User blog comment:JoePlay/Wizarding World Giveaway/@comment-4152685-20110715224114

To me, Harry Potter may mean all the same or nothing close to what most would say. Yes, it was a HUGE basis to my childhood. I used to play games, pretend I was casting spells, and always wanted to be a Gryffindor like my rolemodels. I was one of those kids who always wanted a Harry Potter-themed birthday party, and cried when I didn't get my acceptance letter. Whenever I had a hard time with certain aspects in my life, I would just go and read the books, and absorb myself in them, forgetting everything else. I could list the endless things that show what Harry Potter mean to me just like everyone else, but the story itself wasn't the only thing that shaped my passion for it. Sure, I do the same things many others do: look up pictures, read quotes, read the books/watch the movies endlessly.. Those actions make me look like an average fan, but being a fan is only limited to so much; This is something much bigger than that. Harry Potter has taught me life lessons I might not have learned without it. The general themes of good and evil, along with the self-sacrifice one could make continuously grows on me. I'll always remember Dumbledore's wise words on the importance of love and how our choices truly define us. I recall watching the movies as the characters got older, and noticing their loss of their childhood innocence. For those who remember those moments such as boarding the train home at the end of the first year, with "Leaving Hogwarts" being played in the background, they know how I feel. The scene in the Order of the Phoenix when Harry sees his friends while being possessed by Voldemort never fails to give me goosebumps. There's so much emotion involved with it to me; It gets to me every time I watch or read. Harry Potter is my escape, my teacher, my love, my friend, my entertainment, my obsession, my hobby, my heart & soul, and so much more. If that doesn't say that Harry Potter is everything to me, it sure is just about as close as one could get.