My scarf and the Harry Potter generation

Gryffindor forever!

My Christmas reading has forced me to set aside Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire for the time being. Over the course of the holidays, I've been lucky enough to receive nine new books and, since it is my policy to read every book I get as a present, I've been quite busy reading lately.

That's not to say that Harry has been completely absent from my life, however. We've been experiencing some crazy cold, windy and snowy weather out here, perfect for me to show off my ultra-warm Gryffindor scarf.

My sister knit this scarf for me a couple of years ago, following a pattern that recreated the scarves from the first movie stitch for stitch. It's a spectacular garment and draws a lot of attention every time I wear it.

For example, the other day I was standing at a street corner, wearing my scarf and waiting for the light to change, when a woman approached and said, "Your inner geek is showing."

I laughed and said, "So is your inner geek, if you recognize this scarf and where it comes from!"

We had a chuckle together and then went our separate ways.

Later the same day, I had a man stop me in the lobby of my building. "That's Gryffindor, isn't it?" he said.

"Yep," I agreed.

He shook his head. "I'm Ravenclaw myself."

Even later the same day, I was coming down on the elevator and a woman asked if my scarf represented "Mount Allison University or you know," and she then whispered, "Hogwarts?"

"It's Gryffindor, all right," I told her, holding out the Gryffindor crest on the scarf.

Two other people in the elevator nodded. "I thought so," said one.

The woman, encouraged, then told me she has been online, looking up the Harry Potter theme park and really wants to go. "It looks fantastic," she whispered.

What do these encounters tell me? Well, first they tell me that, even though it's now been almost seven years since J.K. Rowling published The Deathly Hallows, the Harry Potter phenomenon is still going strong.

And second, that even though my nieces, nephews and young friends tell me that Harry Potter is no longer in fashion for young readers like themselves, there are still a lot of people of all ages who love Harry Potter anyway.

Think about it. The Philosopher's Stone was first published in 1997, now almost 17 years ago. A person who was ten years old when it first came out would be 26, going on 27 today. The Harry Potter generation are now young adults, probably with children of their own.

And those of us who were already grown up in 1997 but loved the books anyway. Well, we're heading into middle age and beyond!

Harry Potter lives. But it's not so much the kids who are keeping it alive.

My Gryffindor scarf is proof of that!

How a scarf managed to divide the world in two

I wore my Gryffindor scarf to work today, a shield against some bitterly cold weather. And, when I arrived, I displayed it carefully on the coat rack at the entrance to my "office" for all to see.

And, my goodness, hasn't it been garnering quite the reaction!

"Beautiful scarf," is a common refrain. "Wow, what a lovely scarf," said one person. Everyone who passes comments on it and most of them want to come in and touch it. They admire the craftspersonship, especially of the tassles, to be honest, and simply cannot believe that my sister knit it for me.

"She must be very talented," they say. So I show them her knitting blog and they realise just how amazingly talented she is.

What has surprised me, though, is how the scarf has served to divide the world into two groups: Harry Potter fans and "Others".

Everybody loves the scarf, no doubt. But some people don't recognise where it's from. One person asked if it was from Mount Allison University, which apparently has similar colours. Several people have simply asked: "Are these school colours?"

The "Others" admire the scarf as a work of art, a beautiful combination of expertise, craftspersonship, form and colour.

But I like the responses of Harry Potter fans better. Their eyes light up. They rush toward the scarf, fingers extended, reaching for the crests that adorn each end of the garment. "That's Gryffindor, isn't it?" they exclaim.

And when I confirm that it is, indeed, a Gryffindor scarf, made to the exact same specifications as the scarves worn in the films, they swoon. "Where did you get it?" "How much did it cost?" "Do they have scarves from the other Hogwarts Houses too?"

I don't think my sister is interested in knitting a whole pile of scarves in the different House colours but if she were... And if copyright issues weren't a potential problem...

A glorious Gryffindor surprise waiting under my tree

Christmas brought a Harry Potter surprise for me in the form of a fabulous Gryffindor scarf knitted by my sister. She tells me the pattern writers studied freeze-frame images from the movies in order to ensure that the knitted scarf would recreate, stitch by stitch, the scarves worn by our favourite characters. And she ordered the Gryffindor crest over the internet to add even more authenticity to the scarf. It's fantastic and warm and I love wearing it.

This photo was taken this afternoon as we began a walk through the woods with our dog. I guess, considering the popularity of the Harry Potter books and films, I shouldn't be surprised that the first person we encountered on our walk looked me up and down and said, "Gryffindor, huh? I consider myself more of a Ravenclaw".

A great response that made my day. The fact that I also found another Harry Potter surprise under the tree (the Blu Ray of The Deathly Hallows, Part 2) made this an even better day. I sat down this afternoon and evening with some friends who are visiting from out of town to watch both Part 1 and Part 2. They're huge Potter fans too so it was a pleasure to get the chance to watch the movies with them and then hear their thoughts on them as well.

I'm excited to get the chance to watch the special features on the discs too -- I watched part of the Daniel Radcliffe - J.K. Rowling conversation and was delighted with the quality of the discussion. I'm looking forward to watching that soon too. More on my recent conversations and the Blu Ray experience in upcoming posts.