On This Day 20 Years Ago, I Met A Kid Called Harry Potter & It Was The Start Of A Life-Long Friendship

On this day, 20 years ago, I came across a green eyed-English boy, who lived in the Cupboard Under The Stairs, at Number 4 Privet Drive in Little Whinging Surrey. He wasn’t much different from other kids of his age, well except his cousin, Dudley. Dressed oddly in old overgrown clothes, the boy was good and kind; you could tell it from his eyes. Specs, and a lightning bolt scar on his forehead, was how J.K Rowling introduced Harry Potter to us. I saw him being dropped at a doorstep, with a letter addressed to his only living family. I saw him being bullied by his cousin, mistreated by his family, and when I could not possibly imagine why….

I saw him talking to a snake at a zoo.

And I knew, this boy was different. Nevertheless, I saw him bearing the consequences of this little magical adventure, till one day, we saw a letter addressed to him. I saw him struggle to grasp even one of hundreds of such mails when they burst through bolted doors and out of the fireplace and windows and chimneys.

I was there when the poor kid drew a cake on sand to celebrate his 11th birthday and a big bearded man broke through the door with a tiny pink umbrella saying the only words of wisdom.

And things were never the same again. The boy ventured into the heart of the wizarding world with a giant, and everybody seemed to know who he was. And as the mystery unfolded, we saw Potter choose his weapon of choice.

Or as wandmaker Ollivander said:

The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Potter

The first look at the magnificence, that was Hogwarts.

And boy, was it magical!

And his first ride on the broomstick.

And that made him the youngest seeker in a 100 years.

I saw him meet Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, the trio that beat odds to defeat the Dark Lord, several times in the course of the 7 books and 8 movies.

And what would have Mr Potter done without them!

I was there when Harry found out the Sirius Black was his Godfather.

I saw a 13-year-old casting his first Patronus at a Dementor-turned Boggart.

And I saw him conjure a Corporeal Patronus to ward off 100s of them to save Sirius.

And I saw him wither in pain as he lost the one man who came closest to being his father.

I was there when Harry Potter competed in the Triwizard Tournament. And won. And mind you, even while he faced the worst fears a 14-year-old could ever think of, he thought of saving his friends first.

I was there in the graveyard when Peter Pettigrew killed Cedric Diggory and Lord Voldemort came back to power. I stood with Harry when he fought the Dark Lord and escaped.

I saw Harry being an excellent teacher, as he assembled Dumbledore’s Army, to prepare for the great war against the Dark Lord.

I saw him rise to the occasion when Albus Dumbledore put all his faith and his life, along with the task of defeating Lord Voldemort on his shoulders.

Of, course, he wasn’t worried.

We were both angered by the betrayal, that caused the murder of Albus Dumbledore.

I was also present, well not technically, (that would have been creepy), when Harry had his first kiss.

I packed my bags and went out in the world, camped in the woods, looted Gringotts and escaped on a dragon with Potter and his friends, while they hunted down Horcruxes.

We discovered Harry’s role in the war, together. We saw what Harry was supposed to do when he found out he was one of the Horcruxes. And we walked into the Forbidden Forrest with him.

We shed a tear when we found out about the bravest man we knew.

We finished this the way we started it- Tom, The Boy Who Lived and Us.

God of the Potterverse, J. K Rowling, also went on Twitter this afternoon and thanked Potterheads all over the world for their support.

20 years ago today a world that I had lived in alone was suddenly open to others. It’s been wonderful. Thank you.#HarryPotter20
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 26, 2017