Beedle The Bard Ballad Writing Contest

Like a stupid little prat, I forgot to enter Amazon's Beedle the Bard Ballad Writing Contest. If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's only the best contest opportunity ever! Contestants were asked to answer, in short essay form, simple questions about 'Harry Potter,' and the winner gets a trip to London to spend a weekend reading one of J.K. Rowling's limited edition, handmade "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" books! The prize, for muggles, witches, and wizards alike, is to-die-for! Priceless! And I forgot to enter. I'm a bloody git, I'll tell you that!


Anyways, I was reading some of the entries today, and they were brilliant! Amazon will pick a winner from the 13-17 and 18-and-over age groups, and anyone with an amazon account can vote and help make the decision. Here are my favorite's, that brought tears to my eyes, that I think should win:

From the 13-17 age group, by Julia C., age 15

I yearned to see 'magic' when I was a child,
To hold special powers and roam free and wild;
I'd make-believe I could fly through the night,
But one day, something felt not quite right.

I grew too old for those youthful games;
My hopes of 'magic' had burst into flames.
But then one day, without having to look,
It reappeared in the form of a book.

Since I put the last 'Harry Potter' away,
Magic has enriched my life every day;
Now it is clear, when push comes to shove;
I learned: to find magic, you only need love.

From the 18-and-older age group, by John O.

Most of us have dreamed a story
Dreamt a tale that made us weep
Most of us grow up too quick
Before our story is complete
Adulthood it takes our story
Hides it in the shadowed depths
There it sits, forgotten, waiting
Like the secret to be kept

Then there came a boy named Harry
Made us look inside once more
Captured that forgotten feeling
Shook us deeply to our core
Gave to us a different story
Took our dreams and made them real
I for one had never known
What turning pages could reveal