Harry Potter. Book 4. The Goblet of Fire. In case you weren’t sure, yes. I am a Harry Potter fan, and yes. I prefer the books to the movies, but that’s not what this is about, so I shall move on.

The fourth book in the series released the summer before my 7th grade year. I’d just got the second and third books the Christmas before. Around that same time the press was going crazy because parents were saying that Harry Potter was evil and filled with witchcraft (ooo) and shouldn’t be allowed in schools (it’d become a part of national booklists). My mom decided to read the books herself to see what the fuss was, and ended up loving the story, too. So then my books became Mother Approved, as it were. I could not wait to get the next story.

Everywhere the excitement was building. Everybody was talking about the much anticipated continuation of the series. Interviews and segments talked about how this book would be a turning point in the series. Ugh. I don’t ever remember being more excited than I was to get that new book. My dad left out of the house around 10, and drove to the book store so he could be in line to get my book the night of the release. He got home a bit after 11, and I stayed up until almost 3am just reading my little heart out. All in all it only took 4 days for me to read that entire book, and that thing is 700+ pages. Best. Summer. Ever.

My parents have moved since then and some of the other books got lost. But that fourth one is still sitting on a shelf at my parents house. Honestly, if I ever wanted to do something special with it I probably could. As for me, I purchased a full replacement that I read every 1-2 years now. How about you? Care to share an item of yours.