For the first time since starting the Harry Potter series, it happened—I couldn’t put the book down. Because I had to know what would happen next.

I’m not saying I’ve been converted to a full-on Harry Potter fanatic. But, yeah, The Prisoner of Azkaban was good.

In fact, it made me regret not reading the books as they came out.

(Too bad I can’t pull a Hermione and go back in time.)

Some of my thoughts:

CHAPTER ONE: OWL POST

Whoa. Harry successfully received mail. That’s a first.  

Stage two of my Harry Potter journey is complete.

And it was different than stage one. Reading the first book was such a… discovery, I guess. FINALLY getting introduced to a world everyone else has been talking about for ages.

Reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was less of a novelty.

I didn’t have any moments as absurd as when I confused Hagrid and Dumbledore. But I’ll still share the thoughts I had while reading:

CHAPTER ONE: THE WORST BIRTHDAY

No, you didn’t misread the title.

It says first read.

As in, I’d never read a Harry Potter book before. Not a single one. I’ve never watched any of the movies. My life, up until recently, has been entirely Harry Potter-less.

Go ahead. Take a moment to gasp or scream. I understand. It’s the way I react when someone tells me they’ve never read or watched The Lord of the Rings.

How can this even happen, you’re wondering? How, when the entire world was going crazy about Harry Potter, did I not pick up a book to see what all the fuss was about?