saitaina | PoA Community Essay for FA

Originally published at Memoirs of a Nobody. You can comment here or there.

We call ourselves a community, but we’re not one.

We are a world unto ourselves, a sub-set of our own world. We have our share of problems, crime, and passions. We have our own lives and identities in this world. And we are bound here by a common theme that has grown beyond a boy wizard and his adventures.

I have spent years in this fandom, less then some, more then most, and have watched us change, grow, shrink, divide, and exist. I have seen some of the great scandals this fandom has in it’s recorded history, and met some of the great celebrities we host. I have done my share of toil for the better enjoyment, and done my share of bitching about the general masses.

The release of Prisoner of Azkaban (the movie) marks a midway point for this fandom. Book five, Order of the Phoenix has been released, and there are only two more to go. There are four more movies and then…the end.

So it was with a heavy heart that I prepared to see the movie that is one of the more important films to the arch that is, Harry Potter.

I first heard of the event, PoA in NYC via the FAWA (Fiction Alley Writers and Artist) mailing list. Normally, I would completely ignore such announcements as I live on the West Coast and am not of ability to apparate to the events (and don’t have the money to fly).

The gods must have been smiling on me though, for the event coincided with a trip to Philadelphia for my best friend’s wedding, some four months after the event.

As a gift from my mother, I received two tickets to attend this event, as well as the money for transportation to get there. She knew how much my involvement in the fandom meant to me, and was eager to see me go, and enjoy it with friends who loved it just as much as I did.

I never, not once, realized, what an incredible adventure this event would be for me, not only the movie viewing itself but everything from the first train ride to New York City, to the last step into the car that would drive me home.

For a girl who grew up in a farm town back in Riddle, Oregon, this was the adventure of a lifetime.

I won’t go into step-by-step details of the day, but the highlights of most start with the last email received from Heidi T, my contact for the event. Apparently, when I read the email, just before heading to the Trenton Train Station, I misread 66th Street and Broadway as 6th Street and Broadway. My feet, hate me for this misread too this day.
After getting lost in NYC for a bit (I found Time Square though so not much complaining here), my friend and I finally found someone who knew what we were talking about and directed us which subway to take to get to our destination.

Upon heading down the stairs I grabbed the sleeve of a guy in a Harry Potter T-shirt (Yes, I, a well known agoraphobia, not only braved the streets of NYC, but grabbed random people based solely on their shirts…) and asked if he was attending PoA in NYC. Upon receiving confirmation, we followed him and found ourselves surrounded on all sides, by laughing, chatting, gossiping, charming, fans of the boy wizard.

We had arrived and only had sore feet as a drawback.

Heading up four escalators and I was confronted with fans that not only spanned generations and ethnic groups…it spanned houses, ‘ships, talents, loves, friends, familiarity and everything you could name. It was everything I had always wanted. A gathering of the dedicated, the “true” fans who knew what I meant when I said “Guns and Handcuffs” or ESE.

Conversing with my fellow slashers, and beyond that, my fellow fans was an experience I don’t think any could truly describe, though I’m sure many will try.

Now, as I’ve mentioned, I have spent much time in this fandom, and in that time, I have formed many friendships. Which leads to the best part of the entire event (the second being seeing the movie).

During this event, I met three people that meant the most to me in my time in this fandom. My “little brother”, one of my good friends, and someone I had lost track of ages ago and missed with great pain. We didn’t get to talk long (one of them was after all, helping to run the event), but the brief moments we shared, face to face, the hugs and laughter was something I will always treasure, no matter what this fandom throws at us in the future (and this fandom does have a way of throwing things at you, trust me).

As the lights dimmed, and I actually squeed with anticipation, I tried to put into words what it was like, attending this event with everyone to my friend who was a casual participant. I doubt any of it made sense to her (and not just because I was trying to turn a Pumpkin Pie sticker into a Handcuff), but the one thing that made it through was the love I shared for these peoples and this fandom.

The movie itself was an event, what with the squeeling and yelling and general reaction it drew out of us. We knew how the story would end, but we all still enjoyed the ride, and shared our enjoyment vocally and with great passion.

As the credits rolled (and made quite a few people nauseous), I watched my best friend outside the fandom and my “little brother” from the fandom converse over the different the cell phone models around, a smile filled not just my face but my entire being. Two part of my life had just meshed, and it was an incredible feeling.

On the train ride home from the event, as my best friend slept (and I penned a letter to someone I needed to email later that night), I thought about the day that had passed, and what had gone on during it.

I started the day a small town, country bumpkin with agoraphobia from Oregon, who couldn’t find her way through a small city, and ended it, a woman who had not only lost herself in NYC, but also found her way back.

I had met people I had known for years in ‘our world’ and watched a movie that not only changed Harry’s perceptions, but a bit of my own. And watched it with a group of people who shared the same love, same adventure…same excitement for the actions on screen. It was not a viewing with a group of strangers whom held varying degrees of love for the characters and plot, but a group of friends and family, who laughed, screamed, cried, and felt the same emotions I did.

Without this event, this fandom…without Harry Potter. This would have never happened. Without this boy, I would not know the people I know now, do the job I do now, nor would I be the person I am, as I write this essay. So I can only thank this boy, and his creator, and eagerly await the next adventure of his, either in film or book, and hope, to see it again, with the world they have spawned.