A Literary Obsession

Just for fun, I'm sharing a "literacy vignette" composed for my literacy class. As has been the case with other creative assignments, I've dragged my feet initially, but ultimately really enjoyed the process.

A Literary Obsession

We are lined up across the front lawn of my childhood home in Ohio: Professor McGonagall, Hermione, Snape, Ginny, and Harry, of course. For some reason we have decided to play bocce ball while decked out in our Harry Potter attire, all of which has traveled across the country with us. My sons have even collaborated to craft wands and authentic-looking storage boxes for each of us. Tonight is the big night. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the last book in the series, will be released at midnight, and we will be there.

It all started innocently enough: a mention at the school bus stop of a new children's book, Harry Potter something or other. Dutifully I tracked it down and tucked away a copy for our annual trip back home to Ohio.

No visit to Ohio is complete without several backyard campfires. The pit is dug, branches gathered and cut, the fire laid. My mom has saved and upended several logs which serve as our seats. At first the flames lick dangerously high and gusts of wind send sparks flying. No one can resist putting just a little too much wood on the fire to get it started. Before long, however, we can sit in relative safety around the fire pit. We hope that the smoke from the slightly green wood will keep the mosquitoes at bay.

It's time for a story. I pull out the unknown Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone. My three children and mother join me around the fire. I begin: "Chapter One: The Boy Who Lived." Half the fun of reading aloud is doing the voices, and I soon find my rhythm. In fact, I find that I'm getting hoarse from a too-convincing portrayal of the half-giant Hagrid.

Darkness closes in. The fire is at its loveliest. It has subsided to glowing coals and the merest licks of flame. To stay outside with the fire, or to move inside and continue reading? Harry Potter wins, and this marks the beginning of a decade-long obsession. No summer will be complete without the reading aloud of a Harry Potter book. If no new book is available, an old one will do. Reading the opening lines of The Sorceror's Stone transports all of us back in time - and to another world. We board at Station 9 3/4 and travel aboard the Hogwarts Express. We put on the Sorting Hat and await our fate. We are young and fearless and united in our quest.