Life After Potter(mania)

This "Harry Potter Lost in the Medieval Times Gift Shoppe " cover isn't piquing my interest either.

So, the latest, and final, Harry Potter came out today, in case you somehow missed the hype in the media. Or the legions of duelling articles: "Potter is a bit of magical storytelling that has turned our children into readers" vs. "Potter is crap that will make our children terrible writers and worse, awful people". Or the confounding stuffed puppet Sorting Hats, I noticed at Chapters, surely one of the few secondary characters/objects to get the full plush puppet treatment since the stuffed "Gabbin' Jacob Marley Doorknob" of 1843.

I have my copy, but I realized months ago, when it was time to pre-order, that I didn't care all that much. I started reading Potter when I was 11, and now, almost twenty, Harry has been a cultural phenomenon that has dominated almost a decade of my life. In spite of the naysayers like my Dad, who was convinced that the Potter craze had "blown its wad".... after the release of Goblet of Fire. I had always been excited about Potter. Not to the point where I would write fanfic, or make fanart, or worse- make fanart depicting lewd acts between Snape and Harry where you think Harry has rabies. But that ain't rabies, baby. Just to the point where I'd wait for the postman to come the day of the release, rip off the packaging and close myself off from the world for a few hours. Then, I would re-read parts for comfort, keen on the idea that a world existed seemingly designed by an eccentric uncle, with about twelve stores in the whole world and no damn Wal-Marts. Although the idea of being able to buy club-sized packages of beetle eyes is amusing. I even liked the smell of the books.

But... something has changed. I bought my copy this year at a drugstore, at the same time as deodorant and dish soap. I've only made my way about half-way through the book, and didn't mind leaving to see Hairspray with my mom. It's not that I've grown out of them, since I think that attitude is pretentious, and furthermore that you don't need to grow out of fantasy. Maybe we've just grown apart. But I'll still wear my Harry Potter scarf with pride. After all, I am a Ravenclaw.