Harry Potter diehards, wishing to escape the reality of a world without magic wands and dragons, gathered at the Memorial Union on Friday to listen to an acclaimed Potter expert critique the contemporary issues found between the lines of the seven-part series.

Travis Prinzi, author of “Harry Potter & Imagination: The Way Between Two Worlds,” told an ASU audience of more than 150 people that the series will go down in history as among “the greatest literature of our time.”

After Prinzi’s presentation, sponsored by ASU’s Harry Potter Society, he signed his book for Harry Potter fans.

“It has contemporary significance and it is inexhaustible,” he said of the Potter series.

Author J.K. Rowling planned the books carefully to foreshadow and comment on social and political issues, Prinzi said. She hints at possible outcomes early in the series.

This is especially apparent after the events of Sept. 11, 2001, he said.

“Books one through four come out quickly,” he said. “There’s a three-year break during Sept. 11 and you see [the effects] in the fifth book.”

Critics of the series said the books got darker during this time, focusing less on Harry’s transition into wizardry and more on his fight with his inner demons.

“Great literature is going to help us deal with fear,” Prinzi said, adding that the books help readers do just that by relating to Harry’s struggles.

In the fifth book, the relation to contemporary war issues becomes more apparent, he said.

“It’s easy in time[s] of social upheaval to give up liberties to the government to feel safe,” Prinzi said, commenting on the common theme throughout the fifth book.

The books comment on race issues by showing the struggle between “Muggle-borns” — those born to non-magic parents — and “pure-bloods” — those born to wizards, he said.

Co-president of the Harry Potter Society at ASU Kim Condoulis said the series itself is an enlightening experience and Prinzi’s expertise is a great source for those interested in the books’ contemporary significance.

“I definitely think the series has a sort of mysticism [about it],” the business management sophomore said. “Harry Potter has the ability to bring out more in the reader’s mind than just the words on the page.”

The society hosted Prinzi, a friend of club adviser Joel Hunter, as a way to gain more interest about the series and the Harry Potter Society at ASU.

Co-president of the club, English linguistics senior Katie Langr, said those involved in the club read one of the books each semester and then read critiques of it, like Prinzi’s book.

“We’re hoping to reach out to more students who are interested in talking about the subject,” she said.

The club began this year after its founders were inspired by the honors Human Event course, Langr said.

“We base a lot of it on societal influence,” she said. “The way society is arranged, and the idea of magic centered around what we as people can do.”

Reach the reporter at ndgilber@asu.edu.