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Citizen of the World
Very Harry
Christmas
By Elizabeth Horner
There was a sense of camaraderie in the air. For once, when I looked
right or left, I glimpsed more than my fellow New York University
Student and a face that I had noticed briefly while passing through the
Academic Center lounge. I saw more than the tenuous connection between
them and me that led us both to choose London as our Study Abroad
location of choice. I recognized… another Harry Potter fan.
In addition to the many historic places that we were given an
opportunity to visit, NYU also arranged this optional tour of “The
Making of Harry Potter” Studios. And to my utter horror, I noticed I
was almost crying. While they played a five-minute introductory video
about the world phenomenon inspired by these seven books, eight movies,
the knowledge of their personal impact on me hit. It’s not just that I
am a fan girl of the series: I don’t go to the midnight showings, or
play on JK Rowling’s interactive site, Pottermore. I don’t have a wand
of my own. But as Harry’s destiny was slowly revealed to him, usually
during heart-to-heart talks with Professor Dumbledore, I also started
coming into myself.
To other people, this must all seem a little ridiculous, but the proof
of their impact is alive in much of my current personality. These were
the books that brought me into the world of fantasy; Rowling was the
teacher from whom I learned I wanted to write for a living. So many of
the other doors that I have climbed through, so many paths that I have
chosen to take, were only made available to me by that first
decision--- to pick up The Sorcerer’s Stone where it sat on the shelf
in the library, going on a decade ago. I try to reverse those years in
my head, to see how similar or different my life would be, if I had
just passed it by, but I’ve learned it’s impossible to separate the
strands of a person’s existence from their experiences, and I got a
headache from trying.
All of this helped me come into a realization…. I never believed in the
kind of magic that allowed cars to fly and water to turn into rum, but
there is something incredible about the way people are able to take
small moments, ones almost without significance, and turn them into
milestones. On any given day, you might pass someone on the street who
will turn out to be your best friend. You might run out of a necessary
ingredient and end up creating something new. You might jot down a line
that has been echoing through your head over and over again, only to
rediscover it later and turn it into a song.
As my classmates and I snapped pictures of Hagrid’s hut and the
Gryffindor Common Room, we were not attempting to capture a genuine
artifact; instead, we were preserving an emotion from the other side of
the camera. We were laying tribute to everything we felt, everything we
understand about Harry Potter whether that be his lessons of love,
loyalty, fairness, charity, or mercy. We were also recognizing the part
our enthusiasm had to play in the magic.
As the holiday season encroaches, and people put on the visible or
invisible markers of Santa Claus, I hope that this type of magic
abounds. I hope everyone experiences the same wonder, of sharing
something with their fellow human beings and admiring them for that. I
hope… that everyone has a Very Harry Christmas!
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