Sometimes you need to believe in magic.

So, I just finished re-reading Harry Potter 6 and 7. For some reason, these books really appeal to something deep within me. I always go back to re-read them when I am feeling alone and overwhelmed. They always make me feel a bit better about the world in general and yet a little sad when I once again reach the end of the story. Perhaps it is the implicit message that friendship and bravery can overcome great adversity, perhaps it reminds me of the hopefulness and possibility of youth, or perhaps it is simply that I wish I had a wand, got to perform magic and went to a school in a building that had living pictures and changing staircases. I think it is also likely that I feel like I got to spend precious little time with my best friends and mentors in life and enjoy living vicariously through watching these kids grow up together and learn from those around them for seven years. Re-reading them is actually really worth it for me because I have come to realize that I missed out on a number of rich descriptions and important subtleties that occurred during scenes where a lot was happening in a mad dash to find out what happens at the end. Anyway, they really are great books and I look forward very much to watching my kids read them at some point in the quite distant future and hoping they take as much joy in them as I do.