Confessions of a Reluctant HAARRY POTTER Fan
Or How I Learned to Appreciate the Snark and Billow

by Marie O'Donnell 

It all started off so innocently.   I never set out to become a resident of the “Potterverse,” the world of everything Harry Potter-related.  I definitely never expected to become a devoted fan (called “Fangirls”) of the snarky  Potions’ Master, Severus Snape.

I’m a mature woman, with grandchildren, even — which was the excuse I used to read the first “kid’s” book about the boy wizard and his adventures.  The last thing I expected was to become someone who gets as thrilled over the release of a book or movie as a 16-year-old anticipating getting their drivers’ license.

Yet, after I had caught up with the books already released,  there I was, putting in my pre-orders on Amazon so I would have my copy of the upcoming book delivered the day it was released in the stores. (I just wasn’t quite up to dressing up and waiting in line at one of the “book release” parties held at various book stores…even I have my dignity –cough, cough.)

In my own defense I have to say it kind of snuck up on me.  I had just finished reading several Kay Scarpetta novels and was looking for something “light.”  I’d heard of  the “Harry Potter Phenomenon,” but wasn’t interested at first, considering it a passing fad.  Children’s books. Kids reading again?  Hah!  That wouldn’t last long. 

Then, like I said, under the guise of  “checking out” the books before I bought one for my oldest grandson, I picked up a paperback copy of  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.  It wasn’t a large book, and when I sat down to read it I figured it would just be a nice, relaxing few days. 

Then, before I knew it…zap! I was hooked.  From the time Harry went to Diagon Alley (a place in London that non-magic folk, called “Muggles,” can’t see) to get all of his school supplies, I had suspended belief and was walking along with him and Hagrid, the twelve-foot-tall grounds-keeper from Hogwarts’ School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, who was escorting Harry. 

It was complete escapism, and I loved it.  A chance to get away from RL (what Potter fans call Real Life).  It was also the book that introduced one of Harry’s adversaries, Professor Severus Snape, who makes the most poetic introduction to his Potions class imaginable.  I was a Snape fan from that moment on, no matter how much he “snarked,” or how badly he treated Harry.  Anyone who so eloquent had to be OK.  Besides, he wore black wizards’ robes which “billowed” when he stalked through the castle.

I finished the book in a day or so, and was soon purchasing Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and, shortly after that, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, a book which I consider one of the turning points of the series.  In PoA, Harry is older and the plot starts to get darker and more complicated. 

I caught up with the books already in print with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and made sure to have my pre-orders in quickly so I didn’t have to wait any longer than necessary to receive Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, or Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. 

Each book was bigger and better than the last, and, when I had read the last page of Deathly Hallows, I felt that I was leaving old friends behind.  

I also discovered several websites where Potter fans congregate to discuss their favorite books, favorite characters, translation of the books to film, and right now, what we are hoping for in the Deathly Hallows movies.

I was surprised to find the diversity of people who populate the Potterverse.  I thought, when I first went on one of the forums it would be mostly children…silly me.

 There are some children, usually in their mid to late teens, but, the majority of those posting on the various threads are adults.  These are not people who have nothing else to do with their time, either.  While some are free-lance writers and enjoy practicing their skills writing “fanfic,” or stories they’ve created using the HP characters, most are average, everyday people with jobs and lives.  A majority that I’ve chatted with on the site that visit the most are college graduates, many with Masters or Doctorates.  There are teachers, from grade school up through college professors.  There are businessmen and women, students, homemakers, artists, people in the military, and people from just about every other walk of life.

I’ve gotten so many different viewpoints on the books from the discussion threads that I’ve now read the series through five times and each time I’ve found something that I missed during my previous readings:  a new way of interpreting a statement or a different way of looking at a scene.  It’s like a book club on line.  And, I found out very quickly that each character’s fans take their heroes very personally, and the discussion groups can become very heated. 

What we all seem to have in common, though, is the love of a good story well-told, and an appreciation for courage, loyalty, perseverance, friendship, and love.  Those are the things that bind the characters in the books together, and the fans.

While the websites add to the books, it is the characters and their stories that have burrowed their way into my heart.  After living with them for almost ten years, they seem a bit like family.  And to think, I didn’t even want to meet them at first.  What a loss that would have been.

For anyone who hasn’t read the series, I would highly recommend it.  For those who have seen only the movies – you might want to read the books, because the movies, while good, can’t really do justice to the intricacies of the plots like the books can.

And, if there are any other “mature” Harry Potter fans out there (especially if you’re a Snape fan in particular), I hope that the Potterverse has given you as much pleasure and entertainment as it’s given me.  

Now, let’s all head down to the Three Broomsticks.  The butterbeer is on me!