Presence and Presents of Potter: Proselyte

Episode Four

"Please read it."

"No."

"C'mon, please? It's really good!"

"Nooooo."

"But you'd really-"

"Nooooo!"

And so it had gone for countless weeks. My sister begged her, our best friend, begged, pleaded, wheedled, extorted... but to no avail. And though by now both my sister and I were both deeply devoted to these books and this boy, even though his state-side popularity was growing, no amount of kindly coercion seemed able to crack her resolve.

Until one day, when we happened to visit the zoo.

***

It was a hot, free-admission Sunday at the Bronx Zoo. Why not go, our mothers had mused, and try and see the new gorilla exhibit? Excellent idea. One that was, alas, shared by 85% of the greater New York area. I hope the gorillas, at least, enjoyed it; we were stuck in a very nasty mess of traffic, and would have had more exposure to primates that day by snacking on bananas.

However, this trying experience did give us one more positive and more lasting outcome. My sister, my friend and I sat arm-to-arm in the back seat of the crowded mini-van, bored and helpless in the sea of smog and vehicles. At last, our friend turned to my sister. "Oh, just give me something to read!" she said.

My sister, ever awaiting her moment of weakness, handed our friend the first volume. There were several long minutes of relative quiet, then...

"This is good." she said, looking at us.

My sister replied "I know."

"No," said our friend, and that deep earnesty was kindled in her eyes and her voice. "It's really good."

***

By the time we arrived at the zoo, it was all we could do to get her our of the car.