The Harry Potter fandom concluded in 2011 with the release of the final film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. For me, I had just re-started my journey. I originally paused reading the books when I was a kid and figured it'd always be too late to return to Hogwarts. Until I did.
I started this blog to share an adventure of re-discovering the series. Little did anyone know back then how the franchise would expand - Pottermore (RIP) into WizardingWorld.com, theme parks, two spin-off series in film and theatre, worldwide exhibitions and the official studio tour. I started attending conventions with a press pass, met amazing like-minded wizards, and grew to see the world in new and magical ways. Companies were kind enough to send me products for review and giveaways. Upcoming authors allowed me to interview them about their latest work. The memories and experiences I made are innumerable and too meaningful to put into words. For the past ten years, this little site gave me so much that I will forever cherish.
While that love will never fully extinguish, it has shifted for a number of reasons. Recently, J.K. Rowling's choices and actions is not something I can support. She once wrote: "I’d march with you if you were discriminated against on the basis of being trans," yet she has gay conversion therapist Robert Galbraith as her new penname, not boosted resources to criminalize gender-affirming care and pits her massive platform against allies and fans to create further fear and ignorance. There are also other questionable attitudes in her expansion of the wizarding world - both new and original - as the studios and franchise actively omits her social media wake.
I've tried to shift my love of Harry Potter into allyship and change what I posted on the site or social media...but there is always doubt that any impact I might make continues to bolster her financial standing and silence the LGBTQ+ community. Every fan's decision is their own, and I respect it. But I hope to call on anyone to visit this site to consider what it means to continue supporting the author and the next franchise waves including Fantastic Beasts and Cursed Child. Her words made up our childhoods, and now her words on social media are upending generations vying for acceptance and the means to live healthfully and happily.
There are no words that I can use to explain how hard this decision for me. Like many, this fandom has become a big part of my love of literature. But love is not magic when it is silent in the wizarding world. Hogwarts will always be my home, and I hope its walls will feel safer for everyone to return to it someday.
