User blog comment:JoePlay/Wizarding World Giveaway/@comment-4140955-20110712222741

I loved the books and the movies, but after December 2005 that love turned into a life-saving phenomenon. I was almost killed in a car wreck, and the trauma of that was enough to make me question almost everything in my life. Who was I? Why did I live? Is there a bigger purpose for me? Mentally, that is a lot to take in especially overnight after something horrendous. Not only was I trying to heal physically, but mentally as well. That is where Harry Potter comes in to play. I turned to the books to escape my ever clouded mind, to break away from the thoughts and the depression that was hanging onto my very soul. I quickly learned that I could tune the real world out and escape into the books for hours on end, and I was fine with that. At that point, I could have turned to drugs and alcohol to numb the pain, but I chose Harry Potter instead. Unbeknownst to me while I was escaping into this magical and fictional world I was learning things about myself at the same time. I had a pattern, read the book, watch the movie a few times (if the movie was out that is) and I slowly came to the realization that I saw myself in Harry, especially watching Daniel portray him. I saw the inner fight, the self struggle, and watched as Harry overcame them. Yes, he was still hurting inside, but he didn’t let that stop him, he trudged on, doing what he needed to do for the love of his family and friends. The Prisoner of Azkaban movie was the one that I truly saw myself in Harry. Seemingly overnight it seemed that my life was turned upside down, just like Harry’s was when he learned that not only was Sirius Black out to get him but that he has supposedly betrayed Harry’s parents as well. That is what I felt like, I felt like I had betrayed myself by letting this happen to me. In the end, Harry decided to listen to reason and figure out that Sirius was not the monster that everyone believed. Watching the conflicting emotions on his face as Harry was struggling internally with what to do really spoke to me. Reading it and imagining it is one thing, but seeing it being brought to life is something else. Harry made me realize that while the emotions were hard, I could overcome them and that I needed to overcome them to see the truth and light in my situation. One thing that I have learned over the years is that while Harry Potter and his situations may be fictional, the emotions behind them are entirely real. Harry may be a wizard but he is still human, and he is a fictional character truly brought to life more so than I ever thought possible. People relate to Harry in the books, but they relate even more by seeing him as the human Dan portrays him as, because without that, I may not be here right now to even write this letter.