Things I Love #3

 It's time for another Things I love. It's been a while and was in the mood for one. 

We're on to the big guns with this edition. 

I have loved this particular thing since I was...doing some mental maths...10 years old. It has been with me now for the majority of my life. I would be utterly lost without it, I regularly think about it, want to go there and let myself revisit it.

Of course, I am talking about nothing other than the wonderful

world of magic, created by none other than the utterly amazing J.K Rowling.

Harry Potter.

Where do I even start? I was introduced to the wonderful world of Hogwarts when I was in year 6, aged 10. Our teacher used to read books to us at the end of the day and one day, she started reading Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. Needless to say, I think the majority of the class were hooked and were devastated when it sadly came to an end, I asked my parents for a copy so I could revisit the book again. A week or so later  a boy in my class bought in a hardback copy of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, I think all of the class were in agreement that Mrs Dorling, our teacher, immediately start reading the book to us, forgetting the one we were currently going through.

I was delighted to be back in the company of Harry, Ron and Hermione and find out what was going to happen in their second year of Hogwarts. I soon pursuaded my parents to get me a copy of this book too and the infatuation with Harry Potter has lived strong within me up until this day.

When Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was imminently due for release, I remember spending weeks begging my parents to pre-order a copy for me, convincing myself that all of the copies in the world would sell out in mere minutes and I would never get to have one. They refused point blank, trying to tell me that there would still be copies available and they would pick up a copy for me on the day of release.

I remember one Saturday morning being called in to their bedroom and being handed an Amazon package and being asked to open it for them, thinking it was just a gift purchased for someone else. 

Upon opening the package, I held in my hands a pristine copy of the Prisoner of Azkaban, days earlier than it's actual release date, I felt like the luckiest girls in the world! 

Every book date went past similarly, I attended midnight releases to our local supermarket thereafter, picking up the book as soon as I could, finishing them in mere days. 

My brother timed me once, during the Goblet of Fire, and concluded that I was reading, on average 100 pages in an hour.

I have read each book countless amounts of time and feel like sometimes I could recite them backwards if needs be. Harry Potter and his magical world have been with me through thick and thin for years and years.

I have laughed with the, cried with them, urged them through their trials and tribulations with an intense fire. The Killers - Hot Fuss, Evanescence - Fallen, Now That's What I Call Music 48 and Spice Girls - Holla are a few albums and songs that remind me dearly of the books, I would put albums on repeat while reading them.  

I saw each film at the cinema, attending midnight previews if they were screening.

I have visited the Studio Tour twice now and would love to go again. I felt very nostalgic walking around the studio, walking up Diagon Alley and walking through to see the incredible scale model of Hogwarts as it all feels very close to my heart and feels like a second home to me. 

It astounds me when people say they haven't read Harry Potter, I understand it a little more now, as an adult, but I feel sad for them that they haven't ever experienced the magical world and all it has to offer.

I think I have rattled on more than enough on this subject, but I hope it gives a little insight as to how much I adore Harry Potter and how much of a big part of my life it has and still remains to be. 

The books I have remain to be one of my most prized and highly looked after possession.

Oh, also, I think I would have heart failure if (I definitely mean when) I visit the Universal Studio's The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

I will get there one day!

Toodles!

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