Hello, my name is Matt, I am dyslexic and I would not be here without Harry Potter. Now that I have your attention, all of you are probably screaming and asking how you can do a story about HP when she “who-should-not-be-named-2” has recently been added to the list of canceled casualties.
When I was much younger, during my elementary years, I had trouble reading, hated it, and would resent it. My mom was recommended a book by one of her friends called “Harry Potter” and was told/convinced (you decide) to read it to me. I remember my dad coming into my room and reading chapters of the book. I became so hooked that my parents physically took the book away from me at 3 am, because I was reading ahead (I was about 9). I remember driving down to see a Philadelphia Phillies game (a U.S. Baseball team) and having my dad drive me to a bookstore to wait for the release of Half-Blood Prince and fighting with him about whether or not I could start reading it. I did the same for book 7, and finished the book in 24 hrs.
I will admit, I was a total Potterhead, I was Harry for Halloween, had a Harry Potter birthday party, became a proud Slytherin, designed the Wizarding World of Harry Potter 10 years before Universal (Disney or Universal – offer me a job!), went to London and did the HP studio tour, and have the book in multiple languages. However, the past couple of weeks have been difficult, when “she-who-not-be named” posts her beliefs and thoughts on twitter. My desire to make the world more just is coming into conflict with my love for HP. But, like most, I will need to spend some time learning how to separate the work from the author. Regardless of external factors, the effect Harry Potter had on me is going nowhere.
