"Next summer, last film, Edinburgh..."

Once upon a time, my brother David introduced me to Harry Potter and I was smitten. I was smitten with the characters, the details of the story, the Britishness of the descriptions and dialogue, and the delightful world of magic and wonder that J.K. Rowling dreamed up. I was also inspired by the fact that it was so popular among young children. How many writers can honestly say that they inspired such a huge chunk of our rising generation to put down their video games and read? This was one of the main reasons I studied English: I wanted to be a part of something like this that could change how so many people experienced the world.

Fast-forward two years when I found the official Warner Brothers web site and the Harry Potter chat rooms. I started writing fanfiction, reading fanfiction, and getting to know people from all around the world (contrary to the condescending beliefs of those who think they are cooler than Harry Potter, it was not just little 13 year olds... and would that have been so sneer-worthy if it had been?)

My core group of friends were known as the Harry Potter Prats. There were twelve of us and we chatted under "Pratty" pseudonyms; mine was "Dizzy." The eldest Prat was maybe in her fifties and the youngest was about fifteen. Some of us lived in the States and some were in Ireland or England or Germany. But we cared about each other and supported each other (they were so proud when I graduated from University) and had a lot of fun talking about whatever came to our minds.

When I left school I didn't have as much access to the internet -- at least at home -- and slowly and sadly my association with my beloved Prats disintigrated. I had a succession of jobs, did a bajillion plays, saw every HP movie that came out multiple times, and once in awhile remembered who I had been during my Pratty days and how much I grew as a writer and a person with their influence.

Fast-forward to last year when I found a bunch of them on Facebook. Yay! I was so glad to "see" them again! Plenty of things had changed for us all, but our love for Harry Potter and our interest in each other hadn't changed a bit. I've had so much fun getting reacquainted.

Yesterday, Nutty Prat posted the following on our Group wall:

"Hey Prats... next summer, last film, Edinburgh... yay or nay?"

Oh. My. Freaking. Goodness.



My brain exploded just a little. I love, love, love this idea! To see the final Harry Potter film in Scotland would be almost cooler than seeing the third Star Wars film in London (yes, I did get to do that, and I understand if you hate me now)! I mean, isn't that where Hogwarts is supposed to be located? Not to mention that I've always wanted to go to Scotland and here is the perfect excuse. PLUS I'd finally get to meet the Prats! I love the idea of my Harry Potter obsession coming full circle by seeing the movie in Scotland with people that I know love the series as much as I do.

I looked up flights yesterday, and some of the others are looking up lodging information.

This is something to think about. "What's to think about?!" you might be saying. Well, first, I just can't do anything impulsively. It's not in my nature. Second, I'm not sure I'll have the vacation time from work. I'm tentatively planning a trip to Italy and Greece which would already carve a lot out of my alotted three weeks, and Scotland is too far to go for just a few days (since I've never been there I'd want to look around a little). However, we all know I like to save my money, so if I'm allowed to take non-paid time off I might do that; I wouldn't starve, although my third concern is that financing two trips to Europe in one year might decimate my savings a bit much for my comfort. Fourth, I'm worried that I don't actually know these people. Of course, Facebook has made it harder for most people to hide their identities, and I've gotten pretty good at spotting the freaks and weirdos and none of my Prats fall into either of those descriptions (if you happen to think Harry Potter fans are weird, you might disagree with my assessment). Am I brave enough to have a crazy-awesome time with a bunch of relative strangers? Is that a good enough reason not to go?

There will always be reasons not to go, but I really, really want to go anyway. I think this is something that I'll talk with a bunch of people about and ultimately decide to do because, really, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. For most of the Prats this would be a little weekend jaunt -- similar to travelling from Salt Lake to Cedar City in Utah -- I think I would be coming from the furthest away!
How many people can say they have friends on another continent that they can go visit? And how much would I regret not going?

(I would be lying if I were to say that I haven't thought that I might meet a handsome, kind Scottish man who would fall passionately in love with me and me with him a la Maid of Honor...although *SPOILER ALERT* in my story my Scottish man and I would live happily ever after together.)

Oh...this idea has been planted in my mind. It makes me happy just to think about it. How can I ever feel sorry for myself when opportunities like this make up the reality of my life?

Hooray for my Prats! I'm so glad we've found each other again!!!!