Series Week – Day Eight

At the sweet age of 11, the same time a giant of a man told a scrawny boy he was a wizard, I stepped into this magical world of spells and hippogriffs, butterbeer and Quidditch and the wise words of Albus Dumbledore. And just 6 months shy of my 17th birthday, I waved goodbye (on my knees, sobbing with tears) to Hogwarts and a world of people who had become just as much family to me as those by blood.

I thank my 6th grade teacher every day for putting me under J.K Rowling’s spell. The last ten years of my life would not have been the same otherwise. These books were there for me in times of elation and tragedy, comfort and anger. No matter the mood I was in, everything disappeared into a Vanishing Cabinet the moment I snuck back into the Gryffindor Common Room or endured an evil Potions lesson with Snape. The care and detail that went into the plot and characters is so obvious when you turn the final pages of Deathly Hallows. This entire series so beautifully, so honestly, captures humour, loss, bullying, friendship, death, the brutality of war and most importantly love.

Without Harry, I would never had met so many amazing fans online. Especially the lovely lady hosting me here today! One of my first ever chat forums was on the Bloomsbury website, where I gushed with unknown people about OMG WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN IN ORDER OF THE PHOENIX NOW THAT VOLDY IS BACK?! :O And then I discovered  Harry Potter Roleplaying and oh boy, I fell in love! And that’s where I met the lovely Faye, in 2004, through our shared obsessive love of this series and she’s remained my longest internet friend ever since <3 My years role playing were such a highlight of my Potter experience, both in-character and out-of-character. The late-night conversations on MSN, the crazy plot ideas and just surrounding myself with people from all over the world, of all ages, united by a common love – Harry Potter and writing. I may not have been able to go to the real Hogwarts, but I did in my own way. I took classes, I drank Butterbeer, I wandered the Forbidden Forest, dueled late at night and formed treasured friendships. RPing was my Hogwarts.

Harry Potter has been such a wild, exciting and emotionally deep journey for me. The release date jitters when I finally got to read the next book in the series. The knife to my heart when my favourite characters died. Defending my absurd plot theories (Dumbledore is ALIVE! He’s an animagus! That was his phoenix flying away from the flames of his coffin! The phoenix rising from the ashes!). No matter how many times I read and reread, I continue to discover something new. I still laugh at the funny bits and cry at the sad. And each time I take away an inspiring lesson. These books have integrated themselves into so much of my life, they are apart of me. And people (mainly those who’ve never discovered the magic) may think that’s corny or lame, because they’re just books, but they’re not. J.K Rowling didn’t create a story, but a new world that beats with life and love and inspiration. She encourages you to fight for what you believe in. Proves to us that love is the greatest power of all and you can recover from loss. She shows you don’t need to be the smartest, the fittest or the most charismatic to succeed, you just need to believe in yourself. And no matter where I am or how old I’ve grown, Hogwarts will always be there to welcome me home.

Thanks so much for having me here today, Faye! I LOVE YOU <3