Unexplainable Influence

A person can influence anyone at any time in an undeniable way. Just a smile on the street can lighten up someone’s day. People have such a profound effect on one another, not always in a good way, but you can see the effect in your life instantly, and long-term.
In my case, the person who influenced me wasn’t exactly “real” as the world see’s it. Though, in my heart he was as real as the sky is blue. His life was filled with heartaches and loss, just as mine was. I was ten years old when my parents got divorce. Before that, I had never realized how bad the situation with my parents was. Sure, they fought, but who doesn’t right? I always thought the constant yelling and throwing things was normal. After the divorce things between my parents started getting worse, or, rather they started fighting in front of us more often. I turned to reading as an escape. When I was 11 years old I went into my school Library and found a book I had heard about a couple times before, Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone. I checked it out and began reading. I immediately fell in love with the book. For Christmas I got each Harry Potter book from a different relative (they had all heard how much I was in love with the books.)
Time went on, and still my parents were not getting along. My little sister also started to “act up” she was sneaking out at night (at the young age of 11, I was 13) and getting in trouble at school. She was caught with marijuana at school, and at church. She began sneaking out more and more, and getting in more trouble. The only thing I knew to do was, read. Harry Potter was the only thing that got me through this. The world of Harry Potter was so enticing, I would get lost in the books for hours on end.
Harry Potter lost his parents at the young age of 1 year old. He was sent to live with his Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and Cousin Dudley (The Dursleys.) They rejected him his whole life, and treated him like scum. When he was 11 years old he found out he was a wizard and he was going to go to “Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry”. When he went to school, he was gawked at without regard. He was “The Boy Who Lived”. His peers at school were very susceptible to the media. Therefore, one minute they would all love him, then the next they would fear him or hate him. The only friends he had that did not waiver throughout these instances were Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger (His two closest friends), Neville Longbottom, and Luna Loovegood, and of course the Weasley Family (excluding Percy), and the members of the Order of the Phoenix (Excluding Snape).
Harry had many obstacles in his life (and still more to come). Yet the whole time, he stayed strong. He knew he could make it through, and that things would always work out in the end. His attitude is what got me through my life, and it is what is still carrying me through. I know that no matter what happens in my life, there will always be good, and it will work out.