Wizard Hair, Don't Care

It wouldn't be a surprise if fans were divided into different corners as the expansion of the wizarding world continues: some don't care about any new developments, many rightfully feel ostracized, others have trepidation but are still excited.

I would be lying if at some point I didn't feel all three over the past several years. (After all I hope I don't have the emotional range of a teaspoon.)

Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them hitting theaters? Yes, please. a part of my soul is already standing in line at the movie theater.

Pottermore updates? haven't cared about it so much since the show was re-vamped the website as the wordpress encyclopedia J.K. Rowling promised us all those years ago.

Harry Potter and Cursed Child play? I'd be excited to see the play in person, but a nervousness creeps in with the book. Did I really want to see more of Harry's life post-Voldemort? Will the story live up to this wait we've had all these years? to the five star reviews for the stage production?

I'd be lying if I didn't say that I was more excited for the midnight release party than the book itself..

My journey with Harry is a complicated one:

Like all the other kids I read Harry Potter growing up as the books were released. But on my way to reading Prisoner of Azkaban, super conservative relatives shamed my love of the series and convinced me it was wrong to read them.

Not only was my relatives against the series, convinced I go to hell if I continued on my way (yes, they told an eleven year old this) but the books were also a controversy in my neighborhood.

At school kids were divided into those who could be allowed to read them, and those who couldn't, whose parents were concerned about the magical and occult aspects.

On the news I saw people burning the books and exclaiming J.K. Rowling was a witch trying to convert children into the occult.

The protests of the series both close to home and the world via the news, my love of the series scared me and so I stopped reading. This change wasn't something I told anyone about. From my brief description above about my family, it's pretty obvious that my family was quite dysfunctional.

My yearning for the the series became something I tried to hide very well. Every year I pined to go to the book and movie releases. I wanted to catch up by checking out the library books but felt they were permanently reserved in the restricted section. The trailer for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince still stirs up certain emotions because of how much I wanted to see that movie.

I really didn't get into Harry Potter until the last movie was being released. Like if there was ever a definition in a fangirl dictionary of being the last person to jump on a fanwagon like Harry Potter, it would me: trying to cram seven movies in a month before the last movie release, buying the books after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two and taking my time to read them, feeling both elated and alone that the whole phenomenon passed without me.

As for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child itself, it can't necessarily be judged by it's spoilers but given that some of these spoilers are true, well, as Hagrid says, "What’s comin’ will come and we’ll meet it when it does". For a lot of fans, this may not be the 8th book some desired in The Mirror of Erised once upon a time.

Cursed Child might pre-emptively sound like a mess, but wizard hair, don't care, Dream come true, muggles! I can't wait to start the 8th book and then possibly, immediately regret my decision. I'll be back with my thoughts in a few days....