If there was one thing I hated at the beginning of third grade, it was reading.

If this strikes you as a problem, it was, because third grade was just about the time that "reading for fun" and "reading logs" began to dominate elementary school conversation. I was not having it.

My best friend suggested on multiple occasions that I read a Harry Potter book. She insisted. She had read them all—a couple, probably more than once.

I didn't listen for a long time because I couldn't imagine any book would change my mind. I didn't like to read, and I wasn't very good at it.

In March of my third-grade year, my mom and I watched all of the movies. I was home sick for about a week and ABC Family was having a Harry Potter weekend.

Shortly thereafter, I picked up the first book and I never looked back.

So dear Harry Potter, thank you for teaching me how wonderful it is to read—to dive deep into the folds of someone else's imagination and explore for a while.

Thank you for teaching me that not all books are boring and that it is possible to read more than one hundred pages of text in one sitting.

Thank you for introducing me to a fandom, a hype, a scene—an entire world, literally—of people who share my interest.

Thank you for creating a space for me.

Thank you for encouraging me to write— to express my own ideas.

Thank you for consuming my childhood and giving me something to think about.

Thank you for giving me Hermione, and teaching me that it can be cool to be a nerd.

Thank you for teaching me that not all heroes are at the top of the class, and not all villains try to kill—that not all good people are good and to never underestimate anyone.

Draco Malfoy, thank you for hesitating at the end. It meant a lot.

Thank you for expressing the importance of friendship. Thank you for teaching me that home is not necessarily where you come from and family can be found everywhere.

Thank you for teaching me the importance of courage.

Professor McGonagall, thank you for being the disciplinarian—someone had to do it.

Thank you for taking me to Defense Against the Dark Arts classes, and teaching me spells.

If only it was so easy to unlock doors in this world.

Thank you for allowing me to learn life lessons from zany teachers and about love from parents who are not my own.

Mrs. Weasley, thank you for being a wonderful mother.

Thank you for allowing me to explore a campus different from any I've seen—with staircases and tunnels I could never follow.

Thank you for teaching me about a sport that I can now explain better than football.

I would probably fall off of my broom in Quidditch, but hey—it's a nice thought.

Thank you for giving me magic. There isn't too much of it where I live, and so I appreciate the opportunity to experience it.

Harry Potter, I've lost track of how many times I've read your work, but I've never once been unimpressed. Your legacy is unmatched and your story is legend.

Thank you for giving third-grade me something to explore, thank you for giving present me something to read in my free time, and thank you for giving future me something to always enjoy—something to always think about and come back to.

Ms. Rowling, you have a brilliant imagination, and I thank you for allowing me—someone you will likely never hear of—to bask in it.

Thank you for changing a little girl's imagination. It has done wonders.