For the past few years, I've been posting on the 31st of July, writing open letters to Harry Potter and his creator, and an excited rant about how much I was looking forward to Cursed Child.
This year is kinda more special. I mean, sure, last year we had a NEW CANON BOOK (that half the fandom subsequently rejected but still) starting from the last scene of Deathly Hallows, but this year marks twenty years since the publication of Philosopher's Stone.
To be honest, I was kind of stumped about what to write. I mean, I did use up a lot of good material in three years. Then I found this collection of emotional tributes that genuinely gave me goosebumps, and it nearly sent me down a rabbit hole (oops, wrong fictional universe) of Harry Potter content calculated to make me tear up.
Which got me thinking not about the wizarding world and its inhabitants, but the people of our world who are so invested in it. My fellow fans, in other words. And this letter is to them.
Dear fellow Potterheads,
It's the 31st of July! Harry's birthday, JK Rowling's birthday, pretty much OUR day. It's been twenty years since Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone came out, twenty years since the fandom was born, twenty years since the doors of the wizarding world were thrown open to our world, twenty years since someone opened a book on a shelf to read of how proud Mr and Mrs Dursley of Number Four, Privet Drive were to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.
Can I just say what a massive community we are? There must be Potterheads on every continent- except maybe Antarctica, unless a scientist studying weather patterns and penguins there turns out to be one.
I have seen strange and wonderful things in my years as a member of this fandom. I've seen fanart, Tumblr posts, fanfiction, homemade merch, cosplay, edits, GIFsets, quizzes and more. I've dedicated an entire folder on my computer to fanfiction I write, most of which is set in the Potterverse. As I type this, I'm wearing a T-shirt I painted with "DRACO DORMIENS NUNQUAM TITILLANDUS", and the initials of some of my favourite characters (I had so much trouble choosing them!) are written on my fingernails.
I've encountered fanfiction from the enthusiatically but confusedly written to the beautifully crafted. I've read POVs and AUs and things in between. I've seen casual sketches and intricately coloured paintings. I've come across ships I never would've thought of - ranging from the somehow perfect to the slightly weird to the downright strange - and theories that answered questions I never realised I had. I've become emotional at heartbreaking headcanons, I've laughed at hilarious posts and compilations of overlooked Potter-sass, I've scrolled through DIYs for a Tonks cosplay, I've watched amazing fan videos, listened to medleys of the movie score, taken all kinds of how-well-do-you-know or which-character-are-you quizzes, whistled Hedwig's theme anywhere and everywhere and had people turn around to smile or join in. I've quoted characters in class, in random conversations, even in speeches - just today I ended an official speech with the words "mischief managed".
This is a fandom that has consistently captured my attention. I may go through phases of other series or TV shows, but the Potterverse and this fandom has been there the longest for me. When I'm stressed or tired or having a bad day, it's often a single Harry Potter post or image or video, sent by a friend or popping up on my YouTube suggestions, that can cheer me up.
It's you who cheer me up.
We may have ship wars, disagree on choices of AUs, fight over characters' motivation and portrayal, argue over whether Snape was a "good guy" or not, have passive-aggressive exchanges online about random aspects of this incredibly detailed universe. But there's a reason we're a community.
We're people who were drawn to the adventures of a young wizard named Harry James Potter and his incredible friends (who deserve appreciation posts of their own) as they fought for equality and goodness against a heartless villain.
We're people who were charmed by the detail and intricacy of this world.
We're people who almost unanimously hate Dolores Jane Umbridge.
We're people who still sometimes feel annoyed by CALMLY.
We're people who understand each other's immersion in the Potterverse, who know there are others who feel as strongly, to whom it means as much or more.
We're people who love the Wizarding World. People who question it, marvel at it, but ultimately, feel like we're a part of it.
We're people who believe in magic. Maybe not the kind that allows someone to regrow bones overnight, make a broomstick fly, or teleport groups of people. We believe in the magic of a story, in the power of words to evoke emotions. Words are, after all, the most inexhaustible source of magic at Hogwarts.
So thank you, my fellow Potterheads. Thank you for sharing this universe with me, for opening up unprecedented parts of it for me to explore with you. This has been a fantastic five years for me, a fantastic twenty years for the fandom, and I look forward to many more.
