Forever a Potter Fan

 

 

Image source: Found it on Pinterest!

It was Christmas Day 12 years ago when the first three Harry Potter books were waiting under the tree for me to unwrap.

My mom worked at a junior high in the library and was forever buying books for me to read, which I didn't mind as I was quite the little book worm (just like her).

Although the books were originally my presents, it wasn't too much later that my mom, three sisters and one of my brothers had read them as well--and before I had even finished the first book, as it took me forever to get into it (you know, the pre-Hogwarts, Dursleys chapters).

But once I entered through the gates of Hogwarts with Harry, I was hooked. I gobbled up every word J.K. Rowling wrote down in those first three books, and as a family, we waited impatiently for the fourth to come out that summer.

I recently looked at a blog post from novelnovice.com about how this year was the year that Harry Potter (kinda) ended. That's when I got the idea for this post.

You see, I've delved into many realms of the Harry Potter fandom, some seen and some very secretively hidden (so as not to frighten my friends and family). I've read the books more times than I can remember. I've watched the movies so much that I can quote them almost word for word (especially the first two). I've wrocked out to Wizard Rock with the best of them, listened to podcasts, surfed the fansites, and even delved into the art of fan fiction (both reading and writing it, both along the lines of the hidden part of my Potterness).

Image Source: novelnovice.com

I bawled like a baby throughout the last movie and endured the teasing and taunting from my brother-in-law for months afterward because of it (in fact, he mentions it every time I visit). I even stayed up late to get into the beta version of Pottermore, which turned out to be a real dud, although I did have confirmed to me that I am for sure a Ravenclaw.

I have been a faithful Potter fan since that day I opened those first three books under the Christmas tree and I probably will be one until the day I die.

I think what makes the story so endearing to me is that just a few years after I received those first three books, I started relating to Harry in real life. I lost both of my parents by the time I was 14, and although I wasn't facing an evil dark wizard, I was facing the same struggle of living a life without parents. In fact, I think part of the reason why I hate book five so much is because Harry's angst mirrored so much of my own.

When you're a teen, you feel like no one understands you; throw in the fact that both of your parents are dead and it doesn't seem too far-fetched.

I also clung to these books too much because it was my mom who introduced me to them, and she loved the story just as much as I did. In fact, book five was one of the last books she read the summer that she passed away. I almost feel like my being a Harry Potter fan is a tribute to her.

So although this may have been the year that Harry Potter pretty much ended, it will never have ended for me. I will forever be a Potter fan.

It's just like Rowling said, "The stories we love do live in us forever..."