As some of you may be aware, tonight is Harry Potter Book Night! This is basically the most epic thing ever, and while I cannot attend an actual bookstore celebration, I can still enjoy the fact that there is a night dedicated to Harry Potter.
I thought I would celebrate tonight by posting about my experiences with Harry Potter, from the first time I tried to read it to the time I went to the midnight screen of the last movie dressed as Luna Lovegood.
It’s a bit long, and I apologize for that, but I didn’t have time to create multiple posts to schedule throughout the day.
The Beginning
I first read, or rather attempted to read, Harry Potter when I was nine. I vaguely remember liking it, but I had no idea what was actually going on (it was too advanced for me at the time). I saw the movies, and, of course, when Chamber of Secrets came out, I COMPLETELY freaked out.
I mean, seriously I was NINE! I was terrified of spiders, and snakes, and to have a movie featuring both (in giant form) completely put my off.
I wasn’t allowed to go see Prisoner of Azkaban or Goblet of Fire after that.
I did however enjoy that thing they did at Movie World that time. We got to see the train, go through Diagon Alley, blow up a window using Expelliarmus (we’ll forgive them for their inaccuracy), walk through Hagrid’s hut, and see the giant spider up close (my sister and I closed our eyes for that bit).
We also got to buy stuff, and so it was that I obtained my first wand. (Actually, it’s only one of two wands that I own, but the other one is coming later). I also got a toy snitch.
This was also around the time you could buy those chocolate frogs, with the cards that moved. We almost collected a full set, and I still have mine.
The Obsession
When I hit high school (year 7) I decided it was time I started actually reading these books. I was about 12 at the time.
And I LOVED THEM! This was almost a year before book 7 came out, so I could only read books 1 to 6, but they were the best. I read nothing else until long after book 7 had come out.
By the time book 7 did come out, I had read books 1-6 three times each. So, when I got my hands on Deathly Hallows (Mum got to read it first), I read it twice. I then read the whole series, 1-7, and then read book 7 again.
I had read the entire Harry Potter series four times in under a year. And I didn’t stop rereading the series until I got up to 8 readings. Since then I have expanded my reading greatly, and so I’ve only read the series 9 or 10 times all up.
During this time, I read all the Harry Potter I could find. Quidditch Through The Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them were the easiest to get my hands on, as we already owned them. And then The Tales of Beedle the Bard came out, and I bought that the second I saw it.
I also discovered a book called Harry: A History, which was essentially about the history of the Harry Potter fandom. It was through this book that I discovered MuggleNet, LeakyCauldron and, most importantly, Wizard Rock, which quickly became my favourite style of music.
Favourite bands I found were Harry and the Potters, Ministry of Magic, Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office and Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls. I still listen to them today.
The Movies
After reading all the books, I was now allowed to go see the movies at the cinema. I saw all the remaining movies the day they
came out, and both Deathly Hallows movies I saw at midnight.
It was awesome.
I collected all the posters I could, cutting up newspapers and magazines, and I still have to walls of my room dedicated to Harry Potter posters (pictured).
When I went to see Deathly Hallows, I dressed up both times. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a proper robe until after all the movies were all out. However, I did have homemade spectraspecs, a cork necklace and a blonde wig (I didn’t make the wig), and so managed to successfully dress up as Luna Lovegood and win two movie tickets at Deathly Hallows part 2. (I beat the girl dressed up as Platform 9 3/4).
The Merchandise
Of course, what would a Harry Potter fan be without a decent collection of Harry Potter Lego? A few years back we sorted through our massive box of general Lego, found all the Harry Potter bits and assembled the whole thing, practically from scratch. We didn’t want to tear it apart again, so it now lives in a display case.
Now, the Harry Potter exhibit was a few years ago
(I can’t remember how long), but that was the place I got most of the things pictured. The spectraspecs and the cork necklace (left) were homemade, but the scarf, tie and Luna Lovegood wand were from the exhibit, as was the Sirius Black poster (right).
The time-turner key ring I got for my 18th birthday, along with my proper Ravenclaw Robe (which I didn’t take a picture of, sorry). The Deathly Hallows watch-necklace came from last years secret santa thing that I did.
