Harry Potter and My Weird Mind

Today is Harry Potter's birthday. Happy Birthday Harry!

For the past week, I have been watching all of the Harry Potter movies in order. What I have noticed though is that my mind has completely bamboozled me. There are entire scenes from the book that are not in the movies. Of course I expected that, but what I didn't expect is that I have "memories" of these scenes with the actors in them though they have never happened on screen. For example, in the book, Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry is using the invisibility cloak while in Hogsmeade because he doesn't have permission to be there. His head is uncovered for a moment and Malfoy sees his head floating in the air. I have a vision of this AND of Alan Rickman grilling Daniel Radcliffe about why his head would have been in Hogsmeade. This is strange because those scenes never appeared in the movie. I also have images in my head of Emma Watson distributing badges for S.P.E.W. and knitting hats for the house elves even though these things are also omitted from the movie Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. These are just a few of the instances and there have even been more.

This seems to confirm to me that when I read books, it is almost like I am watching a movie. I see the characters and the setting. It is like a theater in my mind. I have to say some of the scary characters are even worse in my imagination than in the movies. About the only exception to that has been the orcs in The Lord of the Rings.

If everyone experienced books this way, I believe there would be more avid readers in the world. Talking to people around me, I have found that some people don't see a single thing when they read. This is unfathomable to me. I am thankful that visualization of literature is automatic and that sinking into a good book continues to be a wonderful and fascinating experience. I hope you are also blessed with a mind that plays tricks on you when you read.