I have always believed that to make sure a friendship lasts you need to make sure you make effort to spend time together, and that it will never work if only one party is putting in all the work. When my best friend moved to Southampton last summer it became harder, but at the same time also added more determination, we were not about to let the distance affect our friendship.

The fact we live in a world of technology definitely helps. We can keep up to date with each other through Facebook, we are just one click away from sending a text message and chatting. It's much easier than it would have been 20-30 years ago. However, despite this age of technology it's still important to actually see each other in person, and even though it's harder with the distance we have to make sure we can see each other whenever possible.

I must admit it's easier for her to come back up North, she has spent most of her life here, still has family and other friends here she wishes to also spend time with. But just because it's easier does not mean it should always be put on her to make the journey. So, at the end of July when my friend was struggling a little I decided to make the journey to see her, and plans were made.  Of course, because of priorities in life that could not be avoided - such as work commitments and other booked trips - the trip could not happen immediately. But we managed to figure out a couple of days when we were both free and the arrangements were finalised. 

5 hour train journey seems very long at first, but when you have your iPod and a book to keep you company it is not actually as bad as initially thought. I had done the journey before - when I had travelled down for her birthday in February - so I was vaguely aware of the route and timing. I spent my time of the train drinking tea, listening to Taylor Swift and reading Cursed Child - which was definitely better than I had anticipated after some of the opinions I had read online - and soon I was pulling into Southampton Central, exiting the barriers and hugging my best friend who it felt like I had not seen it ages; and to top it all off the sun was shining.

The next four days, leading to my departure on Thursday lunch time, was filled with catchups, meeting her new university friends, eating lots of food - which included an amazing visit to Sprinkle's cafe where we each got a serving of cookie dough - and watching movies. I must admit that one of the highlights of the trip was that I got to experience IKEA for the very first time, with the closest store to home about 45 minutes away I had not previously visited the well known shop, but now I definitely know where I will be visiting when I eventually decide to move out and get my own place. It makes me sound sad, I know.

Although I was only able to stay for four days as I had work shifts Fri, Sat and Sun. The trip was definitely worth while, it allowed us to catchup in a way that you can't communicate through text, it allowed us to share what we needed to without the barrier of technology that can often cause miscommunication. I am definitely not trying to undermine the importance of technology because I know that without it, our friendship may be very different. But sometimes it is nice to take a step back and spend time together that does not involve a social media account or mobile phone.

But now I feel this post has took a deep, possibly emotional turn which was not the plan. I just wanted to make a post about friendship and how much fun we had during my 4 day stay. To be honest, this post had been started and restarted several times, never knowing what to say or how to start. Do I got into detail about my trip? Basically writing up a day to day post about what we did...

July 7th, 2011 marked the end of an era when the fans lined the street for the world premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Sure the journey of Harry ultimately defeating Voldemort had come to an end 4 years prior when J.K Rowling published the last remaining book of the series but with the end of both the books and films it really was the end of the boy wizard who had captured our hearts.

Over the years my love of the series never faded like many predicted, I am still just as much in love with it as I was all those years ago when I first discovered the wizarding world. I have visited the studios in Watford twice, continued to buy Harry Potter merchandise on a  regular basis and have plans to get the deathly hallows symbol tattooed on the inside of my foot sometime in the near future. So with my love still shining brightly, you can imagine how excited I felt when I heard about the brand new Harry Potter story that was going to be released as a two part play. 

Me and my best friend immediately started making plans, she's an equally massive Harry Potter fan so we of course had to see this next chapter together. Although it was not easy, we managed to finally get tickets to see the show on the 14th December. But after booking them at the beginning of the year it was a very long wait, so the news of them also releasing the play as a book could not have made me happier. I would not have to wait until December to discover the next chapter in the series, instead I would get the chance to learn it 5 months earlier.

I ordered the book online, the release date was a Sunday, I always work Sunday's and did not want to risk it been sold out when I got the chance to go buy it. Plus by ordering it online I was promised the book for half price, so I ordered it with the option of having it sent to my house and from then it was just a waiting game really.

Details regarding Cursed Child slowly began to emerge, including the names of the slightly controversial cast that had been selected to play our favourite characters. I must be honest and admit that I was slightly sceptical when I first saw the cast, but I adapted pretty quickly. The cast may have caused controversy due to the fact many now associate Hermione's look as Emma rather than what J.K Rowling wrote, but no matter who they cast they would always be scepticism unless there was some miracle that saw Daniel, Rupert and Emma sign on for the project, so I let it brush off me. All these little snippets made me even more excited for the play, and especially the book. The story of Harry Potter had began as a set of books, and it was great to know that I would get the chance to experience the latest instalment through reading it first then seeing it come to life. Just like I had with many of the later books.

As July 31st grew closer, so did my excitement. I was not actually due to receive the book until August 2nd due to postal arrangements but at the time I did not care I had to wait another 2 days, what was 2 days really? - let me tell you when the 31st arrived and I had to wait those extra couple of days, they did actually feel like a lifetime but oh well, lesson learned I suppose. I was taken back to 2011, standing in the queue while waiting to finally see the last movie and wondering what was to come for the very last time. I had not had that feeling, that excitement over a book or movie since that day, but now it was back and I honestly could not wait.

The book finally arrived yesterday, I was working until 5oclock so I had to spend my entire shift anticipating what was waiting for me when I returned home. Returning home I immediately opened the cardboard that was used to protect and package the book, uncovering my very own copy of the beautiful new book. Since purchasing my kindle several years ago, it's a rare occurrence for me to purchase a physical book rather than the kindle version, and I had forgot how great it felt to hold and own a brand new book.

Since it only arrived yesterday I have not had the chance to read much yet, in fact I have hardly read any of the book, I am off to visit my best friend in just over a week, which involves a train journey of over 5 hours. I am hoping to try and restrain myself from reading it until then, I will be in serious need of something to entertain me throughout the journey. However, the point of this post was not to review the story, tell you my opinions on how I feel about the script and if my excitement for December 14th has become heightened. No, that post will come later. This post was simply to share my feelings on the fact that the Magic has finally returned, the last 5 years of my life since Harry Potter came to an end have definitely not been Harry Potter free. But it's feels good to know that the magic is back, and Harry Potter is once again returning to the spotlight.