The Return of Harry Potter

It was about this time, two years ago... an era was ending and, though we felt a deep sadness at its passing, we also felt such great joy and excitement and couldn't wait to share these final moments with those we knew who loved it as much as we did.

I'm talking, of course, about the release of the seventh and final Harry Potter book, The Deathly Hallows.

Those were great days for us. We plotted and planned what we were going to do and how we were going to do it. One thing that Eva and I had done, starting with book 4 or 5, was to have a brunch on the day the book came out. It was entirely accidental the first time it happened; I had ordered the book to be delivered on the release day, looking forward to not having to fight crowds or run all over town looking for a copy.

I was in my kitchen, making coffee, when Eva popped by to say good morning and see what I was up to. When I told her about the book coming, she got so excited, which got me even more excited and when she asked if she could read it after I was finished, I suddenly had the idea of us reading it together. The plan began to form... We would make a big brunch and when it came, we would take turns reading out loud to each other! And so it began...

Eva raced back to her place (across the hall from me if I haven't mentioned that in this blog already), grabbed anything she had for omelettes and then made a quick run to the store for champagne. The first bottle popped and food just beginning and....... there was a knock on the door. The book had arrived!!!!

I opened the door, practically vibrating with excitement, to find a very amused UPS man, making his millionth book drop off of the day and already braced for our squeals while I signed for the book and he turned to go make his million and first. I held the book in my hands, looked at Eva and realized, we hadn't made brunch yet. We couldn't start reading!

So the package was opened, the book caressed and laid gently on the living room table to wait for our (now manic) brunch making to be complete. God, it was fun... We'd finish something, bring it out, lay it on the table and wistfully gaze at the book before wrenching ourselves away to go finish something else. The tension and excitement building... Finally we were done. Everything was made, laid out and we sat, clinked our glasses together and opened the book.

It was a glorious day. We ended up reading the first third of the book together! We'd pass it back and forth, smiling, laughing, looking up in shock, making comments, asking questions and from that day on, we knew that we were going to do this for every new book that came out. And we did, planning it more and more each time... Which brings us back to that July morning, two years ago.

A couple of things had changed... my boyfriend at the time, Christopher, was living with me but, thankfully, he was as into the books as we were. We also wanted to open up the day to any of our other friends who loved it as much as we did. It was the last time... we needed to make it good. Enter, David. I had mostly known David as the husband of a good friend of mine and had no idea he was an addict like we were. When I had mentioned the brunch to them and he practically jumped out of his seat, I just knew he had to come be a part of of it.

And finally it came! We had gone to one of the midnight release parties the night before, in order to experience that craziness and to build up to our day. (Eva got a copy for herself but swore she didn't read any of it that night. mmmmhmmm)

The menu was decided upon and changed multiple times but we finally decided to just do it all, with French Toast, Waffles, Omelettes, Toast, Fruit and O Sauce (dip from the GODS) and did we do bacon, too? Oh, probably. Add in the coffee and Mimosas and it was insanity.

But the most insane and wonderful thing of the day, maybe even moreso than the book itself, (seriously), was that Eva had been planning a surprise. For months, she had been going through every HP book, (and freaking out when I took the last one on vacation with me the week before), making up trivia questions, writing them down on note cards and placing them in categories. THEN she assigned each one of them point value based on difficulty and made a game board on which to present the entire thing all the while keeping it a complete and utter surprise from me. (Christopher helped her smuggle out books) I. was. in. SHOCK. It was unbelievable!

So while we waited for our books, Eva acted as our hostess to read off the questions and we played...

We each had a "buzzer" (utensil to clink against glass). No glasses were broken in the rush to be the first to hit but damn, we got close sometimes!

It was amazing. Not only did Eva add a whole level of awesome to the day with her game, (which I won, by the way. heh... by a lot), but she also made prizes! She had gone to the craft store, figured out everything she'd need and then spent a whole evening making us SNITCHES.

And they were freaken fanTASTIC! (We all got one and I still have it hanging in my house to this day.)

And then, just as the Snitches were awarded..... there was a knock on the door.

They arrived!!!! The UPS man was still pretty amused but I bet thankful that this would be the last time he'd have to endure the squealing.

The books were placed on the table...

...brunch was completed...

...and we began to read.

It was a glorious day.

And so, this Wednesday in July, as the excitement starts to build for opening night of the sixth film, we pay homage to this author who has brought such great fun and love into our lives and we salute the return of Harry Potter. May you have as much fun, whatever it is that you're doing, and may you have such good friends to do it with.