User blog comment:JoePlay/Wizarding World Giveaway/@comment-4027752-20110709082904

To me, Harry Potter and his world are a place for me to escape to and a place where I can find comfort. His world lets me delve into a place where my "Muggle" problems no longer exist. Where all my problems could be whisked away with the wave of a stick with a phoenix feather in it. The first book was released when I was rather young and when my parents started going through a very rough divorce. I read the book nonstop to try and forget the horrible things that were happening around me. My house was gone, my mom was gone, and I felt alone and abandoned. I could relate to how Harry felt living in that cupboard under the stairs as my dad, brother, and I were crammed into living in the back on our Pontiac Bonneville for six months because the judge gave my mom the house. I wished with all my might that some big, goofy half-giant would come and tell me that I was a wizard so that I could escape from all of my troubles and enter a new world with much to learn and plenty to enjoy while being far, far away from everything else. Two years later and my situation was improving slightly. I was living with my dad in my grandmother's house back in Philly and then The Chamber of Secrets was released. Again, I could relate to almost all of Harry's feelings. Both of our lives were improving ever so slightly, but it looked like everything was going to be alright. I grew up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and I've been with them ever since I was I could have been. I've learned from the series, and I have grown to enjoy it for all its aspects. It's not just a story about a magical world, but it is about a boy growing into a man, creating friendships, loss, joy, pain, excitement, and suffering. I also remember my uncle dying in '02 little less than a year before I read of Harry enduring the loss of his pseudo-father Sirius in Order of the Phoenix. I could relate with his situation while reflecting upon mine. Although my parents are still alive, I share Harry's burning desire for a real family life, for parents who care and are there, and for that enjoyment of a peaceful life where there isn't a care in the world. I have since found my own Mrs. Weasley in my best friend's mother who cares for me like I'm her own son, but Harry and I both know that it is not quite the same. The ending of this series has brought both enjoyment and sadness. It's the ending of an era in my life now that Harry and I are now finally grown men. At the same time we have grown to understand life, relationships, and what it is to be a man. I'm sure that the last movie will be an emotional time for me as well as an exciting journey (thanks to the absolutely phenomenal work of David Yates and the cast). I hope that someday I can spread the wonders of the Wizarding world to my own children in hopes that they can find the same happiness and pure pleasure that I found while I read them. Therefore, Harry Potter means so much to me; it is more than just one word or phrase, but an almost lifelong expedition through the mysteries of life with just a touch of magic.