HP Memories (Fairly Long)

[Katie]

No: HPFGUIDX 170717

I cannot believe that DH is so close now! And OotP being released 
just 10 days before! I mean, I know we all know it, but I am just so 
freakin' excited, I can't believe it. For the UK members - is OotP 
being released on July 11th in the UK, too? Just wondering. 

I decided to reread all the books this week, and I have started 
reading SS/PS again, which I haven't read for quite a long time. I 
forgot the thrill that the first book has, as the reader discovers 
all the things that Harry discovers, and we meet many of the central 
characters for the first time. I remember reading SS/PS when my now 
husband and I were on vacation with friends, and I never even heard 
of Harry Potter. I just picked up the book in a discount bookstore at 
the beach, as light reading for the holiday. I stayed up all night 
that first night, and finished the book before dawn. 

It was really a magical moment for me, reigniting my childhood love 
of fantasy, which I hadn't lost entirely, but had allowed to become 
dormant. Reading HP inspired me to pick up all the books from my 
childhood, like the Narnia series, and the Redwall books, and rewatch 
movies like Legend and the Neverending Story...and it really changed 
my life. I found my "inner fairy", as I call her. I had read little 
but Britsh history books for years, and I had lost even my love for 
the romance of history. HP made me also remember how much I love 
myth - and I began reading Norse and Celtic myths and legends. I 
reread Arthurian romance - Mallory and all that. HP really changed my 
life for the better, and I cannot help but feel a real loss here "at 
the end of all things,", to quote Frodo Baggins. I feel so excited to 
find out how it will all be resolved, but so sad that it is ending.

I commented to my mother a while back that I feel awfully lucky to 
have been part of this - to have been around while the books were 
being released - while no one except JKR knew how it would turn out. 
My kids will read HP, and they will love it, but it will be a classic 
by then - like Narnia or LOTR was for me. I am so grateful that I got 
to live the excitement of watching the story develop, without knowing 
how it will all end. It's very special. 

Anyway, that's all. I just had to share my excitement with my fellow 
HP lovers. Harry on, all! Katie