Hi, my name is Meg . . . and I’ve never read the Harry
Potter series.
I belong to an exclusive-but-not-in-the-good-way club: people who never quite got
around to reading what is arguably the most beloved book series of all time. No
particular reason. Just never quite got around to it. And then I did the truly
unforgivable and saw all the movie adaptations WITHOUT having read the books. I
KNOW.
But we can really blame all this on my childhood. I grew up in
kind of a conservative, anti-magic family. And when I say anti-magic, I mean .
. . I wasn’t allowed to watch Sabrina,
the Teenage Witch because it might give me ideas about dabbling in
witchcraft. Because as we all know, nothing is more likely to lure young girls
onto the side of the Devil than Melissa Joan Hart’s ability to butter toast
without using her hands.
 |
| Get thee behind me, Sata--- MAGIC COOKIES! |
So when the first Harry Potter came out and speedily grew in
popularity, my mom had to read it first and determine whether it was acceptable for an
impressionable youth such as myself. The problem was, as soon as she DID approve it, it lost its air of The Forbidden and I didn’t really care about it anymore. Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, on the other
hand? Watched every single episode . . . multiple times.
Now that I’m an “adult” and not quite as hellbent on loving
only the things my parents have specifically advised me against loving, I’m just a girl standing here in front of a stack of Harry Potters, asking them to love me . . . even though I'm OLD.
P.S. Pottermore says I’m a Hufflepuff. Do with that what you
will (which is to say, give me cookies and hugs).
ALL THE COOKIES AND HUGS FOR MEGS
ReplyDelete*tackles you*
Also, the Amy GiF. So perfect. So....so perfect.
I believe I've told this story, BUT a kid in my high school stomped on a copy of Harry Potter and I jumped on his back and started hitting him. HARRY POTTER IS A BILLION TIMES BETTER FOR YOUR KIDS THAN TWILIGHT, CHRISTIAN MOMS.
of COURSE you're a Hufflepuff! Of course!
ReplyDeleteSo basically your mum has read Harry Potter (well, the first one) and you have not? That's... Yeah, that's something alright.
Next up, a Sabrina watchalong. Because OMG SABRINA!
The idea of never having read Harry Potter is so completely foreign to me that I don't even know how to process it! Except to say that reading it in a readalong with this particular bunch will be the best thing you've ever decided to do, I am convinced. Well, that and watch Sabrina, of course.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate you not reading HP because it was (eventually) not forbidden for you to read. Which is the best. Also YAY for your mom actually reading the first HP before making the final decision on it's Forbiddenness and realizing it was cool and wouldn't teach you to worship Satan, unlike that Sabrina temptress.
ReplyDeleteTwins! This is my first time (well besides the first few but I don't remember them) reading HP too! I'm a little overwhelmed - I don't understand much of some other people's posts!
ReplyDeleteI mean, really...Hufflepuff had me at "overstuffed sofas."
ReplyDeleteI love the image of you beating up a boy for disrespecting a book. Books before...um...nothing that means "boy" rhymes with "books."
I *think* I read it too eventually...but I wasn't hooked. Is that worse? That's probably worse.
ReplyDeleteI feel pretty good about this readalong. It's ALMOST worth all the ridicule.
ReplyDeleteI'm fairly familiar with The World of HP just because of the oversaturation in pop culture...and the literal Harry Potter Land in Orlando. But I KNOW there will be lots of nuance that makes reading the books totally worth it.
ReplyDeleteHa! That Sabrina gif and your caption. *dies laughing*
ReplyDeleteThe stack of Harry Potters love you, Megs. You had the stack of Harry Potters at "Hello." (And we love you tooooo!)
A Sabrina watchalong actually has to happen. I caught an episode the other week on tv (apparently it's being screened again?!) and all the awesomeness flooded back.
ReplyDeleteThere will be no ridicule from me! Or maybe just minimal ridicule. I just said to Brie so thought I should say here that I am actually pretty excited about reading along with two HP newbies, since I think that's about as close as I can get to reading the series again for the first time, short of being gifted a time-turner and going back and doing ages 10+ all over again (which for other reasons I have zero interest in doing).
ReplyDeleteNot really. There was a big gap between my reading of the first book (I was in high school) and the second book (not until I was almost a senior in college.) The first book is fun but I wasn't hooked until the later books. I haven't re-read them in a while.
ReplyDeleteMy parents also were wary of magic in books. There was a chapter in the Secret Garden that they wanted me to skip over.
ReplyDeleteI was kind of a pain in the ass . . . am.
ReplyDeleteExcellent carryover of the romantic comedy theme. Eeeeexcellent.
ReplyDeleteOh man...I don't remember there being magic in The Secret Garden, but let's not tell my mom, just to be safe.
ReplyDeleteThere wasn't, not really. There's a chapter called Magic where Colin expounds on how he sees Magic in everything. That was all, I think.
ReplyDeleteYay! Hooray for Harry Potter readalongs! I think you'll appreciate it better at this age because a lot of her subtle jokes and dialogue went over my head when I read this book in junior high. And awwww you're a Hufflepuff, friendly, kind and helpful :)
ReplyDeleteThis will also be my first reading of HP, although I have no good excuse. I read the first one, but I was like eighteen and doing other things, and then I just never did. And I feel shame, but I'm fixing it darn it.
ReplyDeleteI've giggled MANY times already.
ReplyDeleteSHAME. We must rid ourselves of this heavy, heavy shame.
ReplyDelete