Hufflepuffs are Particularly Good Finders!
Perhaps one of the saddest things in the word for me is losing touch with something that once brought you joy. Waking up one day and realizing you don't remember the names of every single cast member for a show that dominated your childhood or walking past the spot on your bookshelf that housed your old favorite books. For me, one of the joys that I thought had slipped away was my love for the Harry Potter franchise. The books, the films, and the magical world of Hogwarts had a tight grip around much of my childhood. I attribute much of my interest in literature to me devouring that entire series at the age of five, and can say I would be a different person without it. That being said, thanks to JK Rowling's general awfulness and also the terrible CGI of the movies (seriously, how did anybody ever buy that they were actually flying?), it was safe to say that the magic wore off as I grew up.
That is, until I FOUND something called A Very Potter Musical, AVPM for short. If you’ve never heard of it, AVPM is a parody musical created by the theater group Starkid Productions in 2009 (almost as old as yours truly!). It was their first major project and was never supposed to get famous. Starkid originally uploaded the video to YouTube for convenience, sparing them the time it took to burn CDs for each individual cast member. However, as time passed the show quickly grew a cult following, allowing them to continue writing musicals that also grew cult followings, and in some cases started literal cults (the cult of the starry children anyone?).
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| See up: The company I would sell my soul to without any doubt |
As the name suggests, it's a parody of the Harry Potter books, combining elements of the fourth and first book. AVPM is in fact a series, with A Very Potter sequel using aspects of the fifth and third Harry Potter book and A Very Potter Senior Year using parts of the second and seventh Harry Potter book. The musical is full of heart and nostalgia, using humor to not both make fun of certain parts of the story while paying tribute to it as well.
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| The iconic AVPM Poster from 2009 |
Before I FOUND AVPM, I hadn’t thought much about Harry Potter in years. When I was young, I had devoured the books, seen the films, and spent hours pretending to cast spells and attend Hogwarts in my imagination. It's safe to say AVPM brought me back to those days in the most unexpected way. The characters were so familiar yet fresh in this new context. Their personalities were exaggerated for comedic effect, but honestly I could still FIND the things that made me fall in love with them the first time over.
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| [From left to right: Ron, Harry and Hermione] |
This is incredibly embarrassing to admit on the internet (If my CAS supervisor is reading this feel free to turn off your monitor) but I did cried many times during this show. I cried during the obvious moments, Harry hoping his son will finally FIND that hidden swimming pool, and Voldemort talking about how he was planning to move on from Harry Potter, a sentiment that echoed my fears of growing up and forgetting my childhood. But, by far the most embarrassing thing I cried at was the opening number to AVPM. Although "Goin back to Hogwarts" is one of the happiest songs I've ever heard, it is perhaps the furthest thing from an emotional ballad, it still seemed beautiful to me. Behind the upbeat melody and hilarious lyrics, all I heard was that I was going back to Hogwarts, going back to the world that I loved so much. I believe Ronald Weasley said it best when he sang "It's been so long, but we're going back"
P.S: If you're wondering why I kept bolding FIND, it's because of the line "Hufflepuffs are particularly good finders" which has since become one of the shows most iconic line. Despite being spoken by a minor character who's life purpose is to fit the word FIND into as many sentences as he can, this line has become so famous it actually made it's way into a Quidditch Champion game, making it canon. As a proud Hufflepuff myself, I vow to continue Cedric Diggory's legacy and keep FINDING.
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