I grew up with Harry Potter. I'm proud to be part of that generation and that fandom. 7 and 3 have always been my favorite books. So when I needed some brain candy to fill the hours between thesising when I can't stand to be looking at my computer screen any more, I rely on Potter for some light comedy (actually I rely on Potter for some angst drama and Fred and George Weasley for some light comedy).
This week was no different. I blazed through 7 for what has got to be the 6th or 23rd time, worrying less about plot and more about dialog and details that you forget when you haven't read the book in two years.
If you've had some reservation about reading the Harry Potter series, or you don't read it any more because you're a "grown up" and you don't think you should be reading that kind of lit, I have one piece of advise: get over yourself, and enjoy the written word.
A side story: Somewhere in the Xenophelious Lovegood chapter I was reading the mere two paragraph description of Luna's room and a memory came back to me from reading 7 the first time. My dad and I read every. single. Harry Potter book aloud. 1-3 he read to me. 4 we read together in the last year when I deemed it acceptable to be sitting on a parent's lap. 5 we took turns reading aloud while the other painted my bed room a hideous red color that I should never have chosen. 6 we read independently as much as we could but we read it at the same time and only had one copy so most nights ended with my dad reading a few chapters aloud before bed. And 7 we read aloud while driving through France. I read aloud during the day as he drove and at night he read aloud while I studied maps choosing our route and marking the sites we wanted to see.
In the Xenophelious Lovegood chapter, when Harry describes the portraits that Luna painted on the ceiling and the one word written in gold entwining them, "friends". And reading that moment aloud my dad was very touched. He explained to me how real that was. How he wanted me to be the kind of person who made people like Luna happy by genuinely becoming their friends. How everyone needs friends, more than we let on. He became so emotional over the whole thing that there were tears. I have only seen my dad cry because of emotions four times in my life. Once when he left the house because my parents were separating. Both times we had to put our dogs down. And once over Luna Lovegood's ceiling.
The Harry Potter series is not the best written, advanced, or exciting collection. But when you allow yourself to be open to it, your life gets stuck between the pages. Rereading these books on a nearly annual basis I am always reminded that it's not the characters or the plot lines that keep me turning the pages, it's the cheetos dust finger print at the top of a page in book 3, the first mention of Hermione in book 4 which I tried to read aloud to my parents and they couldn't understand who Her-me-own was, and the memory of overwhelming emotion and connection to characters that ultimately gave the people in my own life depth. These books are great because they hold memories. At least, that's why I read mine over and over.
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