My Harry Potter obsession

I admit it...I'm 27 years old and obsessed with Harry Potter. It took me a while; I didn't even know about the books till about the fourth one. I borrowed the first couple, and while I enjoyed them, I guess I just wasn't ready for the obsession yet (I was in high school and had MUCH more important things to worry about). Then I started college, and found myself with lots of spare time to read. No, I'm not kidding. I was one of "those" kids. College was easy for me, sorry! Well, I was a theater and dance major, so that tells you something.

So anyways, I re-read the first two and then read the third and fourth. I LOVED them, but never really noticed when the fifth and sixth came out until later, but I did read them soon after. I watched the movies and loved those too. By the time I graduated, I found myself longing for the next movie or book to come out.

Fast forward to 2007. I was living with my younger sister and two of my friends. We ranged in age from 20 to 28, and we were all Wiccan. While that definitely helped pique our interest in the magic aspect, we obviously know Harry Potter has little to do with Wicca. Nevertheless, we were all anxiously awaiting the release of the fifth movie and seventh book. We went to the midnight releases of both, in full costume no less. We were Hogwarts faculty: Elena was Prof. Trelawney, Susan was Prof. McGonagall, my sister Katy (the nursing student) was Madam Pomfry, and I donned a curly gray wig as Prof. Sprout. We had a BLAST.

Reading the seventh book was a race. Elena's boyfriend in Australia got it hours before all of us and we begged him not to spoil it for us. After him, I think Susan finished it first, then me. We kept exchanging cryptic comments about the book, to the exasperated cries of "Shut up, I'm not done!!!" from the other two. Finally we all finished it (about 48 hours later) and we discussed it for days. We were THAT into it.

I no longer live with those girls, but with my fiance Simon who luckily is similarly interested in Harry Potter. Not enough to actually read the BOOKS mind you, but he loves the movies. I have to censor myself so I don't mention anything past book 5. The sixth movie was originally set to come out on my birthday last year, November 21, and I literally cried when they changed it to July '09. I thought I would NEVER make it.

But now...it is less than a week away. I bought our tickets last night, for the 12:05 am showing Tuesday night/Wednesday morning in Danvers, MA. I...am...PSYCHED! My costume is all set: white short-sleeved button-down shirt, black skirt w/ jagged hem, navy and gray Ravenclaw tie, black and navy striped stockings, lightning bolt earrings. I even got Simon a Hogwarts crest t-shirt. Ooo, I need to pick out shoes. I am going to be impossible at work on the 14th. I even took the 15th off to recover from the late night. And I found out a while ago that they're separating the 7th book into TWO movies. Yes!

I own the set of books 1-6 in paperback, plus books 6 and 7 in hardcover, then the collector's chest of all 7 books in hardcover that Simon bought me this past Christmas. I have two copies of "The Tales of Beedle the Bard," neither of which I've cracked open yet (I will read one and keep the other untouched, along with my chest of hardcovers). I have a Harry Potter doll in its box, and a stuffed Scabbers, Crookshanks, Fluffy, and Hagrid. I have a pair of plastic Harry Potter glasses. Simon bought me a time-turner on our second date (I fell in love with him then and there). I have a Ravenclaw scarf and hat for the winter, a set of pins for all 4 houses and Hogwarts, an iron-on Ravenclaw patch I have yet to decide a place for, and probably countless other little things I can't remember. I know the names of the three actors that play Harry, Ron, and Hermione. I know spell names off the top of my head. Oh yeah, I have a wand too.

I. AM. OBSESSED.

I'm sure I could be worse. I can't recite entire scenes (just random lines like, "It's Win-GAR-de-um Lev-i-OH-sa, not Lev-i-oh-SA!"), and I don't know all of the actor's names or histories, but I do know Daniel Radcliffe turns 20 this month (I finally don't feel so icky for having a crush on him like I did when he was 17!), and I follow Emma Watson on Twitter (she doesn't update much). But now, all I can do is wait...

SIX MORE DAYS TILL HALFBLOOD PRINCE!!!