Day 2: Invite Yourself to Hogwarts!
This is the second day of the Eleven Days of Breaking Out of the Muggle Mindset which we announced in this post and in this podcast which is about celebrating the Eleventh Anniversary of Harry Potter this July 31st. If you remember, we’re not the only ones counting down to Harry’s eleventh birthday – Harry was doing that as well:
“One minute to go and he’d be eleven. Thirty seconds–twenty, ten, nine- maybe he’d wake
That ’someone’ of course was the Hogwarts Keeper of the Keys, Rubeus Hagrid who was about to hand him his invitation to the magical world of Hogwarts. Harry was in shock and disbelief. He couldn’t really be a Wizard! No way! The Dursleys had not only succeeded in pushing him into a cupboard physically, they had pushed him into a cupboard internally as well. All of his life they had treated every one of his magical qualities, any thing that went outside their definition of “normal” as defective.
And even those of us who have not had to live in a cupboard underneath a set of stairs still know what it feels like to have those magical parts of us that exist within us forced to live in a cupboard and told not to come out. Which brings us to to Day 2 of Breaking Out of the Muggle Mindset:
TODAY’S ACTIVITY: Invite Yourself To Hogwarts!
Day Two for the Eleven Days of Breaking Out of the Muggle Mindset is do for ourselves what Hagrid did for Harry on his eleventh birthday and invite ourselves to Hogwarts!
It may seem a little silly at first, but imagine (close your eyes if you’d like) a magical place that you can travel to that makes you feel safe and allows you to be yourself. It can be Hogwarts or any place of your own invention! Not even the sky is the limit! There are no limits!
Now get out a piece of blank paper and create an invitation for yourself to this magical place.
If you want to make it a sophisticated looking invitation, go for it…but I would urge people not to worry what it looks like. Instead focus on the invitation being fun, silly, and welcoming! Use crayons, markers, or pen and pencil…whatever you have available. Then if you want to go that extra step, put it in the mail and address it to yourself.
It can be brief. Or it can go into more detail:
“Dear Jackie,
Despite whatever (you can name names here) have said to you, despite (write what these negative people/inner-voices have said), you are a Wizard and we would like to cordially invite you to (put whatever name you’d like to of your magical place: Hogwarts or else where).
Sincerely,
Jackie”
Of course, this exercise may sound strange at first. It may even feel weird doing it. Try and put these feelings aside and jump in and just try it! Even if it does feel silly, that’s part of the process and I think it’s a great way to open up this week or recognizing that despite what ever our “inner-Dursley” has to say, that we are MAGICAL and WONDERFUL for being exactly as we are.
Feel free to talk about what it was like to do this in this forum thread – you don’t have to share the actual text of your letter, and you don’t have to share what it looks like. This is an activity for you, and so while we do have this forum thread, you’re welcome to welcome to use to talk about any part of this activity you like. It’s up to you!!!! 
Posted in Harry Potter Alliance
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:40 am
This sounds like a ton of fun! I can’t wait to write my own letter!
But I’m torn as to which magical place to be invited to…. Wrockstock or Unlimited Enthusiasm Expo!
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:41 am
I’m still wondering where I should be invited to as well… I’m sort of thinking I want to go to Asteroid B-612. =]
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:55 pm
This is such and amazing idea! i still fell soo good even after doing this excercise! its makes me relized that no matter how much we “potter nerds” are made fun of we still get so much more than just enjoyment out of the books and the culture that surounds it!
For my letter i kept it simple i was invited to Hogwarts…it finally fells like my letter came!
Thank you Andrew for being AMAZING… once again!
July 22nd, 2008 at 5:08 pm
HAH! I had no “inner Dursley” about this activity. I literally LEAPED out of my seat and grabbed my notebook (which I use to write my NOVEL) to invite myself to my OWN imaginary school!
“Dearest Amandanette,
We cordially invite you to spend the next ten years of your life developing your talents and strengths at the Academy of Creativity and Excellence (ACE). Through your steadfastness in the belief of being a unique individual, you have, as a result, FOUNDED this school. Instead of trying to fit in or worrying about what the “cool” people (ahem… dumbheads) at your school would think, you have striven to create a UTOPIA for people like you – nerds, freaks, dorks, weirdoes, bookworms, geeks, beatniks, outcasts, and anyone else who does not “fit in”. We recognize and adore your attitude – when others would have been embarrassed, you CROWN yourself with creativity! Such haughtiness we have never seen in anyone else.”
July 22nd, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Amandanette… that’s glorious!
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:41 pm
haha. I agree, I love that Amandanette.
July 25th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
I invited myself to Made of Awesome Academy for Nerdfighting Young People.
as soon as i read this i grabbed a piece of paper and wrote a very…. shall we say different looking letter. I’m sending it to myself, but making it so it’ll take a while for it to actually get to me.
That way, when i get it it’ll be more of a surprise.
July 26th, 2008 at 12:35 am
I know that this response is a little late, but because I have been soooooooooooo, busy lately, I tried to do all five of the five day activitys in one day, today. Know about my exceptinic(sorry for the misspelled word)letter. I decide to try to make my letter as normal, but also as crazy as I could and deliver my letter as normal, but as crazy as I could. I first wrote a letter to myself and cut my letter in four halfs, one for each house and than I had cut up each square to make a puzzle shape letter, ending up with 4 pieces. Don’t worry, I write a side note on a extra piece of paper just in case I had forgotten by tomorrow what my plan was. Next was my decision on how to deliver my letter and with the help of my friend, I lefted my toy owl outside in one of the trees, in our yard and thoughout the night(since my friend is homeschooled and really doesn’t have to go to bed until she wants to)my friend had promised to keep an eye out for any steallers of either the owl or the letter. Tomorrow when I open my letter, I will hopeful be surprised, but if I remember what I was doing and think about, the night before I will try my best to act surprise, for recieving your hogwarts letter is just one more step close to actully be at hogwarts and I really hope to go to hogwarts one day(hint, hint)!!!