As an 11 year old, I distinctly remember how excited I was to read Harry Potter. When I was younger and was first interested in the books my mom thought I was too young and should wait till I was a bit older to start reading them. But the summer that Deathly Hallows came out, my sister finally past the books on to me; I was instantly hooked and fell in love with the whole Harry Potter world.

I would stay up far past my bed time with my blanket pulled over my head and a flashlight in my hand just so I could finish one more chapter and inevitably, one more chapter after that. I’ll never forget how much the book series changed my life when I was 11. But why did the Harry Potter have such an impact on me as a reader and no doubt, countless other readers? The answer to this is simple, the series sparks imagination.

One of my most vivid memories is of me and one of my childhood best friends “dueling” in the back yard. We would pick up wand sized twigs and recite all the spells we could remember from the books. Reenacting the battle scenes from the books was another one of our favorite  pastimes. Of course, there were only two of us, so the battle scenes weren’t quite as impressive as they appeared on the pages of the books, but our imaginations filled in all the missing pieces.

One Halloween, another childhood friend and I dressed up at Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley. I spent hours sewing my robes and painting my homemade wand. Our costumes were far from perfect (my robes were atrocious), but that didn’t matter because the Harry Potter world had opened our imaginations. We didn’t need fancy, expensive costumes; we had everything we needed in our imaginations.

Hermione_-_Jim_Kay_1_ (1)Imagination is the most important gift the Harry Potter book series gives to readers. Without the books, I doubt my imagination would have the same capacity that it does today. Even as I’ve matured into a young adult, I have kept my love for fantastical stories. Harry Potter opened up a whole new world of imagination to me, as I’m sure it did to so many others. Harry Potter has kept the kid in all of us alive.

What are some of your favorite Harry Potter related memories? Share them as well as how Harry Potter has impacted your life in the comments below.

Featured image credit to www.scholastic.com