User blog comment:JoePlay/Wizarding World Giveaway/@comment-4152923-20110715234515

I've never been a fan of the fantasy genre, and I openly ridiculed the throngs of wand-waving Harry Potter fans crowding bookstores and movie theaters at midnight. I had steadfastly refused to read the books or watch the films. But one afternoon in 2004, stuck in the car with a sleeping baby and toddler, desperate for something to do, I picked up my husband's copy of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." Within just a few short passages I was hooked. What does Harry Potter mean to me? It means more than words can possibly express. It is something special I can share with my oldest daughter, with whom I have little in common other than our love of the series. It is the simple thrill of camaraderie with fellow Harry Potter fans, young and old, rich and poor, of every race, color, and creed. It is the magical moments in which I waited breathlessly for midnight to come so I could hungrily devour the newest book or lose myself in the sights and sounds of the newest film. It is that bittersweet feeling I had in my heart as I opened "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows"...almost not wanting to read it at all, because I simply did not want it to end. But most of all, it is the beautiful lesson we learned: that pure love and true friendship are the most important kind of magic.