The Best Reader + weekend

Harry Potter Extravaganza!

Welcome to the Harry Potter Extravaganza! If you’ve been following along, I hope you’ve been having fun. If you’re new to the tour, welcome! Check out the full tour details here at Bibliophic Book Blog.

While I'm a few years older than the HP crew, I feel like I've grown up with them. I started reading the HP novels right after the "Prisoner of Azkaban" was released and the craze had already started. I don't really remember a time of my life before HP existed. Like any HP fan, I've read the books, I own the books, I've waited in line for the movies, I've bought the movies, and I even took a Harry Potter class last year in college (although it was absolutely horrific — that's another story completely). But there is one way Harry Potter aspect of my life that I think few people share.

Right after we met (MONTHS before we started dating), my now fiance wrote a Harry Potter song for me. I had just started dating someone when Dan asked me out, so it was actually very awkward. The story, according to Dan, is that in an effort to impress me, he finished writing his first song "The Harry Potter Romance." He had started it years ago but never finished. His friends have told me that he was in a frenzy, that he kept repeating that he had to finish this so he could "win" me over.

One night he called me and told me he needed my opinion on something; we were still friends and I agreed. He picked me up and played the song. This sounds petty, but I remember being jealous of whoever he wrote the song for. He dropped me off at home, gave me the first copy made (he went to a small studio to make CDs), he signed it, I thanked him for thinking of me, I left, and then we didn't talk for several months.

This summer when we finally reconnected, I was "living" in Northern Minnesota but going on all my travels and he was in Bismarck, ND (about a five hour drive). We met up every weekend and he accompanied me to a few of my many weddings. When we were apart I found myself listening to "The Harry Potter Romance" (often on repeat). I somehow felt closer to him just by hearing his voice on my iPod.

Recently, because of all the HP activities, I told him that I was extremely jealous of whoever he wrote the song for and that for most of the summer I pretended it was for me. He looked at me in astonishment and told me that I didn't have to pretend... that I was the girl he was singing to. It was the most romantic thing ever. On July 4th, he serenaded me in front of a crowd of vacationers, but I had assumed he had just decided that the song was now for me. After doing some detective work (asking his friends), I realized that he DID write it for me!

Now we laugh about it; I tease him that he should write a second song for the wedding (but I don't think it will happen). Regardless, I attribute much my of relationship, and future marriage, to Harry Potter. If he wouldn't have written that song and let me listen, I wouldn't have been jealous and therefore wouldn't have detected a deeper attachment (although it did take me months to realize it).

If you're interested in listening to "The Harry Potter Romance" go to Myspace and search "Piggy's Renditions" and you'll see "Harry Potter Romance."

Tomorrow look for a Harry Potter Giveaway!!

book, detective, giveaway, hope, LIFE, movie, novel, release, TIME, and more:

Harry Potter Extravaganza! + weekend