Everyday magic...

Well, the last Harry Potter movie premiere was YESTERDAY. And I missed it. Not only did I MISS it, but I entirely failed to re-read the complete series, which had been my homework plan over the past two weeks.

Crap.

Unfortunately, I remember VERRRY little of the first half of this last Harry Potter movie. I'm not sure if all that Tom Riddle business was in this one or the previous movie/book. (WARNING--POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOLLOW, with the operative word being POSSIBLE).

I DO remember Hedwig biting the dust. And Dobby...I THINK. And a vague impression of snakes. Or just one BIG snake, I'm not sure. And snow and graveyards. And lots of camping in a tent that was bigger inside than out. No Hogwarts/moving staircases/Nearly Headless Nick.

And what's worse, no Neville. (I'm sure this was so he could develop his bad-assness economically off-camera, to be revealed in THIS movie. Which I loved so much, I had to include his poster AGAIN.)

Drat. The main thing I remember is an EXTREMELY LONG scene where Harry and Hermione danced inside that tent and, since NOTHING else was happening, all I could think was WHAT KIND OF DROOLING IDIOT IS EDITING THIS MOVIE BECAUSE THERE'S SURELY ENOUGH ACTION IN THE LAST BOOK TO DRAG IT OVER 5 HOURS AND TWO MOVIES WITHOUT A RELATIVELY POINTLESS DANCE SCENE TAKING UP 5 MINUTES OF SCREEN TIME, AND OHMYGOD, I BET THIS SAME PERSON IS EDITING THE TWILIGHT MOVIES.

As a writer/storyteller, I found this especially offensive since they had cut out all the House Elves Union action from the 5th movie, just in time for J.K. Rowling to release the last book, which RELIED HEAVILY ON THE HOUSE ELF UNION FOR THE RESOLUTION. And I would expect them to have to spend SOME time on backfilling that plot hole...but NO...but maybe it was intended as built-in time for the audience to use the bathroom, go to the lobby and get a snack, check their emails and work messages, etc.

ANYHOW...

Since I am temporarily unprepared for this last movie and therefore, voluntarily Harry-less, I've been thinking a lot about magic. But mainly about the kind that surrounds us, and which we may or may not notice, depending on whether or not we're paying attention to our surroundings or we're instead focusing on something else (say, for example, how cute the checkout boy is at Ralphs, or how much our mother pisses us off, or how much we're BECOMING JUST LIKE OUR MOTHER, or the terrible editing in the last Harry Potter movie).

For instance, last week, I drove past a VW van. It was the middle of the afternoon, and the driver looked tired and like he wanted to get home. Behind him, an animal was sticking its head and neck out the window, apparently wanting to taste a little of that neighborhood's industrial-flavored air and let his tongue hang out in the wind and his ears flap.

Seen it a million times, right?

I had driven all the way past the van before I realized that it was a LLAMA sticking its head out of the window, long prehensile neck and all. People transport llamas in the backs of VW vans. Who knew?

Okay...maybe not so magic. But DEFINITELY not an everyday occurence. Unless you're in my world.

My friend, Ann, told me that, years ago, she and her husband were visited by an old friend who was one of the top tiger-trainers in the world. He was driving through the U.S. in his Winnebago with a tiger, and he stopped in Denver to stay with them.

Yes. HE KEPT THE TIGER IN A WINNEBAGO. Sure, it was reinforced with steel bars, but STILL.

I guess, at one point, he took the tiger out for a walk (on a leash, which sounded like a mere technicality). People in their cars stopped at the intersection by the house, staring for a moment, then shaking their heads and moving on. Ann said, "I'm sure they did NOT believe their eyes. And they probably forgot all about it."

I know this happens all the time--something that, for lack of a better word, is MAGIC. Maybe it's a llama in a passenger van. Maybe it is just very advanced technology. But it's so ODD, so unbelievable, that when you witness it, the operative brain, the one that gets you up for work and focuses you on "reality", says NO. THIS DID NOT HAPPEN.

So you just forget. After all, it's easier than trying to reconcile everyday "reality" with this thing that just happened. Everyday reality has a way of steamrolling actual magic.

So here's another example--one that does NOT involve circus animals.

Years ago, in New Orleans, Jon and I saw a ghost (for lack of a better word). It was late at night, we were walking down Royal Street, behind the cathedral in Jackson Square.

Just to get the caveats out of the way first:

• Yes, we had just gone on a "Magick Tour" with a practicing Wiccan who then invited us to witness some other Wiccans "calling the quarters" in some back French Quarter courtyard. And the wind DID spring up when they finished the ceremony, (but we did not have any weird Fairuza Balk/"The Craft" float-y action, which was a great relief to me since Fairuza freaked me out in that movie).
• Yes, we had also had a beer at Marie Laveau's bar AND a Dixie cup of Andre pink champagne and a butter cookie (which was WAY more interesting than the grape juice and stale bread cubes they put out for Communion in my church back home) after the Wiccan ceremony. But we were NOT drunk.
• Yes, the back of the cathedral is kind of spooky, with a big marble statue of Jesus with his arms spread, and a low spotlight that shines up on him so he leaves a big Christian Bat-Signal silhouetted on the cathedral's back wall.

STILL...

Here are the facts.

The entire back lot of the cathedral is enclosed by a 12-foot wrought-iron fence. Nobody can duck in or out of that lot without being EXTREMELY NOTICEABLE.

Jon and I were walking side by side. In the middle of the block, SOMEBODY WANTED TO GET PAST US. We BOTH agreed on that. So Jon fell back and walked behind me. And whoever it was passed us, stepping briefly off the sidewalk and then back up.

Seen it a million times, right?

Except that, 20 seconds later, Jon shook his head, and asked, "Hey, didn't somebody just pass us?" And when I agreed, he asked, "Well, WHERE ARE THEY?"

The street was deserted. NOBODY was around.

So, somewhat freaked out, we went back to the Monteleone, where we were staying, and, courtesy of a bunch of drunk people coming back late from Bourbon Street, I woke up at about 2:30 AM and lay awake all night THINKING ABOUT THIS.

Even though it was NOT really very freaky. I mean, somebody passing you on the sidewalk--how many times a day does this happen? A LOT, right? It wasn't like somebody all green and rotting floated up over my bed and tried to choke me, or a giant Sta-Puf man started tromping through the streets. Those things are NOTICEABLE.

I mainly wondered how many times things like this had happened to me, and I hadn't been paying attention.

All this time, Jon slept like a baby. And the next day at lunch, HE HAD FORGOTTEN ALL ABOUT IT.

Interesting...

Anyhow, my point is that magic surrounds us every day, as long as we're paying attention.

After all, check out that awesome Harry Potter cast! Something about British culture seems to be VERY helpful to those young actors. I have not heard about even ONE of those people having substance issues (except for possibly Robert Pattinson and THAT I blame on Hollywood and "Twilight") or going out without their underwear (except for Daniel Radcliffe and that was for ART! ART! Even Kathleen Turner stripped for art!).

Now THAT's magic!