Happy Potterverse Day!
-Purple Dragonfly
This year is kinda more special. I mean, sure, last year we had a NEW CANON BOOK (that half the fandom subsequently rejected but still) starting from the last scene of Deathly Hallows, but this year marks twenty years since the publication of Philosopher's Stone.
To be honest, I was kind of stumped about what to write. I mean, I did use up a lot of good material in three years. Then I found this collection of emotional tributes that genuinely gave me goosebumps, and it nearly sent me down a rabbit hole (oops, wrong fictional universe) of Harry Potter content calculated to make me tear up.
Which got me thinking not about the wizarding world and its inhabitants, but the people of our world who are so invested in it. My fellow fans, in other words. And this letter is to them.
Dear fellow Potterheads,
It's the 31st of July! Harry's birthday, JK Rowling's birthday, pretty much OUR day. It's been twenty years since Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone came out, twenty years since the fandom was born, twenty years since the doors of the wizarding world were thrown open to our world, twenty years since someone opened a book on a shelf to read of how proud Mr and Mrs Dursley of Number Four, Privet Drive were to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.
Can I just say what a massive community we are? There must be Potterheads on every continent- except maybe Antarctica, unless a scientist studying weather patterns and penguins there turns out to be one.
I have seen strange and wonderful things in my years as a member of this fandom. I've seen fanart, Tumblr posts, fanfiction, homemade merch, cosplay, edits, GIFsets, quizzes and more. I've dedicated an entire folder on my computer to fanfiction I write, most of which is set in the Potterverse. As I type this, I'm wearing a T-shirt I painted with "DRACO DORMIENS NUNQUAM TITILLANDUS", and the initials of some of my favourite characters (I had so much trouble choosing them!) are written on my fingernails.
I've encountered fanfiction from the enthusiatically but confusedly written to the beautifully crafted. I've read POVs and AUs and things in between. I've seen casual sketches and intricately coloured paintings. I've come across ships I never would've thought of - ranging from the somehow perfect to the slightly weird to the downright strange - and theories that answered questions I never realised I had. I've become emotional at heartbreaking headcanons, I've laughed at hilarious posts and compilations of overlooked Potter-sass, I've scrolled through DIYs for a Tonks cosplay, I've watched amazing fan videos, listened to medleys of the movie score, taken all kinds of how-well-do-you-know or which-character-are-you quizzes, whistled Hedwig's theme anywhere and everywhere and had people turn around to smile or join in. I've quoted characters in class, in random conversations, even in speeches - just today I ended an official speech with the words "mischief managed".
This is a fandom that has consistently captured my attention. I may go through phases of other series or TV shows, but the Potterverse and this fandom has been there the longest for me. When I'm stressed or tired or having a bad day, it's often a single Harry Potter post or image or video, sent by a friend or popping up on my YouTube suggestions, that can cheer me up.
It's you who cheer me up.
We may have ship wars, disagree on choices of AUs, fight over characters' motivation and portrayal, argue over whether Snape was a "good guy" or not, have passive-aggressive exchanges online about random aspects of this incredibly detailed universe. But there's a reason we're a community.
We're people who were drawn to the adventures of a young wizard named Harry James Potter and his incredible friends (who deserve appreciation posts of their own) as they fought for equality and goodness against a heartless villain.
We're people who were charmed by the detail and intricacy of this world.
We're people who almost unanimously hate Dolores Jane Umbridge.
We're people who still sometimes feel annoyed by CALMLY.
We're people who understand each other's immersion in the Potterverse, who know there are others who feel as strongly, to whom it means as much or more.
We're people who love the Wizarding World. People who question it, marvel at it, but ultimately, feel like we're a part of it.
We're people who believe in magic. Maybe not the kind that allows someone to regrow bones overnight, make a broomstick fly, or teleport groups of people. We believe in the magic of a story, in the power of words to evoke emotions. Words are, after all, the most inexhaustible source of magic at Hogwarts.
So thank you, my fellow Potterheads. Thank you for sharing this universe with me, for opening up unprecedented parts of it for me to explore with you. This has been a fantastic five years for me, a fantastic twenty years for the fandom, and I look forward to many more.
Happy Potterverse Day!
-Purple Dragonfly
