Beloved Members,
Hogwarts Online began with a group of friends 15 years ago (in 11 days, to be exact, but who doesn't love a surprise?) The site was very different then and much simpler, to be certain, but so was the world we lived in. We used to write to escape the mundane problems that everyone faced in high school or college or at our jobs. Now, escaping from reality is a lot more than that. For some it means escaping the horrors of racial violence in America and abroad or the pandemic that continues to ravage our communities.
The things we look away from have changed, but the things we toward remain the same. We come here for community, we come here for the good memories, we come here to build stories that started here before some of our siblings and children were born. If you're like me, Harry Potter and Hogwarts were the place I came to get away from it all and lose myself in the wonder and mystery of our magical world.
We have each survived a lot, whether you joined 15 years ago or last week, we have all faced our own demons and sometimes if we were lucky we faced them together right here on this site. HO has had its share of bad leaders and injustice too, but we also had a lot of love and forgiveness.
So, in a time where each day can seem darker than the last, let's remember the light and the love that we all built together.
Happy Anniversary!
