Tonight, I saw something truly amazing. But before I get into that, a little back story.
Two summers ago, my sister-in-law, Garland, and I camped out in a Border's bookstore for five hours to wait for the release of the seventh Harry Potter book. We weren't ashamed. We picked up a copy of the sixth book for a crash refresher course, found a spot in the humor section and got to work waiting for our beloved boy wizard.
At first I was embarrassed. Here we were, two grown ladies, waiting for a book that was originally intended for kids. I felt out of place for two whole seconds. That is, the two seconds before I saw the people dressed as wizards, ogres, giants and one woman who, for some inexplicable reason, was dressed as a cat. Um, last I checked Harry Potter didn't take place in a litter box.
These people were consumed in all things Harry Potter. There was story telling in the children's section, face painting near the bathrooms and dry ice in cauldrons just about everywhere. That part wasn't so unexpected.
"We're going to wait with the geeks and the weirdos," I remember explaining to a co-worker.
The unexpected part was how into it I was. Garland and I spent a big part of the evening discussing the sixth book and our theories. We spent more time talking about how sad we were that the series was coming to an end. We weren't dressed up and we sure as hell didn't get our faces painted, but we were just as big as geeks as the rest of the people who voluntarily agreed to wait in a cramped, smelly bookstore until 1 a.m. just to get a book we probably could have bought at the grocery store the next morning. It was about the experience. We were so excited to be a part of it, geeky and odd as it was.
A few days after I got my book, I spent a few hours talking to a co-worker about it. For one reason or other, we started talking about Sirius Black, Harry's godfather and my favorite character.
"It's such bullshit how his character died," I said. "He should've used his animagus powers to change into a dog or something."
"If I were an animagus, I'd change into a dragon," my co-worker said.
We spent the next hour discussing what animal we would shape shift into and why. It was a very productive day.
Okay, so flash forward to tonight. Are you with me? We just time traveled so I want to make sure everyone is here.
Good. I was out taking the family dog, Simon, for a walk. We're ambling down the sidewalk enjoying the silence of the night. I usually can't stand taking Simon for a walk because I don't really know the meaning of "leisurely stroll". I walk fast and with a purpose. Picture a one-woman marching band, but less drums and more feathered hats. But tonight I was feeling patient and I didn't mind that Simon stopped and chewed on every piece of grass we saw.
The street we were walking on was dark. There were street lights, but there were also lots of shadows. Simon started to act strange. He stood still and growled, then quickened his pace, and then stood still again. I had my headphones on so I didn't really notice until I almost tripped over him. I took one of my earbuds out and followed Simon's gaze to something that looked a little something like this:
I gasped immediately. Not only was I caught off guard, but I was terrified. Not for my safety or that of my dog's, but because the first thought that came into my head was, "Holy shit, it's an animagus."
This harmless, shaggy, black dog was Sirius Black come for me in his shape shifting form. It took me a couple seconds longer than I'm proud of to realize that A.) this is real life and B.) why would Sirius Black want to eat me? I defended him. I may have even shed a tear when I read of his death. I was emotional that day, okay? Sue me.
So, Simon and I headed for home. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't turn back to get one last glimpse of the shaggy dog, part of me secretly hoping it'd turn into Sirius Black and whisk me off to Hogwarts.
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