Obsessions

Hi,

Everybody has obsessions. For some, it's a sexy celebrity who'll never know they exist, unrealistic comics about gay teen romance — or even, and this is a true one, collecting books they already own three or four sets of.

It doesn't take Hercule Poirot to figure it out — I was talking about me. Declan McKenna (there’s a particular song that made fifteen-year-old me start to realize that my obsession with the music wasn’t entirely about the music, but I’ll let you decide for yourself), Heartstopper (warning: even the straightest, butchest bloke will start crying — just ask anyone who’s seen it on Netflix), and my favorite book series, Harry Potter.

Now, say what you want about J.K. Rowling — to quote The Simpsons, "knock her on the kisser or..." (my teachers read this), but she can write. And there’s something nice about those old-timey ‘90s - ‘00s covers.

Whilst working at Cancer Research last term, I found three first-edition Harry Potter books — Book One, Book Two, Book Three. I took it as a sign, so I bought them. I then made it my mission to find all seven in charity shops.

It took me four months — four months of me driving into charity shops, looking around, shaking my head, and leaving. On one occasion, I found Five and Seven; on another, feeling guilty, I bought one of those £1 thrillers (woman lives alone → sees a murder → solves a murder).

I found Six alone and solitary. Then came the search for Four. I spent almost every Saturday barging into charity shops like I was Will Smith in Men in Black. I took the bus out to a few, drove my chair through every second-hand shop going (one still had VHS tapes!), and then…

This Friday, there it was.

In the same shop where I’d found Six sat Four. I had even made a joke to my carer before we went in:

"The only other place’d be my old Sixth Form — that had the fourth one — I suppose I could 'acquire' it..."

I found Four faster than Usain Bolt.

Anyway, get on with watching Friends or whatever it is you do after reading these.

Bye!