Harry Potter fans every where have the same exact problem: other Harry Potter fans.Last Wednesday I was siting with a group of wonderful people watching Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkanban. For quite a while, this was pleasant and I was able to have great conversation about the different hidden information in the movies. We debated a few different things and I was coming out with all the right answers, until someone mentioned the end of the Half Blood Prince. "No, Dumbledore is the one who explains Horcruxes to Harry," my friend's dad told me. "No, he doesn't. He learns about it is the pensive," I argued. "No, he doesn't. Dumbledore shows him in the sixth book. A lot of it isn't in the movie." I bushed scarlet. This is the moment that makes every Harry Potter fan have trouble sleepying at night. I don't want any one to know what I can't actually remember or what I never had memorized in the first place. We all want to be the number one fan, but maybe Harry Potter is about more than that.

This weekend was one of the happiest weekends of my life because I was in Harry Potter world, the place where other people are just as strange as I am. Upon my arrival, I was highly disappointed to find that I was one of the few people in wizarding robes. I found myself muttering, "every year, packed with muggles," as we walked our way through Gringotts, annoyed by the "laziness of fans these days". Further along in the day I was also disappointed by the lack of a book shop in Harry Potter world, which was all started by a book. I was getting frustrated with the people I overheard explaining to someone else, "Oh, I've never really read the books. I am just here with my family." I stood there wishing there was a test required before one could get into Harry Potter world. I was buzzing with irritation and finally exploded when I heard someone say out loud in public "Zonko's Wandshop". I reared on my boyfriend, even though he wasn't the one who said it, and I angrily told him "Zonko's Wandshop? Are you kidding me? Zonko's is a joke shop! Have they even read the books?" He sighed, also annoyed, but much more optimistic about the nature of other fans.

All this to say, yes, there is something awesome about the fact that my boyfriend and I walked around that place confident in the fact that we could school at least half the people there in Harry Potter trivia. On the other hand, I can't help but reflectively finding that I was a little judgmental. I think I could have spent a little less time getting annoyed about "Zonko's Wandshop" lady and a little more excited about the way her nine-year-old kid had a wand that within Harry Potter World could cast real spells at some shop windows. I could instead dwell on the way these books, movies, musicals or even just Harry Potter World brought all of us together and gave us some sort of hope. That is really cool no matter what part of the book I have memorized. I think I need to be rememinded that everyone who is a Harry Potter fan is a fan in their own unique way, and our individuality is truly magical.