Hi everyone! Today is J. K. Rowling’s fiftieth—and Harry Potter’s thirty-fifth—birthday! Here’s a Book Chat that’s rather different than the ones I usually post; one that I’ve poured all my thoughts and feelings about the world of Harry Potter into…

Dear J. K. Rowling,

I started reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone when I was quite young—all the way back in primary school. As I opened the book and read the first line,

“Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much,”

I had no idea what lay ahead. But I read and eventually drifted off into the magical world where anything is possible (which I’m happy to say I still visit quite often). I devoured one book after the other, and when I had finished all the books, back to back, in under two weeks, I read them again and again. They never lost their excitement, no matter how many times I flipped through their pages.

This sounds cliché, I know, but I truly felt as though I was alongside Harry, Ron, and Hermione through it all— marveling at the sheer enormity of Hogwarts, raising my hand in Charms class, whizzing through the air in a Quidditch match, sneaking over to Hagrid’s in the middle of the night, fighting all sorts of magical beasts, dueling with Lord Voldemort, banding together with everyone in the epic Battle of Hogwarts. You see, the characters were not simply characters. They were people, just as real as my family and friends.

But, looking back, underneath these thrilling, brilliantly worded accounts of three clever, mischievous students at Hogwarts learning magic at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, meeting all sorts of magic folk, and bringing together everyone to help defeat You-Know-Who Voldemort, there lie quite a few important lessons—namely about love and determination and human nature—that have stayed with me since that very first book, and for that, J. K. Rowling, I must thank you.

As Professor Dumbledore once said,

“Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most

inexhaustible source of magic,

capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it.”

You have certainly proved him right, J. K. Rowling. ❤

Happy Birthday to you and Harry! (And Neville Longbottom too.)

Yours truly,

Yasimone

P.S.: I’m still waiting for my Hogwarts letter… 🙂