Dear Mr. Potter: A letter

Dear Mr. Potter,

I regret that I didn't grow up with you. I regret that we were never the same age. Harry Potter, you were not my childhood, but you were and always will be part of my life. I found you at the time your next book was coming out. My father read an article in the paper, knowing that I loved books, he pointed it out to me. I had never heard of Harry Potter.

Everyone seems to have great memories of the series as to how old they were when they read the books. I do not. I can't remember if this article was about the 3rd or 4th book in the series. Looking back, I think it was the 4th book, because I was home for the summer. I had a job at the library during my summers from college. I went into my shift, not knowing if the book would be there (we have a very small town library.)

The book was in, so I brought it home that night. I started reading it, thinking the first few pages weren't bad, but it wasn't until I read the end of the first chapter that I was hooked. I wanted to know more about the Boy Who Lived.

I probably finished reading the rest of the books available at that summer. I was thrilled when I heard there was going to be a movie. I remember attending it in college and LOVING it! It wasn't a perfect adaptation, but it was pretty good. It captured the magic of reading the books.

I remember attending my first big book event at a release party for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix at Northshire Bookstore. I was dumbfounded and delighted about attending a midnight party for a book. I loved how the store tied bits and pieces from the book in games, trivia, and food. It was a fabulous night. I was in graduate school to become a librarian and I went with my then boyfriend (now husband). The bookstore was part of my childhood and we made the night a special trip.  We had so much fun, we went back for the Half Blood Prince party.

I stored up all the activities in my mind and after I had my second library job, I helped host two Harry Potter parties. One for the last book and one for the last movie.  I changed up some of the events from the bookstore and tweaked it to fit my audience and the space we had.

Butter Beer (no alcohol)

Origami Hedwig

Cockroach Clusters

Pumpkin Juice

Quidditch Field 

I loved reading the books, watching the movies, and attending fun events. It made the Harry Potter world seem huge. My husband and I talked about Harry Potter for hours, imagining what the last book would hold. He's read all the books too. We watched the movies together. We went to midnight showings. We went to the traveling exhibit to see the movie artifacts. We couldn't wait to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and I was super happy to see it (check out tomorrow's post for pictures)

So, THANK YOU J.K Rowling for giving me this magical world filled with great characters, magic, love, friendship, danger, and family. I'll always keep Harry Potter close to my heart. The magic will never die. I'm so happy to live through a novel, which will become a classic.for generations to come. 

What I love about Harry Potter personally: I loved reading the series. I was sad when it ended. I cried forever when Dumbledore died. I cried when Sirus, Fred, and Dobby died. I was so scared that something horrific would happen to Harry in the last book. Chris and I read the last book together - aloud during one weekend. I actually had the book spoiled for me by a person on the street the day after the book released. I was so annoyed and angry. It was from a person who never read the series, but just wanted to know the ending. I told her I didn't want to know and she spoiled it anyways. I've never gotten over that.

I love the characters and their quirks. I love that Hermoine's bookish. She's probably my favorite character. I love Hagrid because he's so sweet, yet strange. I love Dumbledore, even though he was aloof. He's so wise. I adore Professor McGonagall - she's smart, serious, and caring. I love the story about a boy who came from nothing, found his place in the world, and magic gave him everything.

What I love about Harry Potter professionally: As a Librarian, I love that Harry Potter made reading cool. I love that the books brought generations of readers together. I love that the fantasy book world (and the YA world) exploded because people were reading Harry Potter and then they wanted more books while waiting.