FanGirl Fridays!

Welcome back to another FanGirl Friday where I talk about things I am or have obsessed about.

Some announcements:

• Thank you for the great response to my Month of Thrones Series! Its just getting started so stay tuned as I finish up my Lannister content. Next week I'll move on to Houses Greyjoy, Martell and Tyrell.
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• Tomorrow I should have up my TV Recap

On my fangirling topic of the week is the series that started it all...

Harry Potter 

This is my first love and what truly got me into and invested in fandom and geek culture. At first I was resistant to the hype (even as a 4th grader) but once I started, I was hooked. There was something about the world that really resonated with me. It had a great protagonist that put his friends above all, which I appreciate. I have many memories of getting yelled up for staying up past one in the morning reading Harry Potter.

I basically devoured the books and couldn't wait to read the next ones. I have some great memories of going to BJs Wholesale to get the book with my dad on the first day it came out. Once my sister got into HP, we had to get two copies cause we both had to read right when they came out. When I was 11, the movies started coming out and I loved them for what they represented even if they weren't exact. I probably went to my fair share of midnight movie screenings for this series alone.

The pinnacle of my love for the series probably came the summer before my senior year of high school. It was the time where the 5th movie and the 7th book came out in the same 1 or 2 weeks. I also discovered the podcast Mugglecast and the website Mugglenet that really allowed me to understand the fandom of Harry Potter. I even went to the book release party for the final book. It was held at Borders (RIP) and they started giving out books at midnight but I didn't get mine until around 1. I met up with my band friends and we ending up having a great time. It got so packed they had to stop letting people in the store (my mom almost didn't get back into the building). I ended up spending most of the waiting time laying around in the pregnancy section (the only one that didn't have too many people packed in the aisles) which I thought was pretty hilarious. I also ended up getting a free poster and the box that the books came in that said "Do not open until July 21, 2007". I went to bed that night with both the 6th and 7th books and then proceeded to read straight for the next 7.5 hours after I woke up to finish it in one go.

I spent the next 6 years listening to Mugglecast and learning about all of the theories, themes and nuances of the series. I really felt like I was a part of something special. When I found out about Pottermore, I was super excited since I felt this was the closest to an Encyclopedia (with various tidbits and characters/situations) that we were going to get for the next few years. I made it a point to try to get into the 1 million person open beta. Oh, I did get in, though at the cost of some of my pride (due to a huge welt/bruise I received in my excitement). Here's that story:

So for Pottermore beta, they had a Magical Quill Challenge to determine who would make it in. They released the clues at different times during the day to accommodate the UK/US audience. I had missed the first two days cause I was sleeping, so I was super determined to get in. I probably woke up at four in the morning and constantly refreshed the page. Once I saw the link, I had to answer a question to register. I had to find a specific answer from one of the chapters in the books. So at this point I ran downstairs to get my book once I found out what to look for. I ran past my dad (who had no idea what I doing) mumbled something and went to run back up to my room. The problem was, we had this game table that was about 2.5 feet tall. I ended up running straight into at a very fast speed pushing it across the floor at least six inches. The only problem was that this was with my thigh (aka Very painful). Of course I had to finish my quest, so I cried out and then painfully limped up the stairs. I made it into the beta (it didn't open up until September) but ended up with a golf ball size welt and bruise that made me limp for 6 weeks. Thinking back, I'm not sure if it was totally worth, but I really wanted to feel a part of the hype and the fandom. I ended up sorted into Slytherin to my surprise. I guess my ambitions and dreams of wanting to talk to animals as my superpower lead to me this conclusion.

What I go to bed to every night

This past year I ended up going to the theme park and plan on going again. I had such a great time and it was such a wonderful place for someone like me who put in 15+ years of love into this series. This opened me back up to the fantasy genre and I think it allowed me to get into A Game of Thrones/ The Song of Ice and Fire Series later on as an adult and really enjoy getting lost into a whole universe of characters and past history. Harry Potter was such a crucial part of my life that got me from my childhood into my adulthood, and for that, it will always have a special place in my heart.