"That Friend" and "That Love"

This is a guest post that my sister's best friend, Elspeth, wrote about how she loves and appreciates Harry Potter.


You know That Thing that you love?
Not with fanaticism and not with desperation, but just with a constant love? Something that's always been there, something you grew up with.

Now, you know That Friend who loves That Thing maybe not MORE than you do, but expresses it more? Maybe they're just more in touch with the love they have for That Thing, maybe they actually do love it more.

This is about my relationship and my best friend's relationship with Harry Potter.
She doesn't just love Harry Potter, she LOVES Harry Potter. And because of that love, which I wouldn't say is inappropriate or excessive, I don't often think about how much I love Harry Potter.

This is not a complaint.
I'm just explaining why, whenever I go back to reread the series, I am able to relive it with such freshness. I've realized now that I LIKE forgetting how much I love Harry Potter, because it's like meeting up with an old friend and having so much to talk about because you haven't seen them in so long.

Ask my best friend and she'd probably tell you she has the same experiences every time she picks up her worn and well-loved copies of the books, so maybe it has less to do with the forgetting.

But you know what I remembered this time around?

Remember back when we didn't know what they Dursleys' secret was? Remember not knowing the whole story? Remember not even knowing who Dumbledore and Prof. McGonagall and Hagrid were? I'm rereading the first book for what I think might even be the first time since finishing the series and the perspective I have now makes the nostalgia even stronger and smoother. Like drinking a well-made cappuccino.