Bonus Post: Book Week

The past week has been book week at school. It is, as you could probably guess, a week about celebrating books. The theme this year was "Light up your world" so the library's lights were all shut off and the librarians hung fairy lights and lanterns all over the place. It was, in other words, beautiful. 

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On Friday, we were able to dress up as our favourite book character. It was great, because not only were we able to get out of our uniforms for the day but we were allowed to be creative and celebrate one of the things that allows us to be human; stories. 

I saw Mary Poppins, Tiana (from The Princess and the Frog), Deadpool, Batman, The Three Blind Mice, various characters from Pretty Little Liars, the Power Puff Girls, Jack Sparrow, Clary, Hazel Grace, Superman, Harry Potter characters, Mary Lennox (The Secret Garden), Peter Pan, Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Effie Trinket (her costume was beyond fabulous and ended up winning), Things 1 and 2 (and 3 and 4), Alice in Wonderland, Rainbow Fairies (their costumes were great but it looked like a rainbow threw up on them), Eeyore, Katniss, Tris, Caesar Flickerman the list goes on and on and on. I spent my day in my Gryffindor scarf and Hermione wand, while my sister had her Slytherin scarf on. (There was a little shoulder-bumping in the hallways. (And may I suggest to not wear a scarf in Queensland during summer?))

Seriously, she looked fabulous. Source

The vice principle wandered around with her Sorting Hat and Potter cloak, taking pictures and sorting us into houses. (I was sorted into Hufflepuff. (I KNEW IT!!!)) The tech guy trailed along behind her with his wand and full Harry Potter costume. The principle donned a green dress, wig and Fiona mask while the English teacher was, and I quote, "a representation of evil stepmothers". 

At first break, we had a students vs students Quidditch game but the bell rung before anyone made any goals. At second break, it was senior leaders vs teachers and it was the best thing in the world. The house captains (yes, houses like in Harry Potter) each grabbed a pool noodle/broom with their house colour while everyone else grabbed random colours, and the game began. Alice in Wonderland was the ref, and she blew her whistle whenever someone wasn't riding their "broom" properly. As my friend liked to put it, "pretend you're flying high above the ground and if you don't stay on your broom you'll fall off and die", which I thought was nicely put. The tall science teacher took the role of the Keeper, the gym teachers were Chasers and the tech guy (with his fitting H.P. costume) started throwing bludgers. The boarding captain/snitch ran around trying not to get caught while the senior leaders did their best to slam the teachers with bludgers and not fall off their brooms. In the end, the teachers caught the snitch but it didn't count because of improper broom riding, and the students won by one goal. 

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I spent Friday wandering through the school in a daze. All of my favourite characters had, admittedly, not come to life, but it seemed as if they did. Granted, they didn't look exactly the same, and they were my friends and fellow students, but there was something about it that made the characters all seem alive. I think it was the fact that we all loved them. We were the ones who cried with them, who cheered them on, who spend long hours in the library seeing the world through their eyes. The characters came to life through us, the people who loved them the most. 

And I think that's what matters most in stories. The people. No one walked around with short descriptions of their favourite plot. There were no signs reading "save the world from an oppressive government" or "evil villain wants to take over the world". 

Instead, we donned the faces of the people who struggled through those hard times. We fangirled, we laughed, we screamed and we devoured the pages. It is through us, the readers, that characters come to life. 

And that's a kind of magic that you don't need a wand for.