Three Years Ago Today
Click to viewThree years ago, I read Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows for the first time. I went to a midnight release party at Scholastic headquarters in New York City, bawled my eyes out, and was shaking as I opened the first few pages. My book still has water stains on it-- not kidding. I wasn't crying because I was afraid it would end badly or that Harry would die or that everyone would forget about it. I was crying because it was like being handed a piece of myself. A key to something I'd anticipated for years. As I walked out of the store, I screamed, "Dumbledore's Army!" and people in the street cheered. We were united.
The idea of the Harry Potter fandom ending is laughable. I really don't understand how people get so worked up over it constantly, year after year, milestone after milestone. Three years ago, the last book came out, and everyone thought it would be The End. And it was-- but not really. Two days ago, I came back from Infinitus, one of the best and most pure Harry Potter conventions I've ever experienced. It wasn't my first, and it won't be my last. The same goes for Harry; nothing that happens can ever stop the fandom, because we are the fandom. Deep inside of us, that feeling of connection and elation that existed at 12:01am at every release party is never broken and can never fade. We are the eighth book.
If you're afraid of change and miss midnight releases and theorizing, fine. I understand that. But I'd rather have this complete masterpiece to analyze and admire than try to convince someone for the millionth time that Harry and Hermione are not going to end up together at the end or that Dumbledore's really dead. It's ours now, so the only way that it's ever really going to end is when humanity ends. People will be reading these books for hundreds and thousands of years. Harry Potter will only truly have left the world when none here are loyal to him. And I don't need new books or new movies or to reread them every day or to even think about them every day to know that they are integral to my soul. I would not be who I am without them, and everything I do is affected by them. I love Harry Potter, and I consider myself so lucky to have been a part of his journey while it was still happening. And I can't wait to see how it continues. The past three years have been the best of my life; the person I was then could never have imagined what she'd do and how she'd change. And it's only the beginning. But no matter what, Harry is with me, and all is well.
Thank you, Jo Rowling. You've given me a life, a family, and a book series that taught me how to change the world. The weapon we have is love.