The magical world of Harry Potter and Hogwarts is on my mind as I type this week’s column as it is the day Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone printed for the first time on June 26, 1997.

Here in America we would come to know it as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and wouldn’t know quite how it would effect our lives.
Sure, books and movies gain popularity and will have toys and novelty items available to purchase to tie in with them.
But the world of Harry Potter…
I was introduced to the boy who lived through the movies. Though I am quite a reader, I waited until Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was published until I began reading the series. Because I am not a patient reader which is probably why I haven’t started Game of Thrones come to think of it.
It is a fantastic, visual world fulled with interesting places and characters you grow to love or hate. While my opinion on particular characters like Severus Snape and Narcissa Malfoy changed by a matter of words. (If you know the series, I hope you know the lines and the moments I am thinking about.) But my feelings of discontent with Dolores Umbridge has never wavered.
I have been sucked into buying merchandise and going to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I know which house I belong to at Hogwarts – depending where I am of course. Through Pottermore I was sorted into Hufflepuff. I share a few traits – dedication, fair play, loyalty. I don’t know about the patience one I keep seeing pop up as a trait.
During a visit to Warner Brothers Studios, I encountered the sorting hat and it placed me in Gryffindor. Sure, I can see it – I have courage and determination.
It’s okay because I have many friends who are Potterheads, fans of Harry Potter. They fall on each end of the spectrum. Some of have gone the LeakyCon, the annual convention for Harry Potter, and some just enjoy reading the series.
No matter if you enjoy the series or not, June 26 is a good day to celebrate imagination, how an idea on the train came to be and changed the world.
In another 20 years I hope if you ask “After all this time?” I can say “Always.”