When I was little, I remember when Harry Potter first came out. I was only 8yrs old but was dealing with...alot of bullying at school due to misdiagnosed ADHD. For much of my young life, I was back and forth on various medications including Ritalin which had a devastating effect on my self confidence, immune system and in general, my ability to cope with being different. I was taunted, teased, pushed around, and without much mercy, bullied to the point where there were times, where I genuinely didn't feel safe going to school and would beg my grandmother, to let me stay home.
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But when the first Harry Potter book came out, I was able to dive into a world where I felt I belonged, where everything made sense. Seeing that I had developed a new hobby, my grandmother spent days keeping an eye open for when the next book would be released and buying it as soon as it hit the market. She'd buy me playing cards, and anything to do with Harry Potter and or Hogwarts in general.
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Prior to the official launch of the Wizarding World Website which opened on April 14, 2012, I had somehow known I was a Slytherin. I felt a strong connection to this house which is, to say the least, surprising because I love the colors red and gold (which are Gryffindor colors). When the website officially launched, I took the official Sorting Hat test and, lo and behold, was sorted into Slytherin. I was 23yrs old when this happened. For six long years, I've loved this House and while the colors Green and Silver have, over time, grown on me, I've found ways to combine my previous love of Red and Gold into the Silver and Green hues.
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I know quite a few people have a hate on for J.K. Rowling, however, I simply can not dispute the love and friendships I have built by being apart of this magical, mystical and fantastical world. Harry Potter saved me from harming myself, many times throughout my long life. It gave me the courage and the cunning to survive being bullied for as long as I was.
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So here's to a love for a franchise that saw us through some of the roughest points in our lives. Scroll to the bottom for more ^3^
Since being in Slytherin, I've discovered a few things; My Patronus is one of the rarer ones as very few members got the Eagle Owl (which funnily enough, even in the real world, it's not a common owl to see despite being labeled as 'least concern'). My wand is made from Chestnut wood with a dragon core 12 ½" and unyielding flexibility.
