It was quite late when I started reading Harry Potter. A few of the films had already been released, but I'd never thought of reading the books as I'd never considered myself a 'bookish' person - I know, I was stupid, but I blame it on the nargles.
One of my family members had recently passed away, and I didn't know what to do with myself. I went to school, and kept my head down and worked hard, as that was the only thing I knew how to do - I'm a bit of a Hermione.
I didn't know how to open up, and how to speak about how I was feeling with anyone, so I just kept it all inside. My schoolwork stopped me from thinking. It was when I went home that I thought. And I didn't want to think.
So I was searching, desperately for something to take my mind away.
I found Harry Potter.
I found something in which I could escape. I could escape into this magical, wonderful world, where no one judged you on what you looked like or what you did, and just accepted you into this world. A world where I didn't have to think about anything. A world that got me out of bed in the morning, just so I could read the next chapters.
I walked the castle with the trio, and took lessons learning how to 'Wingardium LeviOsa'.
I was immersed in a book, something that I wouldn't come out of until night, and even then dreamed I was walking the corridors with the trio, spilling my heart out to them. It became my life.
Some people say that it is a children's story, and it's for kids. Some people think they're too 'cool' for it because its about magic, and supposedly childlike.
But what they don't understand, is that yes, it may have been originally, a 'children's story' and yes, the overall story is about Good V Evil, but if you read into it, it's a story with many layers and themes, enriched with complex characters with flaws.
There became themes, themes children wouldn't understand entirely.
It's about love. About how love is the strongest of all magic.
It's about friendship. The bonds people make when they are faced with adversity.
It's about death. About how good people pass away. About the cruel nature of life. How humans can overcome even the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.
And for me Harry Potter was that light.
The following is an excerpt from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 38: The Second War Begins.
"The castle seemed very quiet even for a Sunday. Everybody was clearly out in the sunny grounds, enjoying the end of their exams and the prospect of a last few days of term unhampered by revision or homework. Harry walked slowly along the deserted corridor, peering out of windows as he went; he could see people messing around in the air over the Quidditch pitch and a couple of students swimming in the lake, accompanied by the giant squid.
He was finding it hard to decide whether he wanted to get away people or not; whenever he was in company he wanted to get away and whenever he was alone he wanted company."
To some, this may seem like a normal thing. To me, JK Rowling had just done something that I had been unable to do myself. She summed up exactly what I was feeling.
I was confused as to why people were laughing when one of my family had recently died. I walked the corridor alone. To me everything was very quiet.
I walked the corridor, just as Harry had done, the only difference being was that I was with people - and yet, I still felt alone.
Harry Potter is so much more than 'just a book series'.
The books teach us things, like the importance of education and friendship.
It told me that I was not alone in the way I was feeling, albeit a fictional character.
It's saved people's lives.
Who knows where I would be know if I hadn't decided to pick up that Harry Potter book one day?
It saved my life.
And now, years later, I'm in a bad place again. Angry. Confused. Lonely.
But I know that Hogwarts will be there to welcome me home and that no matter how bad or low I feel, I can escape, just for a little while into a totally different world.
So, you can mock Harry Potter all you like. You can judge me all you like for liking Harry Potter. You can let your pre-conceived idea of Harry Potter prevent you from getting to know me, but I have made so many true friends through Potter. But you'll never truly know until you read them yourself.
So all I want to say is: Thank you Jo, and thank you Harry, for being there for me in really tough times of my life.
