Are twenty-somethings fueling drunken Potter-mania out of genuine love of magic or just for the ironic Facebook updates?

So you're in a bar last night and there's a girl in sweater vest, tie, plaid skirt, holding a wand, and she has a zig-zag drawing on her face. You order a drink. She orders one too. She giggles and coos with the rest of her broom-swinging friends. You know this girl.

She's your friend's younger sister and you remember what she looked like when she was 12. And she's in your bar, in costume, getting sloshed while waiting for a kid's movie to start.

What does it all mean? For starters, it means you're old.

Second, as somebody who is stitching together her Slytherin scarf right now, I can tell you that the 25-year-old hipster in the knee-socks does geniunely love Harry Potter! We grew up with him. You guys had Remo Williams or some shit but we have this totally charming, decent, wizard fella who is nice to look at and lives in a world of rich political and cultural complexity!

Order of the Phoenix was obviously a political tome about infantilizing effect totalitarian rule has on its citizenry (also maybe an allegory for torture given Ms. Umbridge's approval of 'hard interrogation tactics'?) And the 'Half-Blood Prince' (which also happens to be my pet name for our weekend editor) is a tale of masculine anxiety in a war time state. It's also about potions. Which is totally sweet!

So Old Person, now you know. And godspeed to those young, underpaid, bleary eyed office workers of today who still can't get that marker stain off their forehead. We'll see you in line for the second round tonight! Be sure to send us your pics!

Pictures Via Flickr