To literally my Queen,

It is my honest belief that there is nothing I could ever say or write that could describe my gratitude. To this day, at 21 years old, I have never forgotten the moment I picked up my first Harry Potter novel and started to read. After a particularly horrible day of constant bullying from a number of fellow six year old kids, I found solace in the crisp pages as I went on unbelievably magical adventures with my first real friends.

As I grew, the bullying worsened to days where I felt like I couldn’t, -- not didn’t want to -- literally couldn’t, make it through another day of school because I felt so ultimately alone in the crowd. Even through the years where I felt like self-harm might be the only way for my pain to exit my body, I would find the strength to escape to Hogwarts once more and feel okay again.

I’ll never remember what really happened at school that day, and I’ll never remember what exactly made it so bad; but I’ll never forget struggling to read “The Sorcerer’s Stone” through my tears and feeling like I was there with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. I’ll never remember what my homework was that night, but I’m fairly certain I didn’t bother doing it. I can’t begin to imagine what the following weeks entailed in school, but I’ll never forget the limitless nights my father would come in and take my flashlight leaving me unable to keep reading under the covers after bedtime.

I have made incredible friendships through my journey with Harry. Whether it be the sensitivity my ears have to the subject rendering me to stop and immediately start a conversation with a group of strangers discussing fan theory, standing in line for the midnight release of the next book, or people realizing having me on their team for Harry Potter trivia night is probably the best chance they have, the Harry Potter fandom is a family. It’s a powerhouse of relentless, accepting, loving people that will never die. I am so incredibly grateful that Harry, Hogwarts, and the stories that saved me will live on forever.

So thank you. Just thank you. You might never meet me, you might never know, and you probably didn’t think this would be your goal while writing Harry’s adventures, but I feel the need to thank you for me, and what I believe to be the countless number of kids around the world who grew up with your writing and are here today because of it.

Without you, I wouldn’t be alive and writing this letter. You gave me an amazing gift that I can never repay. Still to this day, whenever life becomes unmanageable, I know that Hogwarts will be there to welcome me home to a place where I can take a step back and breathe. I know now that the fact that I can breathe is pretty amazing.

Thank you for helping me to realize that I shouldn’t give that gift up.