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...