Comfort in times of distress: rereading Harry Potter

February 5, 2021 — by Lihi Shoshani
Screen Shot 2021-02-05 at 5

Side effects of this indulgence include using British slang and invoking curses.

Oi mate, what the bloody hell was that for?

Now some might be thinking, why is she using British slang while talking in an American accent? My only answer to that is I cannot do a British accent. 

For some more context, I reread the Harry Potter series during winter break and the British slang used by the characters somehow worked its way into my vocabulary. After finding Harry Potter language thoroughly enjoyable to use, I vowed to use as much British slang as possible. It was easy enough to convince my entire friend group to do the same, and quickly, Harry Potter language was the only thing we knew. 

Randomly yelling out cheers, blimey and bugger off at inopportune moments was the highlight of my two-week-long British escapade. 

My middle school family friends made fun of me for getting too into the Hogwarts universe. Apparently, me having read a “children series” that they had no interest in gave them full rein to mock me. Mock me for what, you might ask? For having good taste. 

I tried to get them into the series by repeating the iconic one-liners “avada kedavra” (in Voldemort’s voice) and “obviously” (in Snape’s voice) while beating them in beyblades instead of saying “let it rip.” I thought it would add some spice to the game, but the uncultured middle schoolers didn’t appreciate my genius.

I managed to quickly put an end to their teasing after telling them I will fight anyone who says that Harry Potter is for children.

Now, however, I’m discovering I have no other books to reread that my elementary school self loved as much as Harry Potter, but you can just blame my 10-year-old self for being a dull bugger.

 

2 views this week