User blog comment:JoePlay/Wizarding World Giveaway/@comment-4130265-20110714061353

What Harry Potter means to me

When I was young, my sister, mother and I would lie in bed every night and read Harry Potter together. That’s where it started. In that wide, warm bed with my mother in the middle and that book in her hands. We were all equally mesmerized by the first few books, my older sister and I still within the age to really believe in the possibility of magic -- Although, I’ve never truly lost that part of myself. I remember sleeping downstairs on the couch the night of my eleventh birthday waiting for Hagrid to knock down my door. I asked my mom if I had mail hoping with all my heart for a letter addressed to me in that green ink, with the purple wax Hogwarts seal on the back. We all saw the movies together and I was on another level in my mind for weeks after. My sister, and I along with our best friend mounted our own brooms and ran around the park throwing tennis balls to each other, our own version of Quidditch. And now in college even, I’m joining our university’s Quidditch team. I often ask myself how this book and movie series has carried over and become such a huge part of my life. And I’ve found the answer in one simple reason; it’s made me realize how to live my life. You can read books on the philosophy of Harry Potter (which I did only recently) but it takes more to really connect to it and find what it means to you. To me, personally, Hogwarts is the most powerful symbol portrayed in the series. A grand castle, one of the safest places in the world, where inside the grounds have been turmoil and havoc, but morality has always been strong. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin of course have strong symbols associated with each; bravery, loyalty, wisdom and cunning. But I’ve found that there’s more behind each house than was sung by the sorting hat. As Harry realized, being in your house is about what you choose, not what others put upon you. To be a true Gryffindor it didn’t only matter what the sorting hat told him, it was his choice to fight Voldemort when he had to, and face him when it needed to be done that truly showed his bravery rather than the hold that Voldemort had on him and the connection they shared that almost put him in Slytherin. Harry chose his own fate through the choices he made; I believe we can all do the same. Even Dumbledore thought back upon Severus Snape’s sorting and wondered if maybe he shouldn’t have been in Slytherin after all. Snape is a strong character and there’s much to be learned from his story, however, Dumbledore is by far the character I admire most. His whimsical manner even in hard times is inspiring, not to mention his vast wisdom on so many subjects. But every character is relatable in a different way, so they all hold their own place in my heart. The people and the places described by JK Rowling are things that I yearn for in my own life. So, besides the morality of the books being weaved into the very fiber of my adult mind, there’s some longing I have for this life that I cannot let go of. I have a need to experience the magic in a place more solid than my own dreams... and I don’t think I’ll ever fully release that hope from the deepest corners of my heart.