hufflepuffs are loyal and hardworking. In the latter, Aang, our protagonist and an Airbender, can be seen as a peaceful, playful, and brave character. Although he runs away from the Air Nomads in an attempt to escape his future as the Avatar, we can see that he later owns up to his past and works towards saving the world. When observing Katara and Sokka from the Water Tribe, we notice that these two can be sensitive, genuine, and smart. Katara is usually the one who sets up plans for the team and Sokka is the oldest of the three who thinks in a logical manner to stray the group away from danger. Zuko, our first antagonist, comes from the Fire Nation and is seen as cunning and definitely ambitious; he will stop at nothing to get his hands on the Avatar. Toph, our Earthbender from the Earth Kingdom who joins the group later on, can be seen as patient, loyal, and hardworking. She teaches Aang how to Earthbend despite his periodic unwilling behavior and is loyal to the group, even if she is the last one to join it. Given these traits, we can start to connect the four houses to the four elemental nations. The Air Nomads’ courageous acts show traits of a Gryffindor. The Water Tribe’s intelligence and wittiness puts them in Ravenclaw. The Fire Nation’s cunning and ambitious personalities can be similar to that of Slytherin. Finally, the Earth Kingdom’s acts of loyalty and dedication corresponds to the values of Hufflepuff.

Aside from the four groups, we can analyze our main protagonists as well. Aang and Harry are both orphans who are given a huge role in saving the world. They both have close friends that help them out in the process, and throughout the series we are able to see them both mature and become stronger. Thematically, friendship is a crucial factor within both stories for both characters are able to develop by virtue of learning and growing with close friends. They both have desires to choose the right path, protect their loved ones, and ultimately achieve justice-for Harry, the death of his parents and friends, and for Aang, the genocide of his home.

Although the series may have crucial differences—elemental bending is not used in Harry Potter, and the wizarding world greatly differs from that of the nations—we can still agree that the two sagas have many ideas in common. The houses and elemental nations can be categorized among each other and individuals from the nations show traits similar to that of students within the houses. Although we are not too sure of the vast majority, we can still assume that these traits may hold true when inspecting our main characters and where they come from. Additionally, both protagonists work toward making the right decisions, even if their lives may be in danger. Their experiences with close relationships, battles, environments, and the past have led them down the path of a hero who ultimately makes a significant impact in their respective worlds.