“I’m not watching that stupid little kid movie.”
“Well, we are going to see the sequal as a family, so you can either watch this with us, or be totally confused tomorrow when we’re at the theater,” her mom said.
“Fine, I’ll watch it.”
Her sister was obsessed with the books, and even got them in hardback the minute they hit the shelves. It was slightly annoying. When was the last time their parents stayed out until midnight for something she was interested in?
Stubbornly confident she’d hate it, the girl watched the first movie, and the next day she went to the theater with her family. Maybe there was a little appeal. Then the third movie came out. By the time she graduated college, her curiosity got the best of her. She was gifted the entire series, well, books one through six because the last had yet to be written, for Christmas. Most of her colleagues went out to lunch, but she’d rather spend her money on other things, so a typical lunch hour for her included food from home and reading through the novels rapidly. (Yes, she had in fact turned into that awkward girl from a movie who had a homemade sandwich and a book, eating alone in the lunchroom.) A couple of books in confirmed it. Why on Earth had she been so adamant about not reading these? They were incredible!
She raced through all six in a matter of about two months. Each book left her with more questions, although The Order of the Phoenix was probably her favorite, and also the longest to date. The fourth movie. The fifth movie. Her post-college boyfriend loved all the books and all the movies. So as they were released, date night ensued.
Across the country another lifetime later (read: several years,) her new boyfriend had never seen or heard Harry Potter anything, and with a strong sense of homesickness, her mother bought her the eight disk set. Watching in the dim lamped light of the chilly basement, she drug her new man along on the wonderful wizarding journey of Harry. After the first two he was curious. Once they hit The Goblet of Fire, he also decided they weren’t so bad after all.
Now there’s someone else. Another soul who rarely read or watched movies, let alone anything Harry Potter related. This man though was so in love, he didn’t require any convincing to watch the movies. In fact, rumor has it, the audio books are still on repeat for those long car rides….
Now there have been trips to Harry Potter World and perhaps there are more interactive wands in the house than any adult would readily admit. There’s just something mystical and adventurous about the thought of a whole other world existing right under our noses, just waiting to be discovered.
The White Hat Journal 