The Boy Who Lived

"You have shown bravery beyond anything I could have expected of you."

Is the line I read as I fight back tears. I don't want the two kids I'm reading to, to catch a glimpse of my watery eyes, so I press on, wishing I could take a moment to collect my emotions.
If you haven't heard, we are Harry Potter fanatics around here. After much un-researched protest, we were won over by a dear friend who said, "you've got to check these books out." Oh, my was he ever right. Harry Potter is not real, magic is not real, real witchcraft is evil, but reading words that cause you to fall more in love with the God who made you and the people he gave you, is beautiful.

Having a two year old, a very hard working husband, a hectic schedule, and being born a slow reader, it has taken me a bit to get through the fourth book, but yesterday I did in fact complete it. I am a much better person for having done so too.
As many who care to know the story have long since read it, or at least seen the movie, and have a general idea of the story, I don't need to bother with the entire storyline. I was just compelled by some of the ending scenarios and how they spoke to me.

As Dumbledore loves Harry so perfectly, almost as a Father, something Harry's never known, my heart was breaking for this fictional character. Albus Dumbledore fits Harry's needs so perfectly, and continues to let him know just how proud he is of him.
As Harry's horrible night continues, he is met once again by another form of what appears to be perfect love. Harry's best friend's mother is there to provide Harry with something he'd never had a memory of before, a mother's hug.

"Mrs. Weasley set the potion down on the bedside cabinet, bent down, and put her arms around Harry. He had no memory of ever being hugged like this, as though by a mother. The full weight of everything he had seen that night seemed to fall in upon him as Mrs. Weasley held him to her. His mother's face, his father's voice, the sight of Cedric, dead on the ground all started spinning in his head until he could hardly bear it, until he was screwing up his face against the howl of misery fighting to get out of him."

And when I thought the worst (or best, depending on your perspective) was over, Harry's dear friend and professor, Hagrid, swells with pride when he reflects on the hardships his young friend has overcome.

"You all righ'?" he said gruffly.
"Yeah," said Harry.
"No, yeh're not," said Hagrid. "'Course yeh're not. But yeh will be."
Harry said nothing.
....
Hagrid's chest swelled as he looked at Harry.
"Yeh did as much as yer father would've done, an' I can' give yeh no higher praise than that."

"Just breathe through it Lace, you're almost done!" I tell myself this as I make sure to keep my head down and securely hide my eyes.

The amazing saga goes on for one more chapter, and as it rounds to a close, my heart is stirred once more. This time not because my heart's being broken for this poor boy, but because it all started to appear as a personal message to me, one that set a fire in my heart.

"It is my belief - and never have I so hoped that I am mistaken - that we are facing dark and difficult times. ..... if the time should come when you have to chose what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave..."

Without reading the book, you could be a little lost, but I think the message still rings clear.

Ah...... to be loved. Not butterflies, goosebump, and daydreaming love, but real, perfect love. The thing we all long for, the thing we all seek after, the thing that drives the human race. The passion that was installed in to our fabric at birth. The thing that can only truly be completed with Christ. He is the perfect fit, with continuous words of praise. He is the long desired embrace from which we have had no prior memory. He is the beaming friend who has the perfect words in a painful time. He is the memory to recall when the choice to do what is right or what is easy is upon us.

My unending gratitude will forever be to the one who sacrificed him self for my sake when his dark and difficult time was upon him.

Thank you Harry Potter for allowing me to remember just how amazing real love is.