...But isn't that a children's book?

As Potterheads, we've all at some point or another faced muggles who don't understand our obsession. Sometimes its our families who think we need to grow up, our friends who think we're losers for reading something they think is cliché, poorly written, or overly hyped, the people who see us in costume and roll their eyes or can't seem to look away, or any other number of people who just cannot wrap their minds around why we love this series so much.

The main muggle in my life is my mother. Yes, she bought me all of the books to shut me up, but around the time of the release of the seventh one when I was well into college, she lost her supportive nature. She dropped “subtle” hints about this last book being the end of my childhood and my need to let go of the childish things in my life so that I could just grow up already. She argued that my friends must surely think I was weird for still reading Harry Potter. I thought briefly of the honors class devoted solely to Harry Potter at my university, my friends who used any excuse to dress up in their uniforms, and all my friends who had “childish” obsessions outside the HP universe (like collections of stuffed animals, classic Nickelodeon and Disney Channel shows, Disney movies, etc.) and kind of laughed it off at the time.

The most I ever really discussed Harry Potter around my mother after that was during the occasional viewing of the movies with my father when I was home for the summer or Christmas. She'd ask what we were watching, perhaps what was going on in the plot if she decided to sit down with us, and that was about it. That was until I mentioned that Brae and I were going to Infinitus. I only brought it up because my family was planning a vacation during that time, and I had to let them know why they needed to move it if they expected me to be there. Though she didn't seem thrilled, she said she'd pay for one night of our hotel to help us go since I was finally letting go of my childhood with this conference (she seemed to be under the impression that I'd go, spend time with the other “freaks”, and never discuss, read, or watch HP ever again after getting it out of my system).

Well, obviously that didn't happen. I was on the fence about telling her we were going to LeakyCon this year, but I decided to come out with it. She was more supportive than I first thought she would be, but that's not saying much. Mostly we haven't discussed it since I first mentioned it a few months ago.

Other than my mother, I don't have any major anti-HP influences in my life. Most of my friends at least showed up to our Harry Potter party a while ago. Only a few opted out, not because they don't like HP but because they aren't (and I quote) “obsessed” like the rest of us.

My sister and her husband watch the movies, but they haven't yet let me dress my nephew (Griffin) up like a Gryffindor. My brother loves the books and movies and drooled over my pictures from the park when I showed him my slideshow (now averaging at and hour in length) at Christmas last year. My dad watches the movies and seems to like them. Our landlady even likes HP, and claimed to be sort of hurt that she wasn't invited to our HP party (in addition to telling everyone who would listen about the letter we sent her from Hogsmeade last year). Everyone else either avoids discussing HP or sort of kind of likes it.

So, the muggles in my life are few and far between but not silent. I can sympathize with some of the people last year at Infinitus talking about how they'd told spouses, parents, co-workers, friends, etc. that they were attending a work conference or visiting out of town relatives so they could sneak off to be with other Potterheads, but I don't quite have it that bad.

All I can say is don't let the muggles get you down. There's only 44 days until you'll be with other Potterheads!