Farewell, Harry Potter

Photo by Roland Lösslein on Unsplash

I don’t know if I wrote a similar post before or not but here goes nothing.

I finally finished Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. And you might think well you have 3 more to go. Right! Is that what came to your mind?

Well, you are wrong. I finished reading the rest of the books a long time ago. I only had the fourth left to be read.

So here how it happened?

Before my discovery of Harry Potter I didn’t read much. I lived in Egypt and the act of purchasing/borrowing books was not widely spread. I didn’t know what to read/how to choose books/where to get them from. I remember not having a bookstore close to me. If I wanted to purchase books, I either had to go to Cairo’s downtown or wait for Cairo’s annual book fair. And even when I went to the book fair I didnt know what to look for. I had zero knowledge and zero interest.

Then came a night, unlike other nights. It happened in 2005 as I was flipping through the TV, something caught my eyes. In short, it was Harry Potter. I watched it in complete amazement with my brother. Needless to say, it became my favorite thing my eyes ever came across.

The next morning was Sunday which meant the start of the week. I started my day with so much excitement in the air because I was about to tell everyone at school what I watched the other night.

It turned out that everyone knew about the Harry Potter series already. Mind you, I was the last person in the entire universe to know anything about it. But that didn’t stop me from blabbering about it day and night…and for that whole year…until today.

Note: one of my friends ended up lending me her copy of Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets and I read it religiously. I remember reading it during my ride back and forth from school.

The movie I had watched was Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets was broadcasted the following week. I watched Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban years later. Then one of my friends told me that the fourth movie was coming out. I went and watched it with my brother. I was once again amazed by the production/acting/story,etc. It was so great (probably my favorite movie out of all the Harry Potter movies).

Thankfully, it was almost time for Cairo’s bookstore. This time I was excited to go. I decided to get Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in order to know what happened after the movie had left off. So my first book I ever purchased was the fifth book in the series. I know. I never felt eager to buy a book in my life before. I devoured the whole thing.

Note: Reading the fifth book before the release of the movie was not a bad idea.

 A newspaper held a contest(that was when I had moved to Canada) in celebration of the new movie release. I was to answer a question to enter a draw to win the fifth movie's original soundtrack. The question was based on the fifth book plot. I submitted my answer online (I think it was online) and I was among the winners. Its one of the things that I cherish greatly.

I went to all the movies since, during the first week of its release. I read all of the books that were released after in order. Then read what I was missing from the series which were the first book and the third book.

And the journey ends today. But I know that Harry Potter will always be part of me. This might be my last Harry Potter related post but you never know.

Thank you Harry Potter for making me read

Thank you Harry Potter for my first blog entry

Thank you Harry Potter for being a good friend

Thank you Harry Potter for teaching me many things

Thank you and farewell!