Moral of this entry: Sometimes magic is real in the best possible way.

Hold onto your butterbeer folks because things are about to get splendiferous.

BECAUSE BOOKS!

Books are awesome.

At this exact moment I am abuzz with so much unfiltered happiness I could produce a Patronus charm so powerful it could probably be seen from the Intentional Space Station. My face is hurting because of the vast amount of smiling that I have been doing.

I have not smiled like this in months. MONTHS!

Why the vast amounts of the happy you wonder?

One word: Libraries

You want quiet; go work in a literary archive with the rest of the mole people.

You want to constantly work miracles while battling the dementors of social injustice and budget cuts; your local community library branch is where the frontline action is at.

Whoever said working in the public libraries sector is a nice quiet easy job clearly has not set foot in one in this century.

Case in point: that online Forbes article that declared that Amazon should replace public libraries.

The Literary League of Literate Librarians found out and banded together like an online version of the Order of the Phoenix. Mountain trolls were thrown to the ground and made to eat humble pie. Across vast expanse of interwebs a phoenix sang its hopeful song that was retweeted by the thousands. Good did triumph that day,

Bearded Wonder Bro: (chimes in from on high) Smack the hornet's nest and you're gonna get stung.

Me: Agreed! Much vengeful stinging.

This makes what I'm about to drop all the more magical. And special. A serious case of the warm fuzzies that will make your heart hurt. Like what happens when you hoover five levitating sherbet balls in one go.

Libraries are a long-standing bastion of nurturing creativity, imagination, and a love for reading all the things. A place where you can borrow stuff for free to enjoy at your leisure. They are a cultural nexus of current events that is the hub where all things community based and out of this world interconnect.

This is the closest you can come to finding Narnia. Unless you happen to have a magical wardrobe hiding out in some great aunt's attic somewhere. Libraries are that place where you can get lost between the stacks and vanish into a good book.

If you think about it libraries are portkeys hidden in plain sight.

(A flash of brilliant emerald light is accompanied by the distant choir of heavenly voices hitting a high C. Bearded Wonder Bro appears soaking wet wearing nothing but swimming trunks.)

Bearded Wonder Bro: Are you gonna tell them already?

Me: (clears throat) Is that really necessary?

Bearded Wonder Bro: What? Your ongoing rambling?

Me: Funny Bro. Very gunny. I mean funny.

Bearded Wonder Bro: You're drawing this out. (Shakes out the majestic mane) Just say what you are going to say.

Me: It's called build-up.

Bearded Wonder Bro: It's called rambling.

Me: Oh, what do you know?

Bearded Wonder Bro: Everything?

Me: I'm trying to build up some suspense here! That delicious anticipation! How often do you get to pitch an event where people fall into a magical wizarding plot so thick that they must solve a murder before everyone dies?

Bearded Wonder Bro: And my work here is done. Gotta head back to Hawaii. That hurricane is making a real mess of things. Later!

(Vanishes in a shower of glittering water droplets)

Me: DAMMIT! You always do that. Wait, Hawaii? But...

What do you suppose happens if you find yourself stuck in a library late at night after hours?

You get murder. A murder most magical.

This is why I love libraries. They are more than just the sum of their contents. They are a place where magic comes to life in the best ways possible.

So why murder?

I have been toying with an idea for a while about an adults only event that involves the wizarding world, wands, mystery, and a slap-dash of hilarious investigating. Being a life-time Potter nut, I do my damn best to incorporate my love for my fandoms in just about every aspect of my life. Work is no exception.

But how to pull it off?

The kick-off started when I stumbled across a trailer mash-up on YouTube. Somebody had crossed the "Murder on the Orient Express" film trailer with Harry Potter clips. Bloody brilliant idea.

Murder on the Hogwarts Express.

It is just too perfect.

But how to cater it for an older audience? The eternal Hogwarts student schtick played itself out a long time ago.

Grindelwald. Dumbledore. Scamander.

Ah yes.

Newt and Albus are currently putting boots to the ground in Paris to counteract whatever dastardly plot Gellert Grindelwald has managed to conjure up in the latest installment in the Fantastic Beasts saga. Recent, dark, and it takes place in the 1920s.

Just think of the costumes.

The Roaring Twenties era is all about style. All that fashion. All that jazz. So much beadwork. If I could somehow work Jay Gatsby into this thing I totally would. Now that would be one hell of a party.

This story doesn't exist yet, so I am going to have to create it. If there is one thing that I can do in my sleep, it's write fanfic. Life-long Hogwarts aficionado, trained playwright, veteran fanfic writer, walking encyclopedia of all things Potter related?

I cannot believe I am getting paid to do this.

I am going to need an interesting plot point to start with. Okay, focus brain. Think.

Murder. Train. Magical community on the edge. Dark wizard on the rise. Quidditch World Cup. Disgruntled Canadian National Quidditch Team. Third-string Aurors who are really bad at their jobs. Shady ministry officials. Daily Prophet reporters. Nosey bystanders. A witch duo smuggling illegal creature contraband across the UK. Dark wizards in disguise. Investigation at Hogwarts. Interrogation in the Great Hall. Professors trying to keep the situation hushed. Hogsmeade citizens as witnesses. House elves in a dither.

The Forbidden Forest must be a part of it. A forbidden romance. What about werewolves. Wolf on the run? French witch and her furry protector? Important information for Dumbledore's eyes only. Romanian hit wizards.

And the comedy angle. Third-string pencil pushers from the Ministry. A news photographer with a faulty camera. Sir Cadogan dashing about in a self-carrying picture frame offering bad advice.

What am I missing? Oh of course.

Peeves!!!!!

What about interactive activities throughout the story? It's a three-hour event, something needs to happen to make sure the story moves along.

Magical creatures you can touch and take pictures with. The Room of Requirement turned escape room. Solving puzzles to discover passwords that leads to tasty treats. Origami transfiguration. Patronus conjuring defense against the dark arts lesson. Make your own mocktail potions class. Charms with ozobots and self-made wands. Green screen wanted posters. Life-sized wizards chess.

I love it.

Fifty-five characters, one script, three hour run time, fifteen rolls of parchment filled with clues?

I got this.

(adjusts glasses)

This is not my first time throwing my name into the Goblet of Fire. I have organized and run two massive Potter book launches back in my days as a book seller. This is just next level planning. It can be done. No need to ask Madam Pomfrey for a Calming Draught just yet.

Thankfully I have a speed owl on hand if I do need her help.

How often do you dream of doing something out of the ordinary and for a change you are told yes? Yes, yes you can? Here is a fairly large budget so go forth and make it happen?

Not that often.

When it does happen, you take that money and run with it.

Me? I am flying like a Keeper after a Quaffle to Diagon Alley on a Nimbus 1700.

God I love magic.