Day 74

Dear Mr. Potter:

Thank you for providing me an escape into a magical world with just the turn of a page. For the past 13 years, I have found comfort in knowing that if the events in my Muggle world did not have the outcome I had hoped for, I could vacate my life through the life of The Boy Who Lived.

In my early elementary school days, my reading skills were not the greatest, for I did not have an interest in such a thing. I did not want to read Dr. Seuss or those books about girls starting a club for babysitting. During that time, I preferred playing soccer and ice hockey, those were my hobbies. For my 10th birthday in November of 1998, I unwrapped my presents and found two books next to my birthday cake. One with a skinny, goofy-looking boy with dorky glasses and something on his forehead. I do not recall what the other book was. My parents told me that the book was about a boy wizard and they thought I would like it. My 10-year old self started reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and loved every minute of it.

During that same holiday season, my brother (he was seven at the time) kept taking my book because he wanted to read it too. I remember hiding it in various places in my room, I was selfish, I wanted the book to be available whenever I wanted to read it. Not my brother. Of course, like most siblings, we fought over the book, until our parents made me share. My brother returned it within two days of borrowing the book. He was finished. I had no idea that my brother could read and comprehend that fast, so we made a deal, that when the Harry Potter books were released, he would get them first because he read them a lot faster than I did. 

Shortly after the third book was published in 1999, the troubles my family was facing got worse. What we went through was tough on my brother and I, but we had the Wizarding World to escape to. As cheesy or cliche as it may sound, I believe that really helped us and helped us bond as siblings. When things went wrong, we always re-read a Harry Potter book, quizzed each other to see who knew more facts (to this day, my brother still wins those quizzes), and would argue who would be in what house. Though our world might have seemed as if it were unstable and falling apart, Harry, Ron and Hermione's seemed to have a handle on their crazy lives, and we wanted to do the same. There are so many life lessons and other things we learned from those books and we will be forever thankful. 

I am also taking some of those lessons and trying to help others in my community through an organization called The Harry Potter Alliance. A real-life Dumbledore's Army where the weapon we have is love. It is a fantastic organization and I am always trying to find time in my crazy schedule to be apart of something great. Please "Like" my chapter on Facebook =) Thank you! Be sure to look for a chapter in your area if you are interested, or start your own!

Having been a fan for the past 13 years, I have had my fair share of people make fun of me for liking Harry Potter so much. I always shrug my shoulders because they do not know the real reason why I love the series so much. But if you are reading this, now you know.

So today's photograph is (some) of my collection of the Harry Potter related books I have as well as my newest addition, Dear Mr. Potter. I received it in the mail today and think it is only fitting because the last movie is released tonight at midnight.

I know this is the longest update I have posted in a while, but I currently found the time to sit and type, instead of scrambling to post a photograph before midnight.

I cannot wait to see the last movie. While it will be the end of the Harry Potter movie franchise, it will live on forever.

Mischief Managed,

Kimmik