February, 18th, 2011. Friday

(As you well know, I am transferring all the posts on my other blog onto this one as I never use it any more but I don't wish to lost all the writing and work I put into it.)

20 Day Letters to Hogwarts challenge: Day 1, Harry Potter

 Dearest Harry,

The first time I’d ever heard of you was in a van driving down the mountain after a hike with my LDS girls aged eight to eleven group. I think it was called Activity Day back then, but I don’t know what it’s called now, they’ve changed the title so many times.

            The day was sunny, and I remember lush greenness flashing past the van on both sides of the road.

            My friend, Raphelita, was the one who told me about you during that trip. I don’t remember her mentioning much of magic, I just remember your name, and the image in my head it gave me, that of a very hairy man at a potter’s wheel.

            Now that image has been replaced with that of a boy with green eyes, a lightning-shaped scar, and shiny, messy black hair.

            I remember telling my mom of what I’d learned of you, and that I so badly wanted to read your books.

            She did not immediately allow me to read your books, one of the two times she’s ever told me not to read something.

            She read your first book herself, and she did not like how you didn’t trust in adults. I guess she feared it would be a bad example.

            Years passed, more of your books were published, and still I had not experienced the magic that is the world of Harry Potter.

            My mother somehow strayed into a conversation about you with my great aunt. She said that your books got better further into the series. She convinced my mother to give you another chance.

            I was finally allowed to read your books, and the rest is history;

            I once had a crush on you, but it fully faded away after the last time I read your entire series in a row, you are just a very dear friend to me now.

            I am obsessed with the deathly hallows symbol.

            Luna Lovegood is one of my heroes.

            I finally own the entire Harry Potter series of books, as well as The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and Quidditch Throughout the Ages.

            I also once tried to make a wand, but I’m afraid the result was less than satisfactory. I am no Ollivander, for sure.

            These are just a few of the things that attest to my fandom, –though I do admit that I am not one of the most obsessed of fans- with one of the most recent being that today I thrust my arm commandingly into the air and shouted “Accio br- Firebolt!” just as my sister appeared in the hallway to my room.

            I have since concluded that Torthadiel is a firebolt (or maybe she’s a broom?), and that I, after all, do have magic powers!

            Anyway, I want to thank you for your friendship, and for being such a unique and beautifully flawed character. You are one of the few that I truly loved, and yet really disliked.

            Your loving friend,

            Amoniel