Call me biased, but this is almost true in almost every situation.

Hey, guys. My name is Claude and I’m a self proclaimed die-hard Potterhead.

My parents bought me and my sisters a tonne of books back in 2004 when I was 8 years old. It was mostly composed of volumes of encyclopedias, but five of those hard-bounds was a story that would change my life (and reading habits) four years later.

Why four years later? It’s because eight-year-old me wasn’t that fond yet of reading really thick books. She got easily bored when she tried to read the first book and, being the big geek that she was, focused on three volumes of children’s encyclopedia instead.

I started reading the books when I was 12, the same time that my sisters started reading them too, after seeing on Time’s Almanac for Kids 2008 that the last book has already been published. The first book that I read was Prisoner of Azkaban, since they both called shotgun on the first two books.

The moment I started reading it, I couldn’t put it down. I brought it to school and read it during my free time: I didn’t go to the canteen for recess and hurriedly ate my lunch just to continue it.

WHY DIDN’T I START READING THIS BEFORE?

That was the very first thought I had after reading the first few chapters.

I immediately regretted not continuing reading it as an eight-year-old. How dare I to put down that book so easily.

The series became my friend for the next 6 years, repeating the books and movies over and over and over again. I joined so many fan pages, became an admin to a few of them, immediately signed up to Pottermore as soon as they opened it. It introduced me to other people, some actually becoming my friends, and other things that I never thought I would enjoy (cheers to people who actually commented on Ed Sheeran’s Lego House Molly Weasley style. I woulnd’t be a Sheerio if it wasn’t for you, guys).

It also helped me understand a lot of things in this world and assisted me in my awkward times and teenage woes.

Wait, wait, wait– what do you mean “the series became my friend for the next ‘6years'”?

I forgot to tell you that 6 years later, when I was in 2nd year college, our area was flooded due to heavy rain just as our semestral break was ending. We thought that it wouldn’t reach the level where our family kept our books (shoutout to mom who was also a bookworm), so we just let it there, unknowingly letting the bottom half of the shelf be submerged in the murky water.

So there goes my Harry Potter books completely ruined. They’re now sitting in the garage along with my college books, magazines, and VHS tapes.

Ever since then, I haven’t read a single book of Harry Potter.

Why are you saying that you’re a die-hard Potterhead if you haven’t read a book for almost four years, then?

I didn’t say that I stopped watching the movies, did I? I still know a lot of HP stuff, I know the exact story, I know the difference between the books and the movies.

Now, back to the topic.

Why would I say that Harry Potter is the biggest fandom ever? I mean, there are other things like The Chronicles of Narnia, Sherlock, Doctor Who, even the awesome GAME OF THRONES.

Because to be honest, I have never seen flame in a fandom still flicker after all those times in the absence of their oxygen i.e. their common interest. Then here comes another project that still revolves around the same universe that is going to figuratively kill every fan and their feels.

Yes, that description perfectly fits the Harry Potter fandom. Most of us are already spiraling into insanity due to the lack–heck, I mean ABSENCE of canon materials that some of us are already making up their AUs and fanfictions and headcannons. Can you see what we’re going through? We never forget, and it still hurts.

But then, JK Trolling came to save us from this misery with Harry Potter and The Curse Child (with Jack Thorne and John Tiffany) and Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them (with David Heyman, David Yates and a bunch of other people including EDDIE FREAKING REDMAYNE).

Like seriously, the queen must’ve sensed that we’re already going crazy after 5 years without any HP-related stuff except for Pottermore.

And can you believe it? 20 years since the Philosopher’s Stone was released and this fandom is still growing, there are at least 4 theme parks, and I have never heard anything else as talked about as Harry Potter in this period of time.

I can’t even really articulate how proud I am of this fandom, and how proud I am of being in this fandom.

To all my fellow Potterheads, to more years of charms and butterbeers with you, guys.

To Queen JKR, thank you for sharing with us your world. What would my life become without you. Belated happy birthday!

-claude xx

PS. I am SO sorry to my fellow Whovians out there (Doctor Who has been on television for 54 YEARS).