User blog comment:JoePlay/Wizarding World Giveaway/@comment-4140815-20110712213947

Harry Potter is what made me who I am. The characters were the friends I could turn to when my others weren't around. They were me. Through each stage of my growing up, Harry and his friends were growing with me. Though my friends always joked how I was Hermione, I could identify with each character in turn, changing me, helping me grow and realize what it means to be a friend - so much more than just having similar likes, it was the challenges you faced to get there to truly be a friend. Each step of the way, I knew I grew a little more with Harry Potter. I understood the frustration of his fifth year, the lack of understanding as I toughed through the early years of high school. His seventh year marked Harry realizing who he was to become, so different than what he expected, yet understood it was always meant to be that way as I set off to college, reevaluating myself and trying to better understand what it meant to be your own person, and make your own decisions in order to become who you were meant to be. Then when times got hard - exams, bad days, or just reminiscent memories - I found myself going back, reading the first book again, feeling as I relived where Harry started and his journey began that I was refinding who I was, recognizing that sometimes you have to step back and just be the little 9 year old buried under covers with a flashlight to read a book. 40 times, as I've finally hit, remind you that there is a kid in you when you think work and exams are going to overwhelm you.

Harry has been my guide, but his release out of the 7 books helped me to move on. As his journey ended, mine began, giving me the guidance to proceed with it. Harry will always be there on the shelf, ready to pick up and share in an adventure, but because of him I am no longer the scared, shy kid I started with. I learned confidence, strength, and the meaning of friendship through those characters. Thank you JK :)