thank you, harry.

Lumos. 

Alright, guys. Excuse me while I have my geek moment. 

I have always been a Harry Potter fan. I read the first book when I was eight years old, in the third grade. That book sparked the first of many, many, MANY times that I would get in trouble for being caught up late at night reading. I simply could not put it down, and so with all the books after. 

I can't, though I wish I could, put into words the deep, passionate love I have for the world of Harry Potter. 

How much I look up to the courage and honor Harry possesses. 

How my heart breaks at the thought of Fred and George being separated for life. 

How the women of Harry Potter, matched only by women in the church, are the women I look up to: Professor McGonagall, Molly Weasley, Lilly Potter, Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood. They are all amazing women--clever, strong, and absolutely true to themselves. I positively idolize them, I do. Go ahead and judge me. 

How I cried after I turned eleven and hadn't gotten my Hogwarts acceptance letter. 

How I often came up with extra scenes that involved ME as an added member to the trio, making it a foursome. 

How I dressed up as Hermione and played Harry Potter with my closest friends. 

How that world, to me, is still so very real. So real that the loss of characters such as Lilly, James, Sirius, Hedwig, Dobby, and Fred, STILL affects me and makes me sad. 

This world is one of such beauty. There are so many things about it that have helped me as I've grown from childhood, to adolescence, and into adulthood. 

Every time I opened one of the books, I got to step out of my world and forget everything. Think only of dragons and flying and magic and friendship and love.

One of my favorite things, though, was Hermione Granger. 

J.K. Rowling fashioned Hermione out of a big part of who she herself was and is: as a little girl, she was clever and headstrong and frankly quite plain. And she absolutely loved reading. In her reading, she often looked for heroines like her to give her hope, but was quite unsuccessful in finding any. This is why she created Hermione, and why Hermione is her absolute greatest point of pride, especially now that Hermione has helped and is helping girls who find themselves to be like Jo Rowling was. A girl who is bright and never compromises that for boys. A girl who "isn't sexy, but isn't sexless either. A real girl." 

I, too, am like Hermione Granger. 

Especially as a younger girl, I was quite plain. I wasn't the girl the boys liked. I delved in books and, along with my two best friends, lived in my own little world. I was made fun of for being smart, and for knowing things about sports. It stayed the same through junior high, and through high school I saw the looks on people's faces when I went off on tangents about books I'd read (especially when those books were school-assigned reading and while everybody else loathed them, I found myself loving them). I was made fun of for being on the Debate team and enjoying writing cases and essays and speeches. And yes, most of this came from boys. Just like Hermione. But in reading the books, I looked to Hermione to see that it's okay to be clever. It's okay to be stubborn and bright. It's even okay to be plain. Now I'm in college, and I still have to remind myself of that. To remain true and compromise nothing, just like Hermione. I hope my future little girls will learn from her (and hopefully me, too!) these qualities.

I feel so privileged to be considered among the "Harry Potter Generation." To be on of those choice few who literally grew up with Harry: who was seventeen when the Battle of Hogwarts was fought onscreen, while the trio, too, was seventeen. My childhood ended right along with theirs, when the credits rolled in the final movie. 

I don't care that I've ever been made fun of for my love of Harry Potter. It is a beautiful world. Thank you, Harry, for your courage and strength. Thank you, Ron, for your witty humor and undying loyalty. Thank you, Hermione, for reminding me to always remain true to myself. And thank you, J.K. Rowling, for creating characters who taught me such things. I will read these books to my children and teach them all the same things. 

Here's to the geeks- here's to the Harry Potter generation! 

Geek moment over. 

Knox. 

Watch this video. Watch it. Watch it now. 

And this one. 

-just megsie