Muggle Stories: A Witch Forever
Since the beginning of this blog, one of my favorite segments has been “Muggle Stories”, where I get the privilege of sharing how other Harry Potter fans discovered and fell in love with the series.
Below, you will find a beautiful story I received a few weeks ago. It truly touched my heart and I hope you enjoy it as well.
Submitted Anonymously:
“I don’t have a very good memory of my childhood, which is probably for the best. I only have a handful of memories of my life before I entered high school. But out of that handful of memories, there are my Harry Potter firsts.
My very first taste of Harry Potter was when I was seven years old, and the first film came out in the cinemas. I only have a very vague memory of that day, but I remember that the film scared me. I didn’t like it.
I finally took an interest a few years later, sometime before Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban came out in the cinemas. So, it must have been 2003. I went to a tiny bookstore in one of my cities’ malls, and I picked up the second book by accident.
My next memory pertaining to Harry Potter is seeing the third film nineteen times in the cinema with my mum. By that time, things had gotten even worse at home. That was when Harry Potter started being my escape.
My mind has blocked my memories of the next few years. The next Harry Potter related thing I can remember is being at the bookstore with my mum, waiting for midnight to come so I could get my hands on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I was so sure Severus was bad, and I argued furiously over the matter while we were waiting.
When we got home, my mum and I didn’t leave the bed until we finished, except to use the lavatory. If I remember correctly we even ate in bed.
Having been Harry Potter obsessed since 2003, I have ventured into many areas of the fandom. I’ve read essays, and blogs. I’ve read and written fan fiction, finding like-minded shippers. I met my best friend, my honorary sister, that way. I’m also very involved with fan art. My life has revolved around these things for years, complete with the timeless fan girl squeeing and listening to wrock endlessly.
I had been preparing my self for this past July for months, but I had never expected it to hit me the way it did. I watched the London premiere online (since my mum would never let me actually go) and, for the first time in years, truly cried. Those last twenty minutes were so moving, so touching. It also hit me that this was truly the end. Only the idea of Pottermore kept me going.
Finally, July 15th arrived. I got up and put on my Ravenclaw Uniform, specially ordered for the premiere. After grabbing my Severus wand, my mum and I headed for the cinema. I was shaking and holding her hand through the entire film, and I felt my heart shatter at the sight of Severus dying. It was the first time I cried during the film. Harry Potter, and my lifeline, was ending. Thankfully, I was able to hold off the waterworks until we were in the car. Needless to say, that film caused me to have a breakdown.
I also wrote a letter to J. K. Rowling between the period of the London premiere, and after I got home from seeing the film. I have yet to send it, although I’m showing you three experts from it:
But the ONE THING that has gotten me through, is the last line. All was well. When I’m having a huge panic attack, so bad I can’t even move; or I’m hiding from my drunk father; that line gets me through. You’ve showed me that no matter how bad life gets, no matter if your whole world falls apart (like mine has before) it will get better.
Thank you, Jo. Thank you for Harry Potter, one of the three things that stopped me from seriously considering suicide. Thank you for giving me the strength to go on. Because you have, Jo. No one, not at school or at home, really understands me. But through Harry Potter fan sites and groups I have met the most amazing people. People who finally love me for me, and can understand me. When I hear the bullies at school, I think of Hermione and how even us bookworms/outcasts have happy endings.
Thank you for Hermione. A bookworm with not so great social skills, just like me. Thank you for Luna, who gives me the courage to be myself, which is different from my peers. Thank you for every other character, showing me that no one is perfect or completely bad, not even the hero and the villain.
Through the internet, I have been able to write my own Harry Potter fanfiction, and have been able to make my own Harry Potter club for Harry Potter art. That’s how I get through the day – I immerse myself in Harry Potter related things. You’re a beautiful person, never believe anyone who tells you otherwise. I will never forget, I will never stop loving and being a part of the Harry Potter world. Thank you Jo. Thank you so much. You have given me the hope and the courage to do the things I have to do. I have a long battle ahead of me, especially in the next year. I have to find a way to be independent, to deal with my autism (I have Asperger’s Syndrome) and panic attacks.
