I don’t think I’ve gone into detail explaining to y’all how much I love Harry Potter so I’m going to give y’all a glimpse into how much of a nerd I actually am.

My Father has always liked Harry Potter, he read the books and would have us kids go with him to the movie premieres and I remember enjoying the movies when I was younger, but I do also remember getting a little scared when I went to see the premiere of Chamber of Secrets at 7 years old lol.

In 2010 my family and I went on a summer vacation in Disney World and Universal Studios. Our first day at Universal Studios happened to be the opening day of Harry Potter World. That was the day my love for HP truly began. We waited in line for hours that day in the Florida heat to see the most magical place I have ever seen and it was totally worth it.  

   
Before waiting in line we actually met the real Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom actors!! Almost the entire cast was at Universal Studios for the opening day and we happened to be eating in the same cafe as a few of them. It was awesome! 

  We were all rooting for England in the World Cup that day if you couldn’t tell.

 Spending the rest of the day in Harry Potter World made me feel so warm inside. There was just something about it that I loved and I couldn’t put my finger on it until I came home and started to read the books. I fell in love with the story. I read every single book and watched all of the movies (well up to Half-Blood Prince back then) every night.  I still to this day put a Harry Potter movie on before I fall asleep, I even named my cats Minerva and Luna. The feeling I get when I read the books, watch the movies, or visit Harry Potter World is almost undiscribable. I am taken to another world and I love that world. Also, I am seriously so much like Hermione Granger that I feel like I’m apart of the book when I’m reading it, I just found out that we even have the same birth sign (Virgos unite lol). 

In 2013 my dad and I went to the London studio tour for Harry Potter. They had all of the real sets, props, and costumes there. It was incredible! 

    
   
    
   
 In 2015 we went back to Harry Potter World for a second time but this time they had added Diagon Alley! 

    
Dumbledore’s office.

I mean just look at Hogwarts!!! How amazing is that?! ❤️
  Chocolate frog’s are so yummy! If you ever go to Honeyduke’s you have to try one!
  Davis and I woke up super early every day to go to Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley right when it opened.
  You were able to ride on the Hogwarts Express to get back and forth from Hogsmeade to Diagon Alley. It was so much fun!

    
    
    
We ate lunch at the Leaky Cauldron. We all had butter beer & pumpkin juice, and I ate a delicious cottage pie!

 
I was trying to explain to Hudson how much he is going to love Harry Potter one day. He loves it now so I guess my lecture worked!

  #SquadGoals

    
    
 

    The Gringotts ride was amazing!
 This dragon would blow out real fire every hour. 

     
 
 I grew to love all of the characters in the book. When you truly divulge yourself in books, movies, or TV shows you really become attached to the characters. My favorites were: Hermione because she reminded me so much of myself so I could always relate to her, Harry Potter of course, Sirius Black, Dumbledore because he’s awesome and who doesn’t love Dumbledore? But I think my absolute favorite had to be Professor Snape. I hated him so much throughout most of the story until I found out who he truly was at the end. He was the bravest character and he did so much for Harry and Lily, but no one ever knew about it. I truly admired Snape and was so heartbroken when he died at the end of the series.  

 I had to write all of that first so y’all could understand just how much I loved the characters, but it’s not only that! The actors that were chosen to portray each of the characters truly became those characters in my mind. Emma Watson is Hermione, Daniel Radcliffe is Harry, Rupert Grint is Ron, Michael Gambon is Dumbledore, and Alan Rickman is Snape. When I found out this morning that Alan Rickman died of cancer my heart actually broke. I was speechless and began to cry. My mom even hugged me and asked me if I was okay. I wasn’t okay though. I’m still sad…I not only had to endure his death fictionally, but now I have to say goodbye to the man that truly was Professor Snape in my mind.

 I just needed to write this post because Harry Potter is something that I will love forever and I thought that I should write a post about it, but more importantly, Professor Snape deserved this post.

Rest in peace Alan Rickman, I will “ALWAYS” love you.