I am sitting in the corner of the Elephant House, a little coffee shop in Edinburgh, Scotland. Looking through the windows of the Elephant House you can see the black rock supporting Edinburgh castle, it is quite a sight on this rainy summer day.
The coffee shop is quite busy, there are family catching up, mothers with their babies, tourists taking pictures and a few locals reading their papers. People are smiling at each other like they share a secret. We’ve all come here for a reason, to soak in the atmosphere of the coffee that inspired J.K Rowling to write the adventures of Harry Potter, the world’s most popular boy wizard. The place is quite welcoming, bright colours on the walls, books about elephants, quite a lot of plants and comfortable seats. A big old clock hangs on the walls and soft music is playing the background. People come and leave and I am absorbed in my reverie, daydreaming, thinking about the world of Harry Potter created by J.K Rowling.
If you liked the Harry Potter books to take a trip to the toilets
The waitress passes next to me and smiles. She comes back a minute later with my cup of tea and says “If you liked the Harry Potter books to take a trip to the toilets”. I am quite intrigued and I make my way there. My first thought is that the wallpaper is very very colourful before I realise that the decorations are indeed messages left by fans to J.K Rowling. Some of them are truly amazing, I add my one and leave, smiling.
I have visited all the places linked to the Harry Potter movies in England but coming here, sitting in the far corner of this little coffee shop was far more meaning full.
Walking down George IV bridge all I am thinking is this:
Thank you Joan Rowling for filling my childhood with spells and adventures; thank you for the suspense, the feeling of belonging to secret community and the long hours hiding under my sheet reading until the middle of the night because I couldn’t wait until the next day to know what happened next; thanks for the tears and all the emotions but most of all…
Thank you for making my childhood magical!
