Graphic & Web Design | Desirai Labrada

Jeff and I were two of about twenty-five people to get to Barnes and Noble at 8:00am this morning to receive a bracelet. The bracelet is blue with an owl, tomorrow’s date and marked with the section we’ll need to line up in. We’re in section A, first in the alphabet and first in line to purchase the last Harry Potter book tonight at midnight.

This will be the first Harry Potter midnight madness party for me. It’s slightly amusing really. I can clearly remember how stupid I thought these midnight parties were just 3 years prior, until… until I read the first Harry Potter book. It was shortly after the fifth book had come out. Harry Potter was all over the news, the paper and definitely the Internet. I had grown so sick of hearing about it. I couldn’t understand the obsession of so many adults over a children’s book. At the time I was pretty active in a book club and it was a friend and group member that nominated the first Harry Potter as our next read. I was completely surprised. She’s three years older than me. She couldn’t possibly serious but she was insistent. She said she really wanted to reread all four books before she moved onto the fifth and swore I would like it.

I think part of me was willing to read it just to criticize it when I was done. At the time I couldn’t believe other members in the club had agreed to read it, but it was decided. We’d be reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

I finished book one in a day and all five by the end of the week. I found myself buying companion books like Quidditch Through The Ages, and the Ultimate Unofficial Guide to the Mysteries of Harry Potter. I got caught up and sucked in to the Harry Potter madness and I was loving every minute of it.

Am I now a Harry Potter fan? Absolutely. Would I call myself an HP fanatic? Absolutely NOT. The difference seemed almost crystal clear as I silently stood in line this morning waiting for a bracelet.

I know. I know. I was enough of a dork to be standing in line at all, but I wasn’t disappointed or angry like the majority of the people at the front of the line. I wasn’t disappointed at the fact that a copy of the seventh book had been posted to the internet (I’m actually guilty of searching for it. However by the time I had decided I was ok with my decision, I couldn’t find a copy). I think mainly because I understand that there will always be someone out there that wants to ruin something for someone else. I wasn’t angry about the fact that Barnes and Noble did not broadcast the information about bracelets. I knew if they had, chances were I would not have gotten one. It seemed like one complaint after the other. But what were they really so angry about? They were at the front of the line. They were getting bracelets anyway.

When they weren’t complaining they were frighteningly giddy. Peering through the windows, trying to figure out what could possibly be in the Harry Potter labeled boxes stacked on the table (turned out they were t-shirts). I felt so out of place. At one point Jeff turned to me and said “I feel like I don’t deserve my place in line. I’m not giddy enough.” I laughed but mostly cause I understand exactly how he felt.

I think maybe that’s why there are so many HP haters out there. Perhaps we’re all a little afraid of the fanatics. Maybe it’s just really easy to judge something you have no idea about. Maybe we’re all just afraid that if we try it, we’ll like it, at which point we are just doomed to be hated by the haters.

Whether you have the potential to be a fan or fanatic I think the point here is that you shouldn’t let nonconformity be the deciding factor. It was just yesterday I was having a conversation with Crystal about it. She was going on about Oprah and how great the show is. “When did you become all about Oprah?” I asked. “For months now. I love it. It’s great.” she replied. “Yeah but it’s so cliché. ‘Today on Oprah…'” I responded. “Yeah I know. But I started thinking about how many things I avoid cause I think they’re cliché, and then I was like; there must be some reason why everyone likes it.”

It’s pretty clear to me at this point that the reason so many children, young adults, and adults like Harry Potter is cause the story and the characters are great. No matter what age a good story is a good story and the potential for appreciation is there, but only if you allow it to be.