Harry Potter Week: Sara-Jane {1}

Sara-Jane is one of my favorite girls in the blogosphere and a dedicated fellow Potterphile. She is classy, intelligent, wise and composed. She was recently voted a Ravenclaw on twitter, but I can see a little Gryffindor in her as well. I know you will enjoy her guest post just as much as I did.

"An Ode to Hermione Jean"


"I've tried a few simple spells myself and they've all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, it's the best school of witchcraft there is I've heard-- I've learned all the course books by heart, of course. I just hope it will be enough-- I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?"

I've been reading Harry Potter for as long as I can remember. In the third grade a truly wonderful parent (and human being, for that matter) came to our room every week and read a few chapters out loud to the class, complete with voices. I believe we worked our way through all three books in class that year. I also started reading them on my own (and that took me months) along with my Aunt, who was also hooked. It was magical time, that first year with the books. I was enthralled. Almost immediately I found two boys--my own Harry and Ron--in my class who were also Harry Potter fiends and we created a very exclusive fan club. We had a lot of fun traipsing around the playground shouting spells and wishing we were learning about charms and transfiguration instead of multiplication tables and division. After that year, I was pretty much known for the fact that I pretended to be Hermione Granger.

I knew instantly that Hermione was my kind of girl. In fact, embarrassingly enough, I remember vividly imagining myself as Hermione as I read. I even remember wanting to audition to play Hermione in the movies--I mean, British accents aren't that hard, right? After all, we were kindred spirits. We both devoured books (she preferred textbooks, I preferred novels), spent inordinate amounts of time at the library, had seemingly puffy hair, and shared affinities for gingers (although I originally wanted her to be with Harry).

Hermione is, and will always be, my favorite character in the books. Some people have Lizzie Bennett, Jane Eyre, or Jo March (whom, for the record, I adore)... I have Hermione. She's the first fictional character I ever truly identified with and aspired to be like. She's intelligent, honest, and courageous. She's more than just books and cleverness. Sure, she's the brightest witch of her age, but, foremost, Hermione is a great friend. For all the years I've been reading Harry Potter, Hermione has been my friend. I believe Emma Watson (Who I think has been a fantastic Hermione) said it best:

“What does she mean to me? What doesn’t she mean to me? I think of her like a sister, she feels so real to me. When people ask what I will miss the most, of course I’ll miss the people but I will actually just miss being her and getting to come into work every day and being this girl who lives in this magical world.”

I am incredibly sad that the movies are coming to an end, but I know for a fact that the series will always live on in my mind and heart because I'll be rereading them for the rest of my life, revisiting this old friend and her magical world. One thing's for sure--I'll always want to be like Hermione Jean Granger.

Hermione is totally my homegirl, always will be. Leave some love for Sara-Jane in the comments!