"Breathtaking"

For those that don't know, I am a Harry Potter fanatic. My grandparents gave me a boxed set of the first four books as an early Christmas present during my family's Thanksgiving visit in 2000, before we moved to Costa Rica. I had read the first three chapters of Philosopher's Stone (the proper title) back in third grade, but I wasn't interested in reading a book with a boy as the main character. Yuck. However, ten-year-old Aida rationalized that that boxed set had probably been rather expensive, and her grandparents would probably appreciate it if she gave the books another try, since it was a special gift and all. Chapter Four is when Harry finds out he's a wizard. I was crazy about magic and witches and anything to do with the fantasy genre when I was in fourth grade (and I was a voracious reader, even then). Needless to say, I was hooked almost instantly. I just didn't know that ten years later, I would be equally, if not even more, obsessed.

The Harry Potter books are important to me. Looking back, I don't know if I can adequately explain how I grew to love them so dearly. J. K. Rowling is not Shakespeare, but when I was ten years old her weaknesses as a writer (of which there are very, very few, though I will grudgingly admit they do exist) didn't matter to me. I think, whatever you may say about her writing, Jo Rowling is a master storyteller. She knows innately what readers will find gripping. She takes care with her planning and her details. She does foreshadowing better than any other author I've read. Most of all, she creates characters that feel real, that you love and you worry about. I know that there are several legitimate criticisms one can make about the series, but obviously it struck a deep chord with readers worldwide, especially (though certainly not exclusively) those of my generation. Nearly everyone I know has read and enjoyed the books, or at the very least has seen the movies (I am judging you right now if that is the case. Not acceptable. You needed to be reading the books yesterday). Clearly I'm not the only one that feels this way, although I probably feel more strongly about it than most people do.

I'm rambling, I know. I guess I want to explain myself so you don't think I'm crazy for basically imploding with anticipation at this new website: Pottermore.com. I've been involved with Harry Potter fandom for years (when there aren't enough obsessed dedicated people around you, you search them out yourself). Part of the reason I'm dying to meet Jo someday is that she maintains this fantastic relationship with the online fan community. She understands our devotion to the series and genuinely seems to care about us and what we want (and yet she still sounds incredibly nice and down-to-earth). Her official site, jkrowling.com, became a great source of speculation in those pre-Half-Blood Prince and pre-Deathly Hallows days. She provided background information on beloved characters, gave us hints about what might happen, and made both hilarious and insightful comments on the occasional madness that is Harry Potter fandom. There was a mysterious locked door on her site (now locked again for the first time in years!) that would open every so often, with a fun, if sometimes frustrating, series of puzzles to solve. A particularly interesting tidbit of info or news would be revealed at the end once you made it through. It was all done in a thoroughly British and Jo-like manner. Her site has been largely defunct since December of 2007, however (everything is still there, but she hasn't updated it properly in years), and while the general consensus in fandom was that she was taking a well-deserved break and working on other projects, we missed the days when new things were posted every month or so. Jo did promise to release a Harry Potter encyclopedia at some point, but there was no reason to believe she would be finishing it soon.

Then, yesterday afternoon, my favorite fansite, The Leaky Cauldron, announced that Jo had a surprise to unveil. There was some fun business with coordinates and clues on various fansites, all organized by Jo, and then a cryptic Twitter account, YouTube page, and webpage were launched. The result? Pottermore.com. I still have no idea what it's about, and neither does the rest of fandom. Leaky has a particularly good relationship with Jo, and their webmistress, Melissa, posted that she was given a sneak peek and Pottermore is apparently "breathtaking."Of course, the rest of us don't get to find out what it is for SIX ENTIRE DAYS. I am not a patient person. I know I will survive, but the suspense is maddening. Everything about Pottermore has Jo written all over it, which invariably means that my expectations are sky high. There's a lot of speculation going on at the moment. Some people think Jo might be releasing on online version of the encyclopedia (which I would be thrilled about). Others think she might be introducing an HP-themed social networking site (I guess that would be cool). Still others think she's going to create an HP online role-playing game, or MMORPG. Which ... no, just no. I mean, I get that some people dig that sort of thing, which is fine, but I would be massively disappointed if that's what she has planned, as I suspect is the case for a lot of people. There's just too much hype for it to be something with as limited appeal as an MMORPG.

So, yeah. tl;dr, I know. But this is basically defining my life for the next few days. I'm burning with excitement and need to express it somehow, so blog it is. This is the Harry Potter nerd I am. Learn to love it - or at least live with it. :)