The Time Turner

If I could go back and view myself reading (and rereading) Harry Potter, what would I see? 

I can’t even be sure how many times I’ve read Rowling’s books. A lot.

When I first heard of Harry Potter, the first book had just arrived in America, and everyone was talking about him. I was in my twenties, and I remember thinking, I’m an adult.  Even though I was sure people probably knew what they were talking about, I didn’t think I needed to rush right out and read this children’s book.

I think I started reading when the second book came out in America, and of course, I was hooked.  I knew immediately that anyone, any age, could enjoy Harry’s story, not just for the magic of Hogwarts and the wizarding world, but for the love and friendship, the battle of good versus evil, and the coming-of-age experiences that everyone could live through right along with Harry.  I could see myself in Harry, Ron, and Hermione.  It didn’t matter that I was an adult.  Or a Muggle.

I eagerly read each book as it was released.  I probably first reread them by listening to Jim Dale read them to me in the amazing audiobook versions that I checked out at the public library I worked in at the time.  I walked to and from work each day, and I loved that time with Harry, coming to me through my headphones.

I remember going to Target on the morning that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released to buy my copy.  I had a tiny baby with me, and this was my first outing alone with her.  I walked in, carrying her, grabbed a copy from an endcap near the cash registers and checked out.  I read and read and nursed that sleeping baby until I knew how the book ended.

I’ve come back to these books over and over. They provide me with comfort, excitement, laughter, and friendship. I see something new in every rereading.   

The best rereading of all was when I read the whole series aloud to my daughter, Cordelia.  I saw the story through her eyes.  I felt the fear, the excitement, the joy.  We read most of the series in the course of one summer, but we paused towards the end of the sixth book for a while and came back to hear the end when she was a little more ready for the big things that would happened in the end of the story.  We calculated the time it took me to read a page aloud and multiplied it by the many pages to get a sense of just how much time we spent together…with Harry and company.

J.K. Rowling writes in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, “There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.”  Well, Cordelia and I would say that there are things you can’t share without becoming friends, and Harry Potter is one of them.   Of course, we liked each other in the first place, but sharing Harry Potter gave us a special new “friendship club” for life.   Mother and daughter enjoying Harry Potter.  And, that’s what we’re doing here.  Always,  Laura