First impressions: Harry Potter

With the release of the HP: OotP movie tonight and the final book release on July 21, I've been in full Harry mode for the past few weeks. My obsession with HP has spanned a couple of years and I'll be sad to see it end. But no tears today (I'll save that for the book)! Instead I'll reflect on my first encounter with the HP world.

It started a couple of years back, when book 4 was released. I had heard a lot about this series and decided to give it a try when a couple of my best buddies recommended it. Until that point, I wasn't planning to ever pick up the books because I'm not a fan of reading from the 'fantasy' genre (LOTR is an exception). However, I gave it a try and was pleasantly surprised. HP: PS was a fun, quick read. I immediately fell in love with the wizard world, and with the Fred and George characters. That was when I became a fan.

My obsession didn't begin until I was reading book 4. There were parts of that book where I had to stop reading to put my head on the table. You know me, when I read a book or watch a movie, I like to completely submerge into the world. It was at that point that my sister decided to read Book 1. She saw how reading HP: GoF affected me and decided to give it a try. Now I have a fellow member in my HP obsession club.

Actually, I have recruited quite a few members into this club (I given at least 5 HP:PS as gifts). It's always more fun to speculate and relive the moments in the books with fellow crazy people!

And tonight, a bunch of us are going to see the HP:OotP movie (IMAX, baby!). Although this time, we're not going to stamp our heads with lightening bolts (I did that for the first Harry movie. I even made my boss do it!). Though I do think I'm going to hit up the Candy store to see if I can find some Bertie Botts and Beans!