Have you gotten your tickets for the Harry Potter Film Concert Series yet? The concert is set to take place this weekend at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center and feature the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, all while the first Harry Potter film plays on the big screen. I’ll admit I got my tickets back in May and am absolutely geeking out over the whole thing. On Sunday afternoon, I drove to Tallahassee to visit Spirit Halloween, where I purchased my Gryffindor robe to wear to the event.

If you know anything about me, then you probably know I’m still fairly new to the whole Harry Potter world.

Growing up, I attended a Baptist School, where any sort of magic was frowned upon. The only magical things we learned about were the miracles that Jesus performed. In fact, when the books came out, our school sent home letters strongly urging parents to not let their children near this series and informing everyone the library would not carry them.

For years, decades really, I went along with my life never even curious about Harry Potter.

It wasn’t until two years ago that I got completely sucked in to the curious world of Hogwarts.

I was getting ready for an event at a hotel and it was the only thing on t.v. I left it on while I got ready, but quickly became glued to the movie. I had to remind myself that I was on a time crunch. I had hoped it would be one of those movies that the channel kept re-running all night long, but when I got back from my event I was dismayed to find it was not.

However, I learned all of the movies were available on HBO.

I watched all seven movies within a week.

I was absolutely hooked.

More than anything, I was completely in awe of the world and the detail that author J.K. Rowling had put into these works of fiction.

I was determined to find out her inspiration. As a writer myself, I am always looking for ways to inspire creativity.

Rowling’s story was one of pure amazement.

Rowling was on a train to visit her boyfriend in Manchester, when her trip was delayed for four hours. As she sat around waiting and looking at the stops, she said a vision popped into her head of the main characters. Without any pen or paper, she spent hours imagining the story in her head. When she finally arrived at her destination, she began writing and fleshing out her notes.

Her storyboards were often jotted onto pieces of scrap paper, and yes I’ve Google image searched just what they looked like.

The idea that I will see her masterpiece on the big screen accompanied by live music to make it that much more realistic this weekend is so exciting.

I’m aware that since her debut Rowling has since been “canceled” for certain remarks, but I think it would be a mistake to deny the magic she created and camaraderie among fellow readers.

I can’t think of another author who could fill up an entire civic center with readers dressed as characters from an initial children’s series. I for one can’t wait to meet other Gryffindors this weekend and share in this fun experience together; I hope to see you there. Watch out for nargles!