"Congratulations! You are magical."

At 3:57 a.m. on July 27, 2011, a webpage validated my childhood.

I don't know why I chose to refresh the Pottermore tab when I did. I'd almost written it off and gone to bed, at least for a nap, but I've never really been able to shake the feeling that I'm going to miss something wonderful in my sleep. It was silly to even stay awake that long, knowing full well that the clue could be posted at any hour of the day, British Summer Time (BST). One click later, I was clambering up on my pile of laundry to reach for my copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone -- the same copy I've had for over ten years, for over half of my life. The spine is just barely intact.

The clue: "How many breeds of owl are on the Eeylops Owl Emporium sign? Multiply this by 49." Chapter Five: Diagon Alley, page 72, US edition: "A low, soft hooting came from a dark shop with a sign saying Eeylops Owl Emporium -- Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown, and Snowy." Five times forty-nine. I did the mental math, held my breath while I did it again, then typed quill.pottermore.com/245 into my address bar, which redirected me to...

"Try to catch it to enter." YOU TEASES.

Obviously, I wasn't expecting the Sony homepage, but the floating feathers seemed about right. For the record, the Magical Quill is the glowing one. I mean...duh. Having maaaybe just the slightest difficulties with my small motor skills, I had to click around a few times before I actually got it, but of course, the point is that I GOT IT.

OMG OMG OMG.

Even the wizarding world has paperwork, though I only wish most forms in life could be as easy to fill out as this one:

Who do they think they're asking? I mean, come on.

It's a miracle that I managed to make it through all the submission forms without misspelling my name or any other pertinent information. If a Quick-Quotes Quill could turn Ronald Weasley into Roonil Wazlib, my name was just rife for keyboard fumbling errors. Then, finally, this screen:

"Congratulations! You are magical."

Has there ever been such a thrilling sequence of words? In league with phrases like "I love you," "it's a boy/girl," and "your hair looks great today," J. K. Rowling once again managed to choose exactly the right welcome to the wizarding world. Congratulations, because you are magical. It's just what we've all been waiting to hear. "Yer a wizard, Harry."

"FrogBludger" sounds vicious. So does "ChaserDragon," actually.

In the wake of more embarrassing Harry Potter-related confessions (see previous entry), I have no qualms now admitting that my first email username was "phoenixfeather4." I loved Harry Potter, I loved mythology, and I loved alliteration. Choosing "PhoenixProphecy184" from a randomly generated list of Pottermore usernames feels like coming full circle.

A log-in page to the WIZARDING WORLD.

I still didn't really believe it, but the screen doesn't lie:

"You've successfully validated your early access Pottermore account."

Be still, my beating heart.

I AM MAGICAL. ϟ