How It All Began
I was in 5th grade. I wasn't much of a reader. I was smart and in the PACE program, but reading wasn't something I did recreationally. After we finished Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, my teacher said that we would be reading a new book after recess. She said that one of her friends had recomended it to her, and that we were going to love it.
Thus was my introduction to the world of Potter. Once my teacher started reading it to us, I couldn't get enough. I had to know more, I had to know how the story ended! My friend Claire, who was a year younger than me and in the Gifted and Talented class, was the only person anyone knew who owned the books...and she had a waiting list! I finally got my hands on Chamber of Secrets and devouered it. My parents then bought it for me, as an early Christmas present. I was hysterical. I read all of the books and breakneck pace...until there were no more. I finished Prisoner of Azkaban just as Goblet of Fire was being released...which was the time most of the world became aware of the phenomenon that was/is Harry Potter. I watched reports on the news about copies accidentally being sold, wishing that the next time I walked into Wal-Mart(which always gets caught with one copy out early, despite the explicit street dates that come on new releases, lol) I would find a copy of GoF sitting on a shelf for me to buy. I didn't go to a release party, I was only 12, but I could not wait to get my hands on GoF!
Then...nothing. Three years of no Hary Potter, after having a steady supply for the past three. What was a fan to do? That is when I created The Potterhead Place. I was so attentive when it first launched..then there was hardly any news on the Potter front...and I slowly drifted away...
June 2003, however, changed that. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was released, a day before my birthday I might add. I spent 4 days feverishly reading the book...and emerging on the other side numb...this series was getting darker by the page, and I couldn't stop reading. There was the minior incident of leaks. Two copies were found in a field near a UK printers and spoilers galore were leaked...including the page number where a major death occured. I stupidly told my sister this...she promptly turned to the page, read it, and threw the book back at me announcing that Sirrius dies, and walked away. I will never forgive her for that, lol. I attended my first Midnight release party, and loved every minute of it. My friends Jordan, Keyla, and I spent all day together reading the book...they two chapters ahead of me, lol.
Two more silent years came and went. No news, many rumors. I remember that everyone believed that the title of book six would be Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch...how gullible we were.
Then Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Another midnight party, another great experience. I loved the videos of people yelling "SNAPE KILLS DUMBLEDORE" at release parties, but felt absolutely horrible for those that had the book ruined for them... I devoured the book in five hours...and had to wait a few days for anyone else I knew to finish it. I was in shock...Dumbledore was gone and Harry was left to defeat Voldemort...how could Jo end this!
All of which has led us to this moment. 32 days until the release of the seventh, and final, Harry Potter book. How can the series end? I have no idea. I have never been able to predict anything about this series, and that's what I love best about it. Time for us to take full advantage of this last month of unknowing in the world of Harry Potter.