While I was growing up, I fell in love with the Harry Potter series. I was fascinated by the magic, and often times wished I would get my letter.

I spent many of my nights trying to finish the books. I was in 2nd grade, or around the age of seven when the first book came out. Immediately, the book filled my mind with images of witches and wizards, causing me to fall in love with the magic world.

I looked forward to those midnight book release parties at Barnes & Noble. They were the first contact I had with people like me who were in love with the series. We dressed up in our cloaks and made our wands at the wand-making station. Everything was magical, like I was actually in the wizarding world.

As I grew up, I didn't get that Hogwarts letter that I expected, but I did find people who were still caught up in Harry Potter. You can thank Tumblr for sharing all of their wonderful Harry Potter posts and gifs. It made me feel like I was still in touch with that community at Barnes & Noble.

In High School, maybe it was just my school, but not many kids showed their love for the series. No one geeked out about the movies, or would carry around a book in their bag. No one wore a Hogwarts shirt, or argued about which House they would be sorted in. I felt lost, like I didn't have a community to belong to.

The internet kind of helped with that. I was able to talk to other people about it. We took the Sorting Hat quiz, share tutorials on how to make wands, and shared links for Harry Potter merchandise. I didn't realize it, but I was becoming apart of the Harry Potter Fandom.

As I went to college, I found a few friends who loved Harry Potter as much as I did. I found my physical fandom at my campus. I was proud to wear my Hogwarts sweaters around campus because I would get compliments about it.

"Oh my gosh, where did you get that?! I want one!" someone would say

"I didn't know you liked Harry Potter! Me too!" someone else would say.

I started to see that more and more people were apart of the fandom. It's strange to think that a book series would help me build friendships with a ton of people not just from my campus, but around the world.

I think the Harry Potter Fandom is important because we can all share the joys and wonders of the magical world. The series gives us hope. We fell in love with a world and with characters. These characters inspired us in many ways. Hermione taught me it was okay to be smart. Thee Weasley family taught me about the strength of a big family. Luna taught me it was okay to be different. Neville taught me about courage. Each character has taught us lessons.

I look forward to one day being a parent because I want to share this world with my children. I want them to build friendships with other Harry Potter fans. I want them to fall in love with the wizarding world. I want them to learn the same things I learned while reading these books.