I was a big Harry Potter fan long before I even had kids. Back in those days (feels like another life entirely), I picked up a paperback copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone one day while browsing the bookstore next to the laundromat. I'd heard all the hype, and was semi-interested but a bit skeptical that a book for kids would grab so many adults. I was immediately hooked, though, and spent the next several years anxiously waiting for each book's release and splurging on the hard copy as soon as they were. When the seventh and final book finally came out, I re-read the entire series from start to finish. I was one of those readers who cried at the conclusion of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, not only because the ending was emotional, but because the story I had loved so well was over.
Needless to say, I was really excited when N began to show interest in reading the series this year. OK, I may have engineered this a teeny bit by taking him to Universal Studios in Orlando last November for a look at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. He had seen the first movie, so he knew the basics, but he was so intrigued and enthralled by everything he saw, like the "wanted" posters of Sirius Black everywhere, that he abandoned the chapter book we brought with us in favor of starting Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (which by some amazing coincidence I had brought with me!) on that very trip. And the rest is history.
Harry Potter has so captured N's imagination that he doesn't think it's imaginary. He is convinced that the wizarding world and Harry Potter is real. He anxiously awaits the day he turns 11 and gets his letter inviting him to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (and I do mean anxiously because he's a little nervous about leaving home!). He even writes Harry Potter letters, like this one:
Even though we finished the series several months ago, we still have long conversations about it. For one so young I am amazed at the details he has retained from each book, the connections between the characters and complexity of some of the relationships (Why did Snape kill Dumbledore? Was Draco actually Harry's friend? Did Hermione love both Harry and Ron?).
N has clearly become emotionally attached to the characters in the same way I did--not just the Harry, Ron and Hermione but the entire supporting cast--the Weasleys, the house-elves, Remus Lupin, and even minor characters like Dedalus Diggle. Mention any one of them and he gets a gleam in his eye, a wry smile, as he recalls who they were, the role they played, their special quirks, what was funny and/or sad about their part in the story.
Reading this series with him was nothing less than magical for me as well--sharing something I had enjoyed so much and seeing him appreciate it so fully made it really special. To celebrate the Year of Harry Potter, at the end of the school year I surprised him with this letter:
We took the train to New York City, just the two of us, where we met up with a dear old friend and her son to check out the Harry Potter exhibit at Discovery Times Square. Photos weren't allowed inside the exhibit, so you'll just have to take my word for it that we both soaked in every minute--from being sorted into Gryffindor to sitting in Hagrid's chair and practicing throwing a quaffle into a Quidditch hoop. I hope it was a memory he'll keep forever, this big culmination of our shared Harry Potter experience.
The downside to reading Harry Potter with him: It has kind of ruined us for all other books! We finished the series in June and have yet to find anything that we love reading together as much. We've read several books since then, but they all fall flat in comparison. He really wanted to read The Swiss Family Robinson, so we started it, but it was way over his head and he became bored pretty quickly. So last night I suggested he pick out something else and after poring over his bookshelf for several minutes, guess what he pulled out? Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, of course.
Well, there's nothing like re-reading an old favorite.
