The end of something magic Harry Potter and the devoted fan

For a while, I’ve known how easily I can slip into a dense world of fantasy. Whether it’s in a film or on TV, I easily become obsessed with a fictional universe. But this is something I didn’t know in late 1998 when I first picked up Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

I had no idea the dedication and obsession that was about to begin behind the soft cover of that book.

I was in fourth grade, Sr. Richards class, when I got the book. I was waiting for the bus when an order from one of those book companies came in. You remember those order forms with the books and cheap computer games? One of those.

I vividly remember sitting at my desk and having it in my hand. Most of you read that sentence and think I’m weird and nerdy, both true but not the point I’m trying to make. What I’m trying to convey is how different my life would have been if not for Harry Potter.

Hopefully some of you agree with me and understand what an amazing journey the past 12 years have been. Some of you are still thinking how big of a nerd I am.

I’ve heard it all. ‘He’s not a real person, Jamie,’ ‘You can’t really go to Hogwarts, Jamie,’ ‘Jamie, stop reading during the funeral!’ I understand he’s not real, no one that cool is real. I know I can’t go to Hogwarts, if I could I would have transferred years ago and as far as that whole funeral incident, it was a long time ago and I was young.

It’s something I can’t explain, my connection to Harry. I felt like we were comrades, cohorts. I wanted to be there with him, fighting the basilisk and hunting He-who-cannot-be-named. I wanted to help him deal with Snape and get Hermione (seriously Harry, she picked Ron over you).

It worked both ways. When I was dealing with bullying and hormones, not only was this world of magic there to take me away, but much of the time Harry was going through the same thing.

Any given moment in my life I can tie into a moment in the Harry Potter Universe. I remember my mom reading Chamber of Secrets to me at night. I could read it myself fine but I didn’t tell her that. I remember fighting with her when I would bring Goblet of Fire to school when she wanted to read it at home. Before there were midnight movie screenings, I would leave school early to see the films. According to my mom, I had a doctor appointment with ‘Dr. Potter’ which I guess didn’t raise any eyebrows.

I think about all the questions I’ve been asked through the years about why I’m so into it. There is no one reason really. First off, it’s pure escapism. Everyone has dreamed of being whisked away to some world better than their own.

Well, it actually happened to Harry and we have the full account. Also, they’re well written books. J.K. Rowling is a great writer. She can contain all of this information and all of these minor characters, creating a world so convincing and deep that you can’t help but believe.

I can confidently say that my life would be different without Harry Potter as part of it. Cue the eye roll. I get it, I’m a nerd, we already went over all of this. Well get ready to roll your eyes again, because I feel like Harry Potter has made me a better person. He instilled in me a kind of courage. The ability to recognize the rules and when to break them. The strength to know when I can’t do something and need to ask for help.

On a less serious note, the world of Harry Potter has brought Emma Watson into my life (a good thing) and probably cost me many letter grades. Writing this article itself is proving difficult because sitting right next to me is the final book in the series, The Deathly Hallows.  I decided that while I write this on deadline I should also start that. Not smart. Although I never said Harry made me any smarter.