My mother started reading Harry Potter to me when I was in second grade. It lasted approximately 10 minutes before she put the book down and vowed to return it to the library the next day. Her reasoning? She couldn’t believe there was a talking cat. But I was quite the inquisitive young girl and decided to sneak up past my bedtime, find the book and continue reading. From that moment on I became one of the world’s biggest Potterheads and lover of all things harry potter.
I have read all the books (the last 3 the day they came out) multiple times, know just about every line to every movie (and tweet them incessantly as they are said), have been to Harry Potter World at Universal Studios, been to the traveling exposition when it was in NYC, seen both of Daniel Radcliffe’s Broadway plays, have a Pottermore Account, did the Harry Potter Puppet Pals “Mysterious Ticking noise” as my senior year soccer camp skit, sung “Harry Potter in 99 Seconds” for my high school’s talent show (but unfortunately was beat out for third place by a DJ), purchased multiple wands (my favorite is Ginny’s), and even got a harry potter tattoo. I mean, I really love Harry Potter.
Over the years I have gotten a lot of shit for this passion of mine. Many of my peers in high school made fun of me for dressing up in a cloak and glasses for the premieres of the movies and knowing every line to all the movies. I was often the only one that noticed the differences between the books and the movies and was made fun of for highlighting them. I remember one time senior year, after I had done the talent show, when a girl in the grade younger than me looked at me and said “Don’t you have anything better to do with your time?”. And you know what I told her? I said “Honestly I don’t”.
There is nothing better than Harry Potter. Harry Potter is more than a silly series about something that could never happen. It is an escape for everyone who needs one. I grew up with these stories. As Harry aged so did I, and as the stories began to get darker and darker my understanding of myself became richer and fuller. Harry wasn’t just a character in a book, as many other Potterheads will understand. He was a role model. He was a guide. He was the perfect example of everything a young adult should want to be. He gave up his life for his friends and more importantly the world and he always believed that those he loved and lost were with him in spirit. He went through bullying, abuse and torture and still was able to do good. He should be an inspiration to us all, really. The book wasn’t even a book. It was something more than that. It was a universe that we all wanted to exist. It was home.
The most shit I get for liking Harry Potter is when someone sees my tattoo. It is a Deathly Hallows tattoo and it rests on the center of my chest just between my breasts [I’ll include a pic at the end of this post]. It’s not a very large tattoo, but it represents the most important part of who I am. For those of you muggles that are not familiar with the story of the Deathly Hallows and the Three Brothers, a wizarding fairy tale, I will quickly fill you in (if you know it feel free to skip):
Basically there were three wizarding brothers who came to a very full and dangerous river that they knew they could not cross safely. So, being wizards, they took out their wands and crafted a bridge and basically cheated death because travelers would normally drown in the river. So once they made it across death appeared and pretended to praise the three brothers for tricking him and offered them each a gift of whatever they wanted, knowing their desires would probably put them in an early grave. The eldest brother asked for the most powerful wand and so death gave him the elder wand. The second brother asked for a way to have his late fiance returned to him from the grave so death gave him a Resurrection stone. The third brother, who was much more humble than the rest, simply asked for a way to be hidden from death until he was ready. Death reluctantly gave him his own cloak of invisibility. As their lives go on, the three gifts, or the Deathly Hallows, impact their lives very greatly. The first brother kills a powerful wizard he once had a quarrel with but by doing this gives away the power of his wand. He is killed in his sleep that night by someone who steals the wand. The second brother gets his fiance back but she does not belong in this world and so he kills himself. Death has the two brothers quickly but for a long time he cannot find the third. The third brother gets married, has a child and passes the cloak along to him when he is ready. He meets death as an old friend and the story is over.
The story of the Deathly Hallows has a moral message that many people miss when reading and especially while watching Harry Potter. If you want power and abilities beyond human comprehension, then you will be consumed by them. Like Lord Voldemort or even Dumbledore who’s sister died as a result for his quest for power. But, if you are humble and want peace, like Harry, you will be happy and live a fulfilling life. I got this tattoo for that reason as well as the fact that I want to be like Harry. I have always lived in a sacrificial way towards my friends. I would do anything for them, even die for them as Harry did.
Harry Potter isn’t just a story about wizards and dragons, it’s a story about life. And it’s a mold that I want my life to fit in. My tattoo is a reminder of this manner in which I want to live in case I ever get caught up in something that is not me or behave like a Slytherin. Harry Potter will forever be my inspiration and my home. As Albus Dumbledore says: “Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the light”
My tattoo 🙂
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