♥
The first time I cracked open this book was well over ten years ago.
So I felt that it was about time I reopen its worn and weathered binding for a re-read. Most of my peers have gone through the series several times already and since Ryan has been making his way through it recently, I have found myself a tad jealous. Although the whimsical world that J.K. Rowling created has been with me from page 1 of book 1 ever since I originally opened it, upon my second read through I realized that I had forgotten quite a few of the details!
For example, in my head when I thought of the story, I pictured it beginning as the movie does – on Privet Drive when Harry is dropped off at the Dursleys’ doorstep. Somehow I’d completely forgotten how the book itself read:
*Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you’d expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn’t hold with such nonsense.
Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors. The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.
The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it…*
I’d also lost my knowledge of wizard money! Galleons and sickles and knuts hadn’t entered my mind since high school. And I was again struck and comforted by Dumbledore‘s insight and understanding in every situation – What an amazing character and series. From here I’ll tackle one more title on my book list {Walden!}, and then leap back into the wizarding world with Year 2 of Harry’s adventures at Hogwarts!
Happy page turning!
xx.
