…seen the Alamo Drafthouse decked out like Hogwarts for 5 midnight showings of Harry Potter Part the Fifth…

…then drank an alcoholic butterbeer and eating treacle fudge…

…then watched a superb “wizard rock” performance by the Remus Lupins…

…then watched the best Harry Potter movie of the bunch.

We have tickets for the 11:50 showing of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and we may catch a glimpse of the Remus Lupins before the event. I must say that although I’m not a Potterhead (you won’t see me costuming for any book, no way, no how), Pottermania is rather contagious. I think I’ve taken to it so well because it’s mania over a literary universe. It’s not like The Da Vinci Code (based on myths and half-truths) or Left Behind (based on bad writing and bad eschatology)–those enamored by Rowling’s novels do not pretend that the series has any truth to it. People are into Harry Potter because the books are fun to read, the movies are fun to watch, and the universe is complex enough to discuss.

The very nature of the fan base, in fact, refutes the prudish religious attacks on the books. This is not a people who are practicing spells on each other or cursing others; this is a people who really want the answers to questions that are, in the end, meaningless. Is Snape good or evil? Will Harry snuff it, and will he take Voldemort down with him? Do McGonagall and Dumbledore have a secret affair? Any proper examination of the Harry Potter fan base must take this into account: though they may take it too far sometimes, these people are not taking these books seriously. It’s entertainment they’re after, not deep truths.

So I look forward to enjoying Harry Potter the Fifth with other fans, reveling in unreality for two hours and hoping to God that I can wake up in time for work tomorrow morning.