11 Ways Reading HP Changes As You Get Older

Scientists say that every time you access a memory, you change it a little bit. Similarly, every time you reread a book, the experience is a little different. After all, as much as you’d like to go back and time and read your favorite series over again for the first time, you can’t. Time and experience will take over your mind, and the book will change just a bit each time you read it.

This is especially true for reading Harry Potter. After all, if you’re totally obsessed, you’ve probably read the series a million times. And though you can remember what it was like when you first read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, and saw the movie on the big screen, and bought the Barbie dolls (yes, there were Barbie dolls of Harry and Hermione, and I definitely owned them), these days the series has changed. And now the dolls are in a cupboard under your stairs.

Of course, not everything changes. After all, the books are still the same books you fell in love with, and the actual text hasn’t changed. You’re just looking at them from a new perspective, but truly, it just makes you love them all the more. But these are 11 ways reading Harry Potter changes as you get older.

1. You Buy "Hogwarts Alumni" Merch

At one time, you would've sported Gryffindor robes and imagined attending your house Quidditch match. Now, you order "Hogwarts Alumni" sweatshirts instead, because your years of pretend-attending Hogwarts are over... just kidding, they'll never really be over. Hogwarts = home.

2. You Lose Count Of How Many Times You've Read The Books

You used to know how many times you'd read the series, but now it's been so long, you've completely lost count. People ask you, and you either make up a number, or look at them blankly, because you can't remember the last time you weren't rereading the series.

3. You Call Yourself Part Of The "Harry Potter Generation"

"Kids these days don't even know what it's like to wait for the next Harry Potter book to come out!" you say, shaking your fist in the air. But seriously, now kids can buy the whole box set and read it all at once? No no no no. You grew up with those books, reading them as they came out, and you feel devastated that every generation can't have that awesome yet patience-testing experience.

4. You Get Really Concerned For The First-Years

First years are babies. They're only 11! What is Harry doing, facing Voldemort at 11 years old? You feel very concerned about this.

5. You Wonder What Job You'd Have In The Hogwarts Universe

Instead of wondering which Hogwarts subject would be your favorite, your HP daydreams now gravitate toward what job you'd have. Would you be an Auror? Would you work for the Ministry? Would you pull a Celestina Warbeck and become a singing sorceress? The last one. Duh.

6. You Start Identifying With The Adult Characters

Once upon a time, you were Hermione Granger, but now as you read you start identifying with the adults. You're totally getting older than James and Lily. And Sirius and Lupin suddenly don't seem that old. Also, how could Fred and George steal that car? That was SO irresponsible. Yep... you're also turning into Molly Weasley, but that's SO not a bad thing.

7. You Miss School

Despite the endless homework, Hogwarts makes you wistful for the days when all your friends lived in the same place, and you could walk the halls laughing and enjoying one another's company and hoping Voldemort would stay away that year. Sigh.

8. You Notice Little Details You Didn't Notice At First

When you first read the books, you were reading for plot. After all, you NEEDED to know what was going to happen next. But now, you notice little details, such as how the books mirror one another, or how darn funny the series is. Your appreciation for J.K. Rowling increases.

9. You Realize How Young Everyone Is

Can we talk about the fact that everyone in the HP universe seems to marry their high school sweethearts? Also, James and Lily were so young when they had Harry. And Sirius, Snape, and Lupin? They were in their 30s!! They suddenly seem so much younger than before.

10. You Think About New Pottermore Backstories

With all the bonus material Rowling has released on Pottermore, you can't help thinking about it as you reread the books. Do Neville and Hannah have any hidden chemistry? You wonder as you flip the pages.

11. It Makes You Nostalgic

Harry Potter brings new feelings when you reread it as you grow older, but it also reminds you of the magic you felt when you read it for the first time. And that magic will stay with you... Always.

Images: Giphy (11); Warner Bros