It’s the blog post that no one was waiting for, but that all of my friends are surprised I hadn’t already made: the wizarding world and me. The story of how I came to love the Harry Potter universe with all of my heart, and the escapist daydreams I have about my life as a wizard. Though this is a post I knew I would write someday, it came to fruition after a discussion with my good friend Sam over at The Book Dragon. Both of us are participating in this year’s O.W.Ls read-a-thon (which you can read about here) and it made me realise I didn’t actually know Sam’s personal Harry Potter story. So, instead of just asking her, I thought it would be more fun for us to nerd out on our book blogs about what is inarguably the world’s favourite book series!
The Beginning
When I was about 10/11 years old, my friend group at school were all beginning to read Harry Potter for the first time. They loved the series and so I heard about it non-stop, and, well, I’ve always been a bit of a FOMO sufferer! Luckily for me, my dad’s then girlfriend had just bought herself a kindle and so kindly gave me all seven of her physical copies of the series. Since I had always loved reading, I was burning my way through the books in absolutely no time and it’s safe to say I completely fell in love. Some of my most distinct memories from that period of time are staying up until gone 3am (very rare for me at age 11) to finish reading Order of the Phoenix, and thundering up the stairs to watch my pre-ordered copy of Deathly Hallows Part 2 the day it arrived, and sobbing myself silly.
11 year old me, Orlando, Florida, June 2012
I was even able to visit the Orlando Wizarding World theme park in June 2012, which to this day is one of the most magical memories of my life - even though I had gotten really ill with an ear-ache and spent a lot of the day in physical pain!
My love for Potter didn’t wane as I grew older - if anything, it just got stronger. In December 2013 I went to the London Studio Tours, which I am really hoping to do again before the end of the year, and I can’t even begin to count all of the Potter themed birthday parties, Halloween costumes, cosplays, marathons and various other events I have done in the years since the obsession began.
My 18th birthday cake, July 2018
When I started university, I was finally able to join something I had dreamed for for the last six years: A Harry Potter Society, or fan-club, you could call it. It is amazing to be surrounded by so many others who understand and share my love for the wizarding world. We have Potions nights, themed roleplay games, and a yearly Yule Ball which fulfils all my teenage dreams of being a Hogwarts student! This past month I have just officially become the President of the society - the nerdiest and proudest title I have ever undertaken. I am so excited to see where the next academic year takes us magical folk!
My friend and Vice President Grace and I at the Yule Ball, December 2019
I know a lot of people who struggle to pick a favourite Harry Potter character, but this has never been a problem for me. Another (widely known) fact about me is that I adore Neville Longbottom. He has been my dream partner since I was about eleven years old and honestly, I can’t imagine that ever changing. One day I will probably write an entire essay on why I love Gryffindor’s soft boy so much - it will be even longer than my essay on why I hate Dumbledore - so I’m not going to start that here. However, I will say one of my favourite book moments with Neville is Order of the Phoenix's St Mungo’s scene, when his mother gives him the sweet wrapper. That scene reduces me to tears each time and it is one of the world’s greatest tragedies that it never saw it’s way on-screen. If I could see more of anything in the series it would be the exploration of Neville, Luna and Ginny’s friendship dynamic!
So, that was my not-so brief history with Harry Potter as a fandom (more like lifestyle, right?). But what would my life be like if I could actually exist in the real wizarding world?
My Life as a Wizard
Living in England, I would be a student at Hogwarts. If my muggle academic pursuits are anything to go by, it’s safe to say that I would be a Ravenclaw, since I value education, creativity and learning. I have no doubt that I would spend almost all of my time either hanging out in the Ravenclaw common room, reading in the library or by the great lake. I’d like to think that I would be a tad sportier in the wizarding world and play Quidditch, too - I think that Beater would be my position of choice as I’m well known as the protective dad friend of all of my friendship groups.
Fan-art of myself and my friend Sinead, drawn by her, June 2017
As for my career post-Hogwarts… That’s more difficult. For the O.W.Ls read-a-thon, I am aiming to read books for all 12 ‘subjects’ so that I can qualify for any of the careers I want moving forwards. The ones that most appealed to me as a fan are as follows;
Mind Medic - From what I can gather, this would be some sort of magical psychologist, working in St Mungos with mentally ill witches and wizards! This is something that for a long time I wanted to do in the real world and I’m sure it’d make for a really fulfilling career either way.
Hogwarts Professor - Specifically, I would love to teach History of Magic. Given how much of a boffin I am when it comes to Harry Potter trivia and cannon, I think as a muggleborn in the wizarding world I would want to learn everything I could about the history of the magical world, and so I would be excellent as a Professor. Besides, being head of Ravenclaw house and working alongside Professor Longbottom seems quite the bonus to me…
I think of all the places I would love to live, Hogsmeade takes the cake. Shopping at Honeydukes, chatting with friends and a butterbeer in The Three Broomsticks, living in a cosy little cottage and not having to worry about the muggles? Perfect!
I could go on forever about how much I love Harry Potter and how much I would prefer to live in the wizarding world, but, this post is long enough as it is. Don’t forget to check out Sam’s Potter story over at The Book Dragon as I’m sure it’ll be far more fascinating than mine, and probably less rambly! Until next time!
So Cool! I think it's so fascinating how almost everyone seems to have a Harry Potter story. It has been such a huge part of so many of our lives and my love for it will never die! <3