It all started innocently enough on a fine day at the bookstore where my daughter and I were looking for books to read aloud before bedtime. JK Rowling's runaway success, Harry Potter, was all the rage then and I felt drawn to give it a try. It was a gamble because that would mean a much thicker book to get through compared to what we were reading; I was also concerned that it wouldn't be interesting enough for my then 5-year-old daughter because it was a text-only book. We'll just see how it goes, I assured myself as I paid for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the book that introduced Rowling's fantasy world to the masses.
That night, as my daughter and I settled in for our bedtime routine, I had no idea what was in store for us - it marked the beginning of a new episode in our lives. I must have read for about an hour; my daughter kept asking me to continue each time I wanted to stop. I was having a hard time creating different accents and mannerisms for the numerous characters that had appeared as we delved deeper into the book over the following nights. She pointed out each mistake I made in my "acting" because I forgot how I made up some of the roles - we had not seen the movie at that point - and I had to correct it and get it right. There were times that I wished I had never picked that book.
By the time we finished the first book, my daughter had already become a certified member of JK Rowling's growing legion of enthusiastic fans. We moved on to Book 2, then Book 3...and when Book 4 came out, I almost choked - it was over 700 pages! Thankfully, my daughter was a little older then and she decided to read it by herself. But that wasn't the end of the Harry Potter saga in our lives. The movies were an integral part of the equation, followed by DVDs. By the time Book 5 appeared, Potter-mania had already gripped the lives of many families throughout the world. Bleary-eyed parents got up at the crack of dawn to take their kids to bookstores on the day the books went on sale, paying ludicrous amounts of money for Harry's next escapade, and "losing" their children in the process as they practically disappeared from this world, lost in their books.
Harry Potter also infiltrated fancy dress parties. When previously she would have been thrilled to dress up in pretty clothes and glitter, she now wanted to look as if she was a genuine character in Harry's world. So that meant store-bought costumes were out of the question; it also meant a clueless mother trying to assemble some sort of wardrobe for her (sewing is not my forte). We also turned into twig detectives as we scoured the garden grounds for the perfect one that resembled a wand, and later into inventors as we tried to mimic the effect of magical light emitting from the wand. That's not all - we even spent a long time hunting for a broom! Not just any broom; it had to be "just right". Very interesting period, indeed.
Since her close circle of friends were not Potter fans, it was me that my daughter turned to for plot and character discussions. That wasn't so bad because I had been reading the books as well, but since the discussions invariably included the spells, I had to crash-course memorise them as well; Wingardium leviosa, Alohomora, Confundus, Expecto Patronum and so on. That was...interesting, too.
We started a Harry Potter scrapbook, bought a Harry Potter chess set, playing cards, exercise books, wrapping paper, stickers, collectibles, and even a Potterised version of Cluedo. It's been eight years since JK Rowling's creation became a part of our world, and it looks like it will stay a while longer. We've just watched the first part of the final movie, and my daughter is already waiting for the DVD to be released. Then the final part of the final movie next year, and the inevitable DVD.
I am not the only harried parent affected by Potter-mania. I am sure there are numerous other families who went through some version (or degree) of what I experienced. The books have been written, only one more movie remains unseen...are we approaching the end of the road of this long saga? Perhaps not. In a recent interview with Oprah, JK Rowling hinted that she may write more Potter books - so be afraid, be very afraid...
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