At the moment, I am rereading the Harry Potter series, which is my 3rd reread series of the year. Eventually, I will reread Lord of the Rings, which will follow with other Tolkien books. In my opinion, I think Rowling got inspired by Tolkien due to some parallels.
The Golden Trio and Sam/Frodo
The Golden Trio in HP consists of Harry Potter, Ron, and Hermione, who are best friends. These three go through many trials and challenges throughout the series. They stay loyal towards each other the entire time, which is especially during their quest to find the horcruxes. Harry wanted to go alone, but his best friends wouldn’t let him—-there was no way of knowing where to find them (they could be any object).
Would Frodo have made it without Sam? Frodo needed Sam every step of the way. At the end of Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo almost left alone to continue on his quest to destroy the ring. But just like HP’s best friends, Sam made sure Frodo wasn’t alone. Due to the power of the ring, Frodo needed Sam’s help at times- especially at Mordor.
Fred/George and Merry/Pippin
These are two sets of troublemakers. Fred and George are twin brothers of Ron. They always liked to play jokes, so troublemakers basically. Same thing applied to Merry and Pippin- one might wonder why were they are a part of the fellowship- they kept on slowing things down due to the troublemaker side of them- you don’t realize their purpose until Two Towers, but at least they provide comic relief.
Dumbledore/Gandalf
These two characters are very similar, if you think about it. Both are powerful and old wizards—–who are mentors at times to some of the other characters.
Two Dark Lords
The antagonists of HP and Lord of the Rings are Dark Lords- that is exactly what Voldermort and Sauron are.
Horcruxes and the Ring
Those are objects in HP and Lord of the Rings that NEED to be destroyed. Both have the power to corrupt anyone who has them. If the horcruxes aren’t destroyed- Voldermort would never be able to die. If the Ring isn’t destroyed, Sauron will always have his power.
Two Big Spider Attacks
There are two massive spider attacks in both series. It is scarier in Lord of the Ring because Shelob is creepier especially after she attacked Frodo- that is why Sam had to be ringbearer for a little bit- he had to be the one to rescue him from the orcs. Aragog in Chamber of Secrets—–he may have helped Ron and Harry, but then had the intention to kill both boys, but at least they got away, but still pretty scary.
I actually recommend HP fans to read or watch Lord of the Rings
Meg's Magical Musings 