User blog comment:JoePlay/Wizarding World Giveaway/@comment-26057104-20110720091539

Wow...1:17 AM and I'm starting to write this. It's been so long that I've waited for something like this to show up. Really it's way more than a movie, or a book. Harry Potter is so intriguing to my family and I for sure. It's pretty much as amazing as amazing could be! I remember being in the car, on our way to/from the beach in California. My sister reading every day HP Sorcerers Stone. Me being unsure of why she read all the time because she always read. Finally one day I got the courage to ask her what it was she was reading. I got hooked right away, and never liking reading before. I remember saying "What are you reading? I like the gold letters and the feel of the cover." She says "It's Harry Potter, but you don't like reading anyway right?" I remember she read to me every chance I asked her to. We read all the books together, but I always wanted her to read out loud because she brought the characters to life. The trio became my friends, and anyone who messed with them made me want to fight back. The magic that these stories and books have made in my life and most people's lives who have read any or seen any of the movies, is profound. It's hard to explain what it means, because every time I have picked up one of those books after reading all of them so many times, it's been sentimental. Not only were these books and movies amazing to read and watch, but they gave me hope and strength. Strength to stand up for what is right. Strength to be whoever I wanted to be. Sure I eventually figured out I wouldn't be able to become a wizard. But it gave me a sense of imagination that took it's own place in my heart. I wanted to be Harry so much! Or just to be a student who got to witness all these fun things for the first time. To walk through the halls by myself and just witness the glory of the castle. To see all this magic happening around me would have been so interesting and for lack of a better word just plain cool. I envied Harry Potter for all he could do, but I also saw that he carried with him a big burden. It would have been tough to go through all he went through and survive. What really got to me was that he was so humble till the end. He faced so many trials. I related to him a lot. And like so many I really really hoped that I would someday, like some one else mentioned, get a letter in my mail box. Something like the American Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry or something. For some time, I would pretend to be a wizard. At one Halloween my sister and I dressed up in our parents robes and used our plastic cauldron with a fog machine in it and pretended for as long as we could that we were making potions and having fun, saying "We have to get ready for when we get to go to a place like Hogwarts." I even remember sophomore year looking for schools there was this place called Dartmore. My heart raced still haha, I thought it sounded like a wizardy name for a school so I was like "Ohh wait! Is this it?" The stories were like my family, because for me my family broke apart after some time. Not to get all gushy, but when I moved with my dad and it was just me and him, I would play in my room Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban every freaking night. :-) I loved growing up with Harry, Ron, Hermione, and all the characters! I saw most of the films at least twice on the silver screen. Prizoner of Azkaban I saw 9 times in the theater. Goblet of Fire, which was my favorite book, I saw many many times as well. I love all of the Harry Potter books, and wish that everyone who is a fan could go on this adventure. But for me? For me it's about love of a realm. It's about a love of a realm that kids like me grew up with. A place where school and life wasn't just numbers, words, or science, but fantasy stuff like rhunes, divination, and defense against the dark arts! So much cooler than anything we can muster up. Sure we have smart phones and technology to get us by and through the day, or a T.V. waiting for us at home. But what we have never had is imagination to push us past our boundaries of "I can't." Harry Potter gave us all an imagination. Harry Potter gave us what Star Wars gave to the seventies. I could go on for hours and hours but it's already pretty much been 1, so...Harry Potter is awesome, and I love the books. Props to JK Rowling and all who supported her for sure. She's the coolest chick in the world for creating the books and getting her vision out on paper for everyone to enjoy. I consider myself a huge fan and lucky to be living in this era to have witnessed it's magic! Annnnd...Whoever wins is really lucky for sure. Thank you for your time! -Matt ;-)