Through Eagle Eyes....

by Hari O'Duibhleargain

The things that come to mind when I think of this past year are many and varied. Some are completely unrelated, others are intertwined together in very complicated fashion. They all weave together to form the tapestry of the past year, with brilliant colours and fascinating patterns, and a soundtrack that contains quite a bit of country music!

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of the past year is my friends: how I have grown closer to some, grown away from others, and am just now getting to know others well. Memories flood my brain; the formation of the Sistahs, all those crazy conversations and quite a few serious ones, all those moments where something one of my friends has said has brightened up my day, and of course all those inside jokes, most of which are not G-rated in the least.

Closely wrapped up in that is the sheer craziness of many of the conversations. Only here can you start at one topic and be discussing a completely unrelated one a couple minutes later. Only here will you be discussing such things as parsnips or swords and have almost everyone in the room laughing so hard the tears are running down their face, or worse, dying of embarrassment! And only here will you have arguments about whether *G* looks like a middle-aged man with a paunch or not, AND have it end up in an LJ entry or two.

The second thing that comes to mind is Taia's passing. I did not know Taia well, but many others did, including some of my close frends. Many, many people on HOL had been touched in some way by Taia, including myself, and when she died, everyone mourned. She will never be forgotten, that is certain.

The third thing that comes to mind is Quidditch, and whenever I think of this topic I give a huge sigh. The Quidditch politics this year have been anything but pretty, and if you were involved in certain events involving Quidditch as I was, you would probably not wish to talk about it either.

The fourth thing that comes to mind when I think of this year is all the changing I've been through, and all the stuff I've had to hash through. Along with that comes the gratitude I feel to those who have listened and been there through it all, and others that offered hugs, even though they barely knew me. I have the best friends in the world, I really do.

Now we've come full-circle, back to friends. That's really what HOL is about: the friends that we make, who we will always be close to, no matter what; others that may have only a short time with us, but who we will always remember; and still others who only stay a little while and then are swallowed up by the demands of their real life, but who come back every once in a while and let us know they're still around.

Quidditch, classwork, prefecting work, much as we might enjoy it (or hate it), is not what HOL is about. HOL is not a large grouping of webpages, it is a grouping of people. A very diverse group, from all over the world, with myriad interests, brought together by the love of Harry Potter. I owe all my close friends, and many laughs, and some tears, and quite a few mood swings to HOL! And I'm very, very glad of it.