The first thing on most teenage girls’ minds when waking up is usually what should they wear today, what are they going to do with their hair, or what will they do when they see that cute guy in their science class.
But not for senior Ashton Olson. Her waking thoughts are of a different man. Harry Potter.
“I wake up in the morning and check my Harry Potter news,” Olson said. “It’s my obsession.”
Ever since reading the first Harry Potter book, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” at age 11 or 12, Olson has been in love with the world of Hogwarts. She’s read all the books “too many times” and has seen every movie, though she admits that she prefers the books by far.
“The seventh book is my favorite book of all time,” she said.
Though she loves Harry Potter, she does realize that she may be a little addicted. “I spend a ton of my money on it. I’m broke because of it,” she said.
It’s easy to see why. She owns 14 or 15 Harry Potter-themed shirts, her very own wand, a 20- Questions Snitch and numerous other Potter items. She also is going to Seattle to see “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1” in an IMAX theatre, and she is planning a trip to Orlando next summer to visit “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter” theme park.
Olson said she is offended when people say Rowling’s books are only for children.
“J.K. Rowling created a world so magical that it can pull anyone in – old or young,” Olson said. “Harry Potter is not just for little kids. It grows with you.”