The Deathly Hallows bookmark (the purple thing) my sister made for me in sewing class at school. Because she is awesome.
The End
Basically, I’m running out of pictures (and patience), so I’m calling it a wrap here. If you are still reading this then well done. I have been typing for an hour, and wordpress has only
crashed once (*applauds wordpress*).
So, I hope you have enjoyed this post about my love for Harry Potter, and if you haven’t read the books, go read them. Now.
The Magical Adventures of Cassie the Weird 
I only reread Harry Potter for a long time as well haha! Love all of your merch! I have the same wand 🙂
Which one 😛
Rereading Harry Potter is the best, isn’t it? Every single time I read it, I picked up something new.
Thanks for visiting 🙂
Luna’s 🙂
I had no idea it was Harry Potter Book Night! I don’t know what I would have done had I known, but still! I think I was about the same age as you when I first read the first book and, like you, I can’t quite remember what I thought of it (I think it was too early for me too) but I do know I loved it. The Chamber of Secrets movie completely freaked me out too – that snake! And those spiders!
Movie world would have been amazing! I’m so jealous! And all the merch looks fantastic! I’ve got a journal and a robe but that’s about it, I think I’ve got a wand somewhere too but I don’t think it’s a ‘Harry Potter’ one (I went through a Wiccan/Witch phase). I dressed up to go see the Deathly Hallows too – like Hermione as my hair (at the time) was quite long and very very bushy (from the humidity (I was in Europe at the time)) and it was just amazing!
What a fantastic post – you’ve really taken me down memory lane!
Janna
Movie world was awesome. We have pics from when we were there, but it was a time before digital cameras were a thing, so it was too much effort to put them up.
Giant spiders and giant snakes: the two things 9 year old girls fear the most, and they were both in the one movie! I’m lucky it didn’t put me off HP for the rest of my life.
Thanks for stopping by (and reading the whole thing…) 🙂
I know the feeling – I visited Disney World (I think it was) and Lego Land before cameras were a thing so I’ve only got a couple (maybe 2?) photos. It’s a bit of a shame but the memories live on!
Exactly! The spiders especially! The snake I sort of came to terms with as we didn’t really have any in Hungary where I lived and none here in NZ. Same here! Though I hadn’t quite thought of it – I’m sure I would have eventually picked them up again, especially since they’re still so popular!
No problem, I really enjoyed it! 🙂
Janna
Ohh, you are an EPIC fan. It’s cool that you came back to the series even though it terrified you originally. I’m the kind of person who avoids childhood fears like the plague. (Let’s not talk about Jumunji….and also Jack and the Beanstalk. I saw a horribly freaky version of it when I was small and I still can’t sTAND the fairy tale). AHEM. Back to Harry Potter! I’ve only read 4 books but I’d like to think I’ll finish the series this year. LIKE to think…hehe.
Yes, let’s not talk about Jumunji *shudders*.
And you need to finish reading Harry Potter! You can do it!
Seriously, if you can finish The Mortal Instruments, you can finish Harry Potter 🙂
Lovely merch! I think you have more than my Harry Potter obsessed brother! I dressed up as Hermione to see Half Blood Prince, Deathly Hallows 1 and Deathly Hallows 2. 🙂 My awesome mum made me my robe.
AND I WENT TO THE HARRY POTTER EXHIBITION IN SYDNEY A FEW YEARS AGO TOO!!!! All these times we could’ve run into each other but never do! 😦
This!
I was 9 when I read the first one, which means NOT YET ELEVEN! How disappointed do you think I was when I didn’t get my Hogwarts letter? xD
I remember I was in a store with my mum, and I saw a Harry Potter pencil set, and I got totall excited, because I’d never seen stuff like that before, and I was like: “MUM, LOOK, IT’S HARRY POTTER!” And my mum said: “Yeah, I’ve heard something about movies being made.”
And then when the first movie came out, my mum took me to the cinema to watch it. It was very nice. (:
– Love, Felicia
( http://asillygirlsthoughts.weebly.com/ )