The Boy Who Lived

Here it is, finally. My blog about Harry Potter. Not just the last movie, but all things Harry Potter.
Months and months ago I wrote a blog about Movies vs. Books. I said that I had little to no interest in reading the HP series.
But it didn't last long. I had many reasons to read it. Obvious being that it was a huge international phenomenon, another being that I was bored. So I read them.
Lemme start this blog off, in the year 2002. I think that's right. It was when I watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I was at the home of long time family friends, and there daughter was HP crazy, like really crazy. She convinced me to watch the movie, and was like, "Ok."
I am a Christian, and the daughter of a Minister. We weren't the zealous Christians that brandished it as devil worship or witchcraft but my father was not a fan of it. And I listened to my father, and being the rebellious anti social person I was, made a big deal of not liking Harry Potter. Since my father never fore bade us to watch the movies or read the books, I knew there was no harm in watching a movie. Again, it was boredom mostly.
She put the movie in expecting me to be hooked instantly. I did enjoy it, but took it all in stride. Near the end, like literally the last 20 or so minutes, dinner was starting to be prepared. And since the kitchen was open to the living room, and people decided to not tell us to turn off the movie, I didn't hear anything as prep for dinner became very loud. So I had no idea what the big deal was with the Prof. Quirrel and the face on the back of his head, or why he had suddenly turned to dust when Harry touched him. I was lost. But I didn't care. The movie ended and I was underwhelmed. Life went on.
A few years later, a close friend talked me into watching The Chamber of Secrets. Now, lemme tell you I felt guilty for watching the first movie without my fathers consent. Yes, I was that kid. So I asked him, since he was kind of against it. He looked at me and said, "You won't start practicing witch craft in your room will you?"
And then he smiled. So I got the ok, and Harry Potter was no longer a big deal or taboo. When I went over to my friends house for a sleepover we popped the DVD in and watched. It was late, and I can't handle scary movies. So yes, The Chamber of Secrets freaked me out at first. But I really liked the story so I stuck with it. And I very much enjoyed the 2nd movie. So much so that I read that book, and that one only. I liked it as a stand alone from the rest of the series. So after buying the movie, and reading the book, life went on again. I was still relatively not interested in HP, but didn't make a huge deal about it anymore. It was just a move/book. It was no where near a big a deal as Lord of the Rings was at that time.
The Prisoner of Azkaban I can't recall the first time I watched it, but I do remember not liking it.
Now the Goblet of Fire. This was the movie that got me into the Harry Potter franchise. Let me set the scene for you. The same friend I watched Chamber with wanted to go to WalMart at midnight to buy Goblet on DVD. I loved doing random stuff, so I went with her, and we went back to her place and watched, at like 12:30 am. We were hopped up on sugar and the novelty of staying up late(I was 16), so we started the movie. It was the first time I was on the edge of my seat with HP. I was freaking out, worried, and just plain into the movie. My friend laughed at me most of the time, because she knew what was going to happen. After that movie I was hooked.
I went to the midnight showing of The Order of the Phoenix, after I got married I dragged my husband to The Half Blood Prince, and was a full fledged Harry Potter movie fan.
I still hadn't picked up a book since Chamber of Secrets back in 2003(I think).
HP book fans couldn't believe I didn't want to read the books, they tried every argument, the most heard was, "The movies leave so much out!"
Well of course they would! All movies based on books leave something or other out!And I must admit, I was still clinging to my youthful "anti-HP" persona that I had years ago.
I am a huge geek. Nerd, geek, dork, sci-fi fan, that's me. Star Wars(movies and books!), Indiana Jones, Lord of the Rings(movies and books), Tron(we've just recently named out car Flynn), Firefly, Batman, Spiderman, you name it I just might like it. So needless to say when I finally broke down and read the books, I became even more huge fan of all the Harry Potter. Now I know back stories, spells, potions, quidditch rules, which house I belong to(Hufflepuff!), and much, much more. It was a long time coming, and now I am totally lost into all of it.
So to put it simply, Harry Potter was not a "love" at first sight for me. I was not hooked immediately. It was a gradual thing that took many years.
When this last movie came out, I waited in line for 8 hours. And as I looked around I could tell the people that where hard core fans, and the people that had nothing better to do. I wondered how many of them where like me. How many of them jumped on the band wagon years after it started, and was now finally coming to an end? Do I regret not catching on earlier? No, not at all.
Once all the hype has died down, HP will become just another of my many interests. Right now though, I am still a little obsessed, and that's ok. Even if my husband is a little tired of the references all the time. And when he asked a simple question like, "What is a mudblood?" He is not getting a once sentence answer. He is getting a thorough talk about Muggle Borns(don't saw mudbloods!), Half-Bloods, and Pure Bloods. And when I pick up a stuck from the ground, wave it and say something like, "Stupefy!" and no one plays along, I know I am obsessed. But I am ok with that!