Let me set the scene . . . I was out of high school, waiting to start my freshman year of college, reading “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” for the first time.

There’s a scene where a bunch of characters come to take Harry away from the Dursley’s. (Spoiler ahead if you haven’t read the book).

One of these characters is Remus Lupin, whom you haven’t seen since book three. Lupin is one of my favorite characters OF ALL TIME, from any book. I really felt I connected with and understood him. I felt for him deeply.

I was SOOOO excited when he came back that I squealed “Lupin’s back!” out into the backdrop of my empty bedroom.

I have always dreamed of evoking that reaction in a reader, given that I have written a fantasy series myself. It’s something I have always wanted, because I never forgot that moment and how excited I was that Lupin was back.

Well, today, one of my ARC readers told me about “the actual audible shriek I let out when B came up . . . “

Of all my characters, B is one of the ones closest to my heart. I have always loved the moment when B comes back in book two myself. And to hear this from a reader . . .

I’m going to need a moment. Excuse me while I weep . . .