Dear Chestnut Hill,

Every October you put together Harry Potter Weekend, two days where the town of Chestnut Hill turns into the village of Hogsmeade. Muggles and wizards alike come to the village to meet their favorite witches and wizards, be sorted into their Hogwarts houses, enjoy a butter beer, and of course, enjoy the quidditch tournament which we call “The Brotherly Love Cup,” hosted at Hogwarts itself. As a former student of the school, I have had the extreme pleasure of enjoying this weekend for four years in a row. In all those years, I had the opportunity to see my school become more alive and see witches, wizards, and muggles from all over the country come together just to celebrate this one weekend. There are so amazing things that happened all those four years, and I have you to thank for all of them.

Thank You For Letting Me Play Quidditch

Even if I only did it my first year, playing in the tournament as a chaser on the Hufflepuff team was a great experience. We might not have won enough games to advance into the finals, (even when our seeker did catch the snitch), and the Slytherin team might have gotten more goals then us, but being part of a team and having the opportunity to play was one of the best experiences I had during that whole weekend. I learned a lot about quidditch by playing it, and now I can say that I understand why people are so competitive when playing it and why they enjoy it so much.

Thank You For Bringing The Characters To Life

From the famous trio of Gryffindor students to Professor Snape and Professor Trelawney, they were all there. They had their wands, their robes, and their British accents. Seeing them walking around the campus during the tournament and walking around Hogsmeade, interacting with the children, made everything feel more realistic and they made the weekend a lot more enjoyable with their appearances and commentary at the quidditch cup.

Thank You for All the Great Merchandise and Food

Although I’m pretty sure they were mainly made to attract the muggles’ attention, the witches and wizards seemed to love them too. The quidditch t-shirts, the wooden pens that looked like wands, and the Gryffindor scarf which I proudly own, those things served as proof for many people that they did get to attend Harry Potter Weekend.

Then of course there was the food. I can still remember the little chocolate peanut butter-filled pastries that looked like little snitches, the cupcakes with the lightning bolts on them, and best of all, the butter beer. Not only did they taste delicious, but they made the whole weekend feel more magical.

Thank You for Showing Me That Magic Is Real

The muggles always say there’s no such thing as magic, and even though my school was Hogwarts, it wasn’t all broomsticks and waving wands. I knew they were wrong after seeing so many people come together to cheer on their favorite team in the quidditch cup, have Professor Trelawney tell them their fortunes, or even get a pair of Harry Potter’s glasses at Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes. The fact that people came together just to enjoy these two days was the real magic.

That one weekend every year is something that will always be in my memories. The opportunity that I had to take part in it and enjoy it with my friends was one of the greatest opportunities I was given in my four years as a student. Sometimes I used to think that the magic was going to end as soon as I graduated, but fortunately I was wrong. Harry Potter Weekend is for everyone and many alumni, too come back to take part and celebrate this magical weekend. I hope as the years go on and this tradition continues that I too can be one of the alumni who still enjoys Harry Potter Weekend, because as it taught me, you’re never too old for the magic.

Sincerely,

A Proud Gryffindor