It's a certain kind of magic

Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the light.
Albus Dumbledore

On July 2, 1999, I wandered into a bookstore in Manchester, England looking for a book to keep me company on my train ride to Edinburgh. The sales clerk suggested ‘The Philosopher’s Stone’. I flipped through it and thought–seems interesting enough. I’ve always been intrigued by magic and magical world. The target audience was probably around 12 and I was, well, older than 12, but not so old that I didn’t want to give it a try. I thought it would be a quick read and I’ll have a book to trade when I get to Edinburgh.

On my train ride north, I became immersed in the magical world of Harry Potter…of how boy of 11 found out he was a wizard, learned how to do and control magic, and how he and his friends were able to thwart the most evil wizard of all. I finished the book right before we pulled into Edinburgh and promptly put Harry Potter out of my mind. We weren’t re-acquainted again until 2006 [when I plowed through almost the entire series in a two week period and then had an agonizing year wait for the finale] But by now, you could say I am a bit of a Harry Potter nerd. I read all the books and saw all of the movies. I feel as if I KNOW Harry Potter. After all, magic is there if you believe.

If I weren’t a muggle

The following is a light-hearted look at how I’d imagine my life would be if I weren’t a muggle. If I weren’t a muggle, my life would be completely different, but somehow still familiar. I’d still have to pay taxes to the government. And I’d still have a job. Hopefully, many of the ‘less exciting life tasks’ could be outsourced by magic, but even if they could not, traveling by flue powder excites me more than traveling by car. Here are 10 ways life would be different if I used magic as a wizard instead of non-magic as a muggle.

If I weren’t a muggle, I could go shopping in Diagon Alley instead of just Target.

This is what I imagine Diagon Alley to look like. The real Diagon Alley is in Leadenhall Market which today looks nothing like Diagon Alley.

2. If I weren’t a Muggle, I’d be able to access Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Station.

I’ve been to King’s Cross several times and have yet made my way to platform 9 3/4. I even have my ticket.

If I weren’t a muggle, my ideal job would be teaching potions at Hogwarts, working as a healer at St Mungo’s Hospital for Medical Maladies or taking over for Madame Pomfrey at Hogwarts.

If I weren’t a muggle, I could have gone to Hogwarts for middle and high school.

Old Hoggy, hoggy Howgwarts….

If I weren’t a muggle and had gone to Hogwarts, I would have had to be sorted into a house.

The sorting hat encountered a little bit of difficulty deciding where to place me. Slytherin. Ravenclaw. Ravenclaw. Slytherin. according to this quiz, I’d be placed in Slytherin–which is ok because green and silver are my colors… [I wouldn’t be one of those Death Eater Syltherins though].

If I weren’t a muggle, I wouldn’t have to use the visitor’s entrance at the Ministry of Magic.

If I weren’t a muggle, I could have eaten all my meals in an oh-so-elegant dining hall instead of the very generic one at my high school.

I fully expected to see The Bloody Baron or Nearly Headless Nick floating through the room or Dumbledore sitting at the head of the table.

If I weren’t a muggle, I could have received mail via owl instead of the Arden Post Office.

If I weren’t a muggle, I could have brought my cat to school. We both would have loved that, and he could have helped me study for my OWL exams.

Just a few ideas about how my life would be different if I weren’t a muggle and here are a few other photos from The Wizarding World of Harry Potter:

JK Rowling wrote the first book at this cafe–located in Edinburgh.

Alnwick Castle in Northumberland is one of my favorite Harry Potter sites. Even without the HP tie in, Alnwick Castle is an impressive site. For the movies, they shot the learning to use broomsticks scenes here, but as a person fascinated with plants, the Poison Garden was my favorite.

and finally the beaches of Pembrokeshire, Wales [taken before HP fame during the ’99 trip]…In my opinion some of the prettiest beaches in the world…For the films, they built the Shell Cottage.