Book Ende

Have you ever had butterbeer?This fictional beverage from the magical world of Harry Potter has become something of a fan favorite here in the real world. I remember the first time I tried the recipe that my friends and I put together. It tasted exactly like I’d always imagined: sweet, creamy, bubbly, sweet, ice cold, frothy, sweet, pale amber colored, and really, really sweet.

During Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows II Alamo Drafthouse was serving Harry Potter themed treats. Our table and most of the tables around us were covered in a feast of magical goodies like bangers and chips that were so spicy my eyes watered, frothy, creamy butterbeer that, while delicious, wasn’t quite as sweet as I like, and the most divine sticky toffee pudding I have ever tasted; it was a rich, spongy, warm, melt-in-your-mouth old fashioned pudding lavishly adorned in just the right amount of sticky, gooey, caramely sauce. We missed most of the last 30 minutes of the movie (Voldemort wins right?) trying to politely and quietly inhale the sticky toffee pudding without being noticed.

The movie and the delicious food were a hit, not just for me and my friends, but for the whole theatre. There was excited cheering throughout the movie at all the best parts- when Neville Longbottom chops off the head of Voldemort’s snake, when Mrs. Weasley utters her Facebook famous line, and when Ron and Hermione FINALLY kiss. It wasn’t just the awkward guy in the front row cheering; it was audible collective cheering like we were all together in some huge and wonderful epic story. I remember a similar moment during the Lord of the Rings series when it looked like all hope was lost and that Gondor would fall and then Gandalf showed up, cheers erupted and peace was restored. I still cry every time I watch The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe when I hear the soft jingling of Father Christmas’ sleigh bells, the first sign that the White Witch’s power is crumbling, again a scene that elicited a round of applause from the theatre audience.

The movie, the food, the drink, the books, the waiting in line in the sweltering heat . . . all these are things that bring us together in conversation, in laughter, in a shared experience, like Hobbits discussing the varieties and subtleties of pipe-weed.  Millions of people of all ages and through many generations have formed connections through stories like Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, or The Chronicles of Narnia. They help us see that our life and the life of the strange person sitting in the next seat aren’t so different that we can’t relate to one another. If you have stayed away from Harry Potter for whatever reason, I would urge you to take a closer look, maybe read one or two of the books with a friend or watch one of the movies, just to catch a tiny glimpse of what you might be missing. Then maybe we can sit down and chat about it- perhaps over a nice mug of butter beer!