During the month of November I watched Harry Potter And The Chamber of Secrets on ABC Family no less than 37 times. Early projections are showing that I will have viewed it another 84 times by Christmas. If I miss the beginning, and there's a back-to-back viewing, I'll start watching it again after the first showing, telling myself that I'll just watch to the point where I picked it up the first time, then maybe switch to a rerun of Monk - but sure enough, I'll power through the whole thing again at full speed, like Harry running through the brick pillar at King's Cross Station to get to platform 9 ¾. Bless him. During these repeat viewings of The Chamber of Secrets, or "Chaymb o' Seeks" as I like to call it for short, I've noticed a few elements in Harry's magical universe that just sort of didn't matter after a while. Part of the reason Harry Potter has been such an enduring and compelling series both on page and on film is the fact that the universe is so fully realized. The source material is so rich with details that the films so wonderfully bring to life, and as the story moves forward, the intricacies of the wizarding world develop just as much as the characters do. But on the other side of that knut, some things just lose their relevance. Like knuts. A knut is a bronze wizard coin. 29 Knuts makes up a Sickle. 17 Sickles makes up a Galleon. You probably forgot about that. In fact you probably forgot about the values of wizarding currency the very next moment after they were explained to you, because they instantly didn't matter anymore. But we're not here to discuss superfluous details, we're here to discuss things that early on seemed important, and then just sort of completely faded away.
David Bailey is a creative advertising professional who moonlights as a Private Investigative Journalist. He currently resides in Los Angeles and enjoys receiving haircuts and eating sandwiches. You may find him on twitter @TheRingaDingKid.
