Dear Mr. Potter

Recently, I discovered www.dearmrpotter.org, a website where fans can write letters to Harry Potter, telling how the book series impacted and inspired their lives. In conjunction with HP Alliance, the heads of the blog have taken the best submissions and are releasing a book, which is available for pre-order right now.

Being one of the biggest Harry Potter nerds I know (and I know many, some of whom do have me beat for trivia knowledge) I decided to write my own letter.

Dear Mr. Potter,

I was seven years old when my younger sister brought home a paperback copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone from a Scholastic Book Fair at school. And for a few months, all it did was sit on the end table in our living room, quietly asking to be read. My sister had abandoned it in favor of riding her bike and reading shorter books about animals. Once or twice, I flipped open the first page, but I never made it further.

Finally, I picked it up, giving in to the silent plea not to be forgotten. I had to handle it carefully as two pages around the Potions Master chapter were attached, but loose. But I laughed and held my breath, cheering for Harry, reading when I got extra time in class and after school.

It took three months before I finally finished, but I remember exactly where I was when I did. I was in the back of our tiny family Honda on the three hour trek north to visit my grandparents. Rain pelted the car and my only illumination came from a small book light and the sporadic bursts of golden light from the street lamps lining the highway.

I can even remember the exact location of the curve in the highway and to this day, I smile every time I pass it. And when I saw there was a second book, I pleaded with Mom to buy it as soon as possible. And soon after that, the third book. And I can remember exactly where I was at the midnight release of each of the next books. The length of time it took to read them got shorter and I grew up with Harry and his friends.

I've spent 19.5 hours in line in the blistering heat of summer waiting for the Order of the Phoenix midnight movie premiere. And I've spent 12 hours shuddering in the cold, burning my hands trying to warm them with the hand dryer, waiting for Part 1 of the Deathly Hallows. My first three books are falling to pieces and I won't replace them because they're my books, the ones that've been there through it all. I've been to Harry Potter dances and played Quidditch and dressed as Harry for Halloween. I've watched the musicals multiple times and can recite the engraving on the doors of Gringotts. I've lived longer with Harry, than without him.

And yeah, I'm a fangirl; that's great. And that'd probably be the end of it, but I also have a disorder that made me sick a lot as a kid. To make me feel better, my mom would spend hours reading to me. And more often than not, it was Harry and his friends who kept us company, finding the Sorcerer's Stone, slaying the basilisk, saving Ginny, finding out that Sirius was innocent, and thwarting Voldemort at the end of each book.

It was Harry who helped me through the nights where I should have gone to bed long before, but couldn't. Hermione who made me feel that being a teacher's pet and nerd wasn't a bad thing (and didn't preclude being a badass). Ron who made me laugh. Together with their friends and enemies, they saved my sanity and helped me be a stronger person. For just a little while, I didn't have to worry about my issues but simply go with Harry and know that everything would work out fine.

And then I grew up and Harry was right there to help me again. Because of these books, I met some of my best friends, some of the best people in the world. These are the people I will never forget, people who are my own Dumbledore's Army. And with them I've had experiences I'll never forget with people I'll always stay close to. The girl who spent years eating lunch in classrooms and hanging out with adults at recess, made friends for life because Harry nudged her in the right direction.

These books taught me about friendship and loyalty and making the hard decisions because they're the right ones, rather than the easy ones. They taught me that the world isn't always fair, that bad things do happen to good people. But they also showed me that love can triumph over fear and apathy. And that together with hope, love is the most powerful force we have.

In less than two months, the final movie of the franchise releases and then the series that has been in my life for over a decade will be concluded. And I know that I will be bawling my eyes out at the premiere, for which I will sit in line for who knows how many hours, waiting for the moment when I get to see how it all finishes.

But I also know that, this will never end. So long as there are people who read Harry Potter, and fans who will want to discuss slavery and elf rights or whether Voldemort died a virgin (both of I have been involved in) the fandom will live on. Harry is an irrevocable part of my life and I wouldn't want it any other way. Because I may be a nerd or a Potterhead or a geek but it's been an amazing part of my life. And I will never forget any of it.

So thanks for everything, Mr. Potter. You've been a true friend.

Ashleigh C.

Penelope Clearwater