You're gonna be bothered by how cool I am.

I was in the Smoky Mountains with 30 of my friends, reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  I kind of wish that the group-read had become a tradition before HBP, because there really is nothing like experiencing new canon with other people.  With different people reading at different speeds, you get these periodic outbursts of emotion - laughter, surprise, squees, cries, and outright sobs.  About this time, I was at the chapter where the Trio find themselves back at Hogwarts, and I was shocked to discover that the guy pictured in the chapter art for Ch. 25 was NEVILLE.  (Who else glazed over it, thinking it was Mad-Eye Moody?)  I could tell when my fellow readers were getting to the end, because there was always a point where you'd hear something like "Oh my God!", followed by intermittent and seemingly inconsolable sobs.  I did a bit of that myself, and I remember quite well stepping out on the balcony, mostly out of earshot, and bawling my heart out at 'The Forest Again.'

I miss that feeling of anticipation, and it's been a strange year not having any of that, and having precious little to keep my attention on HP - that was directed at YOU, WB ... WHEN will you end our long, global nightmare and release a trailer for HBP, huh?!!  I've drifted away from fandom, as I suppose the rest of you have, and there are days when I don't think about HP at all.  But it still claims a lot of my affection, and sometimes it comes to mind because of the smallest things.  For example ... I don't know if I've shared with you that I can't. Freaking. Stop. listening to "In the Heights."  It's seriously become my NY soundtrack.  One of the songs uses the words "sexual tension," and for SOME reason, those two words are inextricably connected with my experience of the Harry Potter fandom. :P

Anyway, just wanted to take a moment to say Happy Anniversary.  Hopefully (*looks pointedly at WB once more*) there will be much to get excited about in the Potterdom in the coming months.