And when I feel like I can’t do it, when I feel like no one cares, I will immerse myself in Harry Potter and remember what I’m fighting for. The chance for a better future, a better life.
And:
Thank you for Pottermore. I was so upset that it was ending, but Pottermore lifted my spirits. I cannot wait until I get the chance to explore Pottermore, and that thought is the only thing keeping me from breaking down.
I just saw the last film, and I can’t stop crying. I knew the people were going to die, I knew what was going to happen, but seeing it was heartbreaking. Severus’ death. The bodies of Remus, Tonks, and Fred. Lavender dead because of Greyback. Every time I saw one of them, it broke my heart. It was an amazing film, and I don’t believe it could have been better.
The last one:
I will read the books to my children (whenever I have them), I will show them the thing that saved their mother’s life.
I got into Pottermore about four days ago, and was sorted into Ravenclaw; to the relief of my mum (an identity crisis was in store otherwise). I hear about the “new Harry Potter” or “the end of Harry Potter” but I know there will never be anything like this, and that it will never end. We won’t let it.”
Sincerely,
A Witch Forever
********************
If you would like to submit your Muggle Story to The Last Muggle to Read Harry Potter, E-Mail me at thelastmuggle@gmail.com.
For more Muggle Stories, check out:
It’s always good to hear stories like this and know the real power of the series and the genius of JK Rowling. When everyday people can use the inspiration of fictional characters to make through the darkness within their own lives and fend of the dark forces, that is when you know a work has achieved true greatness.
I wish this reader well, and I hope she does (or did) send that letter on to JK Rowling. I know within reason it will be greatly appreciated by our favorite author.
So true. I couldn’t have said it better.
i am the only one who didn’t realize lavender died in the movie!? i knew someone died but the film cut off the rest of her hair and she looked like a boy with her hair and the dust and grime they put on her face. btw i don’t think she dies. i know ron Hermione loves now but it would be heart shattering to know that your first love died like that. but that is just my opinion.
According to the Harry Potter Wikia she died.
I finally saw the movie last night!!!! And if I hadn’t already read that Lavender died I wouldn’t have known it was her.
I don’t think it would be so heart shattering to Ron, though, for a couple of reasons: 1. He lost his brother. 2. After he dated Lavender for a while she became very possessive and annoying. 3. There were many casualties who may have meant as much to him as Lavender.
I cried. I did. A lot of that reminded me of my own life, and well, I couldn’t finish it.
J.K Rowling did save my life, as she saved yours, and many others. This is why we alll unite behind the books. Anything and everything is possilbe. That, and theyre so damn good!
My life certainly isn’t as troublesome as yours, but I see a certain similarity between us that I haven’t seen in anybody I’ve ever met. A bookworm and eccentric nerd, I never really fit in with the popular group at school, no matter how hard I tried. My sister says I am quite pretty, I could be a model even, but I am so essentially fashion clueless and socially inept. When my elder sisters started to read Harry Potter I really had no idea what it was. I knew it was famous, and I knew it was excellent, but I was too young to read it. The movie scared me to pieces (I’m certainly not a Gryffindor). My sisters gradually grew out of it, but then my curiosity had started to peak, and I clamoured after the books, finally finishing the seventh one when I was 10. I lost interest, but a mix of Pottermore, the last movie and AVMP has me at obsessing point. My life is Harry Potter, but no one seems to understand me. At that, your story made me tear up and think about all those people out there who love Harry Potter as much as I do, and the fact that I’ll probably never get to meet them. But thank you so much for your story, do send that letter, It’s just what I would send too.
This story really describes Harry Potter, without really describing it at all. Harry Potter has meant so much to so many people, and I am really glad to know I’m not the only one who loves it enough to buy a wand =) Except I got Harrys, because, well, he’s Harry. I was going to get Hermiones, but if I was a witch her wand would be WAY too smart for me, no matter how much I understand her love of reading.