I'm Just Wild About Harry - Finale

I’ll bypass the thrills of the Midnight Parties, other than to say they were magical with all of the costumed kids and adults, the unbridled excitement, and the overall fellowship of Harry Potter fans and fanatics.  I counted myself smack dab in between and made no more pretense of waiting until morning to start reading, even to myself.  I inhaled them just as fully and completely as the others, becoming as emotionally involved as I’ve ever been with stories.

In Half-Blood Prince, I laughed when Ron found himself under the influence of Romilda Vane’s love potion.

I cried when Dumbledore died.

I cheered with Harry and Ginny’s first kiss.

And all through Deathly Hallows I road the roller coaster on the edge of the tracks.  Harry’s trek into the forest to meet Voldemort, knowing he was meant to die, stood out as one of the best chapters in the whole brilliant story of more than a million words.

Like Order of the Phoenix I swallowed them like an alcoholic on the first reading and sipped them like a connoisseur on the second.

For a couple of days after my second read of Deathly Hallows, in the first blush of having completed the series, I felt that by taking all seven of the Harry Potters as a single LONG novel, it would supplant David Copperfield as my favorite novel of all time.

I may even have mentioned that to a friend or two.

My annual reading of Copperfield brought things back into perspective.  Only by reason of my long history with Dickens’ “favourite child” does it, by the slimmest of margins, remain at the top of my list.

Standing right there with David, though, head and shoulders above everyone else is Harry, and dear Harry would have stood tall over David had I approached them at the same time or if I'd been in my twenties rather than my forties when I met Harry.

I still check out MuggleNet and Leaky from time to time, particularly now that I'm reading the entire series again for the first time since 2008.

A friend at work introduced me to Pottermore, an approved Harry Potter interactive website.  I love it.  It provides back-story for many of the people, places, and things in the Potterverse that J. K. Rowling herself wrote.  My favorite tale so far is Professor McGonagall's.

I've also read Melissa Anelli's wonderful book Harry, A History.  If you like Harry, read this book as well.

Harry has meant so much to me over the years.  He has given me refuge, pulled me out of the doldrums, enhanced my joy.  He has given me a world that I love visiting, and his creator J. K. Rowling did something special for all of us aspiring novelists.  She almost singlehandedly created a new generation of readers, and for that if nothing else she deserves all of the good things Harry has given her.

Other than holding significant places in my heart David and Harry have something else in common.

Both will be enjoyed a hundred years from now and beyond.