I am a Potter nerd. I have been a Potter nerd since before I got married and had kids. I went to the midnight book premiers as well as the midnight movie premiers. I sat in my room for hours upon hours reading books 1-6 and delaying book 7 because it was the end. I went to the Wizarding World in Orlando as soon as it opened and then again with my kids. I went to the Wizarding World in California because, well, I had to. Now my 5 year old LOVES Harry Potter. We started reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone (the picture book version) and she has watched the movies. I am living through it all over again through her and the excitement is still the same.
When I found out Barnes & Noble was having a Harry Potter and the Cursed Child kick off party, I knew we had to go. We got Ari dressed up in her dressrobes and the rest of us put on various HP related shirts. When I got to B&N, I was shocked to see only a small portion of the store was set up for the event. I experienced much grander celebrations for the books of the past. After speaking to them, they were under the assumption that the event wouldn’t be popular so they set it up for just a few people. Though it didn’t bring in the crowds the HP books and movies did, it did bring in a decent sized group. A majority of the crowd was made up of HP fans of the past plus their kids. Yup, I am not the only one who passed on her love of the HP world. These kids weren’t just ‘fans of Harry, Ron and Hermione’. These kids were educated in the whole HP world. This was proven during the HP Jeopardy game when these kids didn’t wait to catch a breath to shout out an answer – and these weren’t all easy!
It was so nice to see that the love and passion of Harry Potter is still very much alive. B&N was so shocked and is planning on having a much larger, grandiose celebration for the HP and Cursed Child premier on July 30th. I am so excited, but just like I was with book 7, I am a little sad. Is this going to be the last, the true last installment of the series? I really hope not.
xoxo
Meliha
