Harry Potter Week: Cristina {0}

My best friend Tina doesn't have a blog...but she should. The following post on her personal Harry Potter experience and how it helped her with her own acceptance of loved ones lost moved me to tears. I am so proud to bring her words to you today.

{London 2008}

'Allo blogosphere! I have to admit, when Kate suggested that I write a piece for her Harry Potter series, my mind was a bit boggled. What should I write? A piece detailing my admiration of Daniel Radcliffe's work with the Trevor Project? An article lauding Hermione Granger and the gratitude I feel that in a world full of Kardashians, Hiltons, and pop starlets famous for....well, not much, we have a heroine like Miss Granger, who is smart, resourceful, and passionate (I know she was a little overzealous when it came to S.P.E.W. but you can't blame the girl for supporting her cause wholeheartedly). Or perhaps I should just write about the party I threw in honor of the seventh book, complete with a "Good Luck, Harry" cake and a Hogwarts themed menu (Muggle muffins, anyone?).

And then I had an idea. And like Colin, Crabbe, and Goyle, it wouldn't ever quite go away. So here goes...

{Outside the film-Hogwarts exterior in Scotland, 2008}

As the release of the final film approaches, I've seen a lot of blogs, Facebook posts, and tweets essentially saying the same thing..."last Harry Potter film opens in [X number of days]. Is my childhood really over?" These remarks have always struck me as surprising as I identify the beginning of my time with Harry so much with the end of my childhood. I was later to the Harry Potter craze than most. I resisted reading them for awhile ("too popular, I don't want to follow the crowd" I said, "why would I want to read about wizards?" I argued) until the summer my dad was dying. I needed a diversion, something to keep me busy, and these books seemed like an ideal escape. Goblet of Fire came out that summer, and though Ron was my favorite character and Hermione and Neville the ones that seemed the most like me in general personality (it's a weird hybrid, I know), Harry and I had something in common: we had lost a parent and when my beloved high school mentor died several years later, I once again felt like Harry and I had a bit too much in common.

It's interesting how our personal perspectives at various points of our lives influence how we interpret films, shows, and texts. When I first started reading through the books, I remember thinking that although these plots were about magic and fantasy, they were really about mortality and adulthood. I surmised that when you're an adult, your parents can't protect you, some of the hardest battles must be fought alone, and you undoubtedly, and unfortunately, lose many people you love. A pretty dire interpretation, I'll admit, and looking back, I think that perhaps I was just "looking in the wrong places."

As I continued reading the books, I realized that while they are about mortality and adulthood, they are also about something else. No, our parents can't protect us from everything and while we do have to fight our own battles, we're never truly alone. People we love are with us "until the very end" whether their presence is physical or immaterial. Though I don't have a Resurrection Stone, I wholeheartedly believe that even when I'm on my own, I can still feel my lost ones' hugs or the voices of my friends that are far away, giving me counsel or encouragement. Like Harry, it took me awhile to figure that out or accept it and I thank J.K. Rowling for portraying Harry's struggle to understand that so honestly and beautifully.

So thank you, Ms. Rowling, for introducing me to the delightful Weasleys, for allowing me to escape into a world of Potions and Transfigurations, and for examining themes like death and friendship in such an honest yet hopeful way. I know Hogwarts, Harry, his family, and his friends will always be with me, whatever happens.

Make sure you click on that Trevor Project video link--I was moved & awed by Daniel in it. And, as always, please remember to leave some comment love for my wonderful guest poster, Cristina!