Harry & Me (scratch that) Ron & Me

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I woke up the other morning having forgotten that the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows trailer would be online. I realised this approximately two minutes before I absolutely had to leave for work. Needless to say...I was a little late.

My history with Harry Potter started well after its initial publication. I had heard about it for years before I actually got around to reading one. I remember deciding with disdain that I would during my third year school practicum placement for my education degree. I was very wise to the world at 20 (snickers) and decided that I was beyond this kiddie crap (the irony doesn't escape me especially as I was studying Children's Literature as my sub-major.) All the students in my prac class were reading the four titles that were out and I realised it would be a great way to engage with these difficult to impress ten year olds.

I went to the primary school library and inside a week I had read the first four. (I would have been quicker but like all teaching students we need to nap a lot just to summon the energy to return.) I was hooked. I no longer made fun of the premise that I had initially believed to be monumentally stupid.

I am not one of those people who tends to get fixated on things. Even if I adore something I am more appreciative than devout. I don't study the books or rewatch the movies every weekend. For this post I even had to fact check because I don't retain useless facts on the Weasley's fictional life. But there was something about the world of Hogwarts that drew me in. It is not all that surprising considering I also attended boarding school, I have had to wear robes to meals, Greek mythology pushes my buttons and tracing the evolution of friendship really interests me.

Some admissions. I never really gravitated towards Harry. Ever. He never made me cry or emphasise or really anything. For me, Harry's an entry point, a must to have access to some amazing predicaments and characters. From the beginning I was all about Ron, even though on appearance I have a lot more in common with Hermione (which was a name I failed to pronounce correctly until HP6). I am clumsy and foolish. I appreciate a laugh and never feel like I measure up. I don't always try to the best of my abilities because I am confident I will fail. I am not above petty jealousies but I am loyal. I don't have any particular gifts or book smarts but I am calm in a crisis. Ron might seem like the weak link in the Terrific Three but he's far from it. And I felt an instant connection with him from the beginning.

Ron's got a lot to offer. He's shares his family with his friends. He's completely ineffectual at being pissed off for too long and he is totally crushing on one of his besties. I suspect that people sometimes forget that the Weasley's are amongst a smattering of surviving pure blood wizarding families. Despite this, and pressure from distant relations like the Malfoys, Ron befriended a half-blood and a mudblood without a second thought. Ron's heart is open...more so than the other two. He's one classy dude.

I always got the connection between Ron and Hermione. They challenge one another in a way that makes me smile, usually this is due to the snark that accompanies their interchanges and one (or both) storming off in a huff. It's perfection. They are polar opposites in the best way possible and yet that never really impacted their loyalty to the group. Most of all, I quite enjoy all the jealous fuelled incidents over several of the tomes...it's my literary chocolate.

In seeing the first part of the final film this year, it will finally bring an end to my Harry Potter Ron journey. I might have read the final volume upon its release a few years back, and re-read it last year, but it isn't over until I hear that crooked organ tune playing over the final credit sequence in July of next year.

The trailer looks incredible. From the haunted and aged gaze of Harry, the fire, the duels and the general grandness of it all. I am unbelievably excited....not for another Ginny/Harry snog mind you, but you have to take the good with the bad.

Scenes I am desperately looking forward to seeing in the theatre and then re-watching time and time again on DVD like a stupid little fangirl:

• Anything with Ron that involves a smart ass comment.
• The Ron/Hermione snog over elf freedom
• Ron beating down doors (shrieking like a girl) as Hermoine is tortured (taking it like a man)
• Everything Ron and Godric's sword
• Molly kicking Bellatrix's ass in a duel. (I swear the line needs to be exactly as written - "Not my daughter, you bitch")
• Percy finally siding completely with his family and fighting alongside of them.
• Fred dying (it will kill me but I hope they give him a good send off with at least a 90 second long death scene)

It occurred to me as I was writing this list that my adoration might be less about Ron and more about the Weasley family. I won't rename the post again because that just makes me look flighty.

But why not? The Weasley's are a liberal family ready to accept everyone and fight for what is right. They raised leaders. Most of their children have retained a prefect position at Hogwarts and been members of (official and otherwise) the Order of the Phoenix. They are an admirable family in every sense of the word, magical or not.

I love them.

I am not ready to say goodbye.