Harry Potter's Birthday and Being a Muggle

I think it's safe to say after discovering the Harry Potter series quite late in my childhood (fourth grade), I spend a significant amount of my time wishing, and hoping that on my 12th birthday a special letter would come, telling me that I was destined for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I can imagine every little boy and girl who has ever fallen in love with the series has gone through the same thing, and yet when the 12th birthday rolls around... nothing. Now, we can all shrug it off, play it like we weren't actually expecting an invitation to Hogwarts, but come on, we kind of were. For me, it was a quiet hope in the back of my mind, persistent. As my friend says, "My Hogwarts letter is coming, it's just got lost in the mail." I couldn't agree more.

I have a very strong respect for fandoms and what they are able to affect lives of so many people. I feel like people disregard them as childish or immature. Heck, even my computer is telling me fandom isn't a word. Wikipedia's (yes, very reliable :P) definition of fandom is such; "Fandom is a term used to refer to a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of empathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest." A word that especially jumps out at me is "camaraderie." This is what fandoms permit and what they're fundamentally based on. Friendship, and coming together to celebrate a common passion for... anything. When you're a part of a fandom you will always have someone to fangirl, fanboy, or fangender with whenever you want. I see people on Instagram that make lifelong friends from across the world through fandoms. You also don't have to own social media. All you have to be is a fan to be part of a fandom. Heck, you can just consider yourself in the fandom to be a part of it, because people want to share the joy of loving something so intensely with as many people as possible. Fandoms are also becoming worldwide. Comic Con, Vidcon, Leaky Con, so many Cons (conventions)!! In the most socially connected world in history, through fandoms and social media we can see that people all over the world are no different than us. They cried with us as Dumbledore died and also wept when they finished that last and final book. Harry Potter is global and transcends time, and a lot of that is because of us, the fans. We beg our siblings and friends to read the books, and talk about the series so frequently even people who haven't ever seen the books know what they are. We are what keeps HP alive (besides the phenomenal writing of JKR). I truly believe that even though my Hogwarts letter was misplaced and never came, and many of yours suffered the same fate (though I hope some of your letters did come), that we are a part of Harry Potter almost as much as JK Rowling or Harry Potter. I regard Harry as an old friend whose world I can always lose myself in. Happy birthday Harry and JK Rowling, and I hope we make you proud.

Always,
- Nargles 7/31/14