The Wizarding World of Holland Imes

The Harry Potter series has been a part of my life from a very early age. I picked up the first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone in second grade and never looked back. I was hooked, almost entrapped in this fictional world filled with magic, castles and mythical creatures.

The Girl Who Read

When I started reading the Harry Potter series back in the second grade, my dad decided to read the books as well. We would watch the movies together and talk about all the differences there were between the book and the movie. My friends were also really into Harry Potter, and at recess we would even pretend we were running away from dragons, or casting spells at each other. This only grew my love for the series.

I would get through each book pretty fast. Especially those first few since they were pretty small books. I can’t remember exactly how long it took me to get through the first three, but I remember staying up really late just so that I could read the last 100 pages. I also remember being up at 4:00 in the morning, and my mom coming into my room asking me what I was doing up so early. “I only have 60 pages left!” I would tell her, and she would just roll her eyes but let me continue. As I got further into the series, I didn’t get through each book as fast. Even though the books got larger, I was getting older, and my comprehension and reading skills were drastically improving as I went along. I finished the series when I was in the fourth grade.

Living the Magic

In 2011, my mom and I went down to Florida to visit some family. While we were there, my mom decided to take me to Universal Studios to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I had the BEST time there. We went to Ollivanders Wand Shop and I got Hermione Granger’s wand, and was even picked to have a wand chose me, because as you know, “The wand choses the wizard”. We went to Sugarplum’s Sweetshop, and I got chocolate frogs, and Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans. I even got to meet James and Oliver Phelps who play the Weasley twins while I was there! This is the picture my mom took just before they shook my hand!

During the summer, my mom signed me up for a couple of summer programs. They were often taught by students of the university that were majoring in education and needed the teaching experience. A couple of the programs they offered were Harry Potter related. One year I did Quidditch camp and I had the BEST time ever. We were sorted into the Hogwarts Houses, and learned how to play Quidditch. Instead of brooms we used pool noodles. I made so many new friends and we all shared a common interest which made it even better. We didn’t spend all day playing Quidditch, sometimes we would go inside and do Harry Potter related arts and crafts. My favorite was when we learned how to make Butterbeer.

Harry Potter has always been an important part of my life. I’ve only read the book series one time through, but I’ve seen the movies countless times. There are a lot of movies that are not as good as their books, but in my opinion Harry Potter is not one of them. Overall, the Harry Potter series is the best book to movie translation I have seen. I wish that I could experience the books and movies for the first time all over again.