Harry Potter Anniversay Week – Day 4

HARRY POTTER-RELATED STORY

Sometimes, when I think back at the early Potter days, I get all nostalgic. Not because I don’t remember a time before knowing about the magical universe, but because the time was characterized by excitement, impatience and wishing there was someone my own age to share it with who was as passionate about it as I was. I do think that had there been such an individual my inner fangirl would have blossomed even more. I don’t regret it being a thing shared between me and my mom, after all it’s her doing that I started reading it in the first place, and I treasure the gift she gave me. I’m not sure she knew how significant a role it would play in my life; I’m not sure I did either.

The Harry Potter books started getting translated in the late 90s, and my mom picked up the first book for us to read in late 2000, so it meant that Philosopher’s Stone, Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban were already out. I remember having to wait a little bit for Goblet of Fire to get published and translated but as I recall I didn’t have to wait long (although it certainly felt that way!) It was then the waiting game began but even though every day of wondering what happened next was terrible I now see it as a very magical time, and something that young people today will never have. No matter how much you as a young person think you love the books and how impatiently you wait for a couple of days, maybe, to find out what happens next it will never be as magical as finally having that new book in your hands that you’ve had to wait for for 1-2 years! 

What I loved, and still love, about it was that I got to grow up with Harry, Ron and Hermione. I was nearly 11 when I read Philosopher’s Stone, and from the time I had to wait for new books to be released their age pretty much aligned with mine (especially the last one which got released in 2007, the year I turned 17 just like the Golden trio and their classmates). The same was true at least with the first two movies, which I watched when I was 11 and 12. 

What youngster nowadays don’t realise is how privileged they are when it comes to merchandise. Not that we didn’t have any merchandise back in the day, but it wasn’t nearly as good and the products were scares. I remember getting a PJ with a golden snitch on it, and a puzzle of the boat ride across the Great Lake towards Hogwarts from Philosopher’s Stone. This was all before the movie had come out and yet the illustrators were spot on. I cannot stress how much 10-year-old me would have loved the merch that exists today. It’s so awesome! And I so would have begged my mom to visit the Warner Bros. Studio Tour in London.

A quick anecdote I want to share with you before I end today’s post is the day where my class got a passage from Philosopher’s Stone handed to us by our Danish teacher to analyse and discuss. It must have been in 8th grade and I was 14 or 15 years old. Needless to say that I was surprised – I was already more than familiar with the first book – and it seemed like I was the only one who knew where it was from. If someone besides me knew they certainly hid it very well. Unfortunately my fellow classmates weren’t so excited by the story and as I recall they pretty much tore it to shreds. It was almost physically painful to hear my beloved story being talked about like that, and although I don’t remember what was said, I do remember promising myself never to reveal that I was a fan. I was being bullied and I did not need to add wood to the fire. That’s when I realised how big of an impact the story, and the characters in it, had on me. Thank God I found some kindred spirits with whom I share this magical universe.

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Tomorrow, the theme would probably make Gilderoy Lockhart piss his pants with joy. Hope to see you there. Cheers!

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Feel free to share your own magical anecdotes in the comment section down below, and try to guess what tomorrow’s post will be about.