I know everybody (well, most) consider themselves hardcore Harry Potter fans. But I have seen, heard and been a part of things that made me question my rank, and other people's, on the "biggest fan scale."

For example, when I was only a youngin' in the Potter world, I went to a release party for Goblet of Fire at my local bookstore. Basically, the party started at 10 p.m. and at midnight they would start selling the books. There were people, like me, who were so clueless they forgot to dress up or thought no one else would, people who kinda sorta dressed up with an occasional scar or wand, then the die-hard fans who went all out from all Harry Potter clothing to Harry Potter written on their faces.

They had one trivia game that I watched. It was an adult versus a child and the questions were on random, thoughtless facts from all three books. The little girl, who might've been 9 or 10, WHOOPED the adult, and got maybe one wrong while the adult got a maximum of two right. I was watching in awe of the whole thing.

Second, I'm sure most have you gone to www.harrypotter.com. And if you have been on the message boards, and read some of the stories people write, it is so amazing to see how people have taken all the facts of the story and turned them into such a great piece of creative writing. I've always tried writing a story or two, but they always come out wrong!

Lastly, I'm happy to say I am part of this category and vocabulary of people who can manage to quote the book into everyday conversations. An example is once my friends Emma and Alex were standing in front of each other when Alex said: "I feel like we're about to have a duel." I instantly thought of the Harry Potter scene with Harry and Draco, and Alex reached for her pocket, and I thought she was going to pretend to pull out a wand, but she didn't.

Just little things like that remind you about a book that you think is absolutely terrific!

December 2002