Wizards, Bubble Gum, and Whoopi Goldberg

It is time. It is time for the inevitable post generated by Harry Potter.

For those who may not care about Harry Potter, skip the first paragraph and you will find that it eventually moves on from HP.

Last week I spent an entire week preparing for the midnight premiere of the final Harry Potter movie. I realize I have just classified myself as a complete child - a nerdy one at that - but admitting it's true is the first step to accepting it, although I'm pretty sure I've already accepted it. On Monday night, I worked on a 1,000 piece Harry Potter puzzle with my roommates (yes, I'm dragging them into this), and on Tuesday night, Misty and I began our 7 HP movie marathon. We completed the marathon on Wednesday night with butterbeer and golden snitch cupcakes and butterbeer (not as good as it looks in the movies). Sleeping into the late morning, I woke up and attempted to distract myself until 4pm when we would go to the theater to sit in line for 8 hours.

I would love to discuss the finer details of this movie and how completely phenomenal it was; however, I will not. The thing is, this post is not specifically about HP, although admittedly that’s what sparked the idea.

Here’s the main point: I want magic to be real, and I have realized that there are certain things that make convincing myself there is a secret world of wizards and wands easier. In case you tend to experience these same emotions, fear no more. I have written a list of the things to avoid in these situations.

1.    Harry Potter marathons. By surrounding yourself with only the wizarding world, it becomes it extremely difficult to drive around without yelling out, “Avada kedavra!” to the driver who cuts you off in traffic.

2.    Extra Dessert Delights gum, specifically the Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream flavor. More recently – as of about ten minutes ago – a new flavor should be added to that list: Apple Pie. I cannot chew this gum without expecting oompa loompas to appear from behind the door, a reference to the 1971 version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, for those of you who were deprived of a childhood.

3.    Corrina, Corrina. In this movie, Whoopi Goldberg's character can blow at red lights, and they turn green. I recently decided that I, too, could do this. It’s typically a matter of simply waiting for the opposite lights to turn yellow and then blowing at the light, which, if timed correctly, turns green immediately. However, there have been times when I have not watched the opposite lights, and out of habit, I blow at the light. As if by magic, it quickly submits to my breath and turns green.

Although I realize there are most assuredly more situations anyone prone to believing in magic should avoid, the three mentioned above are those that I typically encounter on a daily basis. However, sometimes believing in magic is fun - if only for a split second. In those times, feel free to use this list as a guidebook on how to see magic in everday situations.