The Harry Potter Website
Hear me out about this one; I'm not talking about Pottermore, I'm talking about some ancient site I've never been able to find again. If anyone knows which one I'm referring to and it's still up, please send me a link I would love to see if I've outgrown my terror. Either way, in one of her attempts to convince me to read Harry Potter, my sister showed me this website. One feature of it was the Sorting Hat. I don't know what it did, if it sang or sorted you into a house or both, but I do remember it talked. When this animated hat opened it's mouth, I found myself gripped with UNRELENTING TERROR. I was absolutely horrified by this thing, and I can't for the life of me figure out why now. The Sorting Hat is kinda cuddly-looking to me now, but not younger me, oh no. Younger me was terrified for her life. My mother ended up having to ban my sister from the site (sorry about that Katherine) and pretend she had blocked it so I wouldn't fear the Sorting Hat for the rest of my young life (I was convinced that thing was coming for me). I learned just recently that she never really blocked it, but it was a necessary lie to spare poor little Victoria many a sleepless night in terror of the Sorting Hat.
 |
| GIF not mine, but a good representation of my reaction
|
...was actually The Half-Blood Prince. I know! I also hadn't read any of the books. Don't hate me! I was reluctant to read the books, but my sister invited me to watch the movie and I decided to give it a go. Even if major plot twists were ruined for me, I loved the movie, and as soon as I got home I stole my sister's copy of The Philosopher's Stone to read.
My First HP Book
... was indeed The Philosopher's Stone. I may be a Slytherin, but I'm not THAT evil. Despite the aforementioned spoilers, to say the series blew my mind would be an understatement. It was some of the richest world building, character development, and overall story I had ever experienced. I immediate understood what the obsession everyone seemed to have sprang from. I was addicted not long after. I burned through all the books in just a few months, and before long I'd read every bit of HP-canon material there was - Tales of Beedle the Bard, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Quidditch Through the Ages. If it was about Harry Potter, I'd read it. I watched all the movies until I could practically recite them (side note: Alan Rickman is and always will be the perfect Snape). My mother even had a friend from the UK send her a Dobby doll that couldn't be bought in Canada or the US for me as a Christmas gift. She knit me a scarf too - Gryffindor, because I still insisted I shared a house with the Trio in my early days of obsession. I still have the scarf - I use it on my nefarious Slytherin missions to spy on other houses. Okay so maybe I'd use it to steal desserts off the Gryffindor table instead (still waiting for that letter!) I also have a decal of the Dumbledore quote: "Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the light." on my bedroom wall.
My First Hogwarts House
Like I said, I self-identified as Gryffindor. Then I changed to Ravenclaw. I seem to remember being sorted into Hufflepuff on my old Pottermore account (mind you, I joined as soon as the beta was open and sadly cyberspace ate my account), but now it looks like I'm a Slytherin. I'll take it! My Patronus is a Python (stereotypical but the animation is SO COOL). As for wands, apparently mine would be 10 3/4 inches, larch wood, with Phoenix tail feather core and "surprisingly swishy" flexibility. In real life, I own an interactive wand from Universal Studios and Sirius Black's wand (which only works if you hold it a certain way, according to the friendly assistant at Ollivander's).
In The End
Harry Potter as a series taught me so much about not only writing, although JK. Rowling's style is iconic and inimitable, but about life, friendship, bravery, and (although it's cliche) what it means to really belong somewhere. Harry Potter defines a generation, really, and it certainly played a huge role in my life as a reader and a writer. The characters were some of the most incredibly unique, distinct, and complicated characters I'd encountered to that point and they still are. I can't even put into words how much this series has affected me both as a person and a writer, so I'll end here with two quotes, one quintessential to a discussion of Harry Potter, and the other one of the more relatable quotes that I as a writer have ever seen.
"Hogwarts will always be here to welcome you home." -JK. Rowling
"Of course this is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean it isn't real?" -Albus Dumbledore
