Compelling reasons why Chicago is like Harry Potter

Hyde Park is like a mix between Harry Potter and Sesame Street: old buildings and friendly people. But let me expound.

10 reasons why Chicago (Hyde Park) is like Harry Potter

1. University of Chicago = Hogwarts. Hands down. You need only visit once to wholeheartedly agree with me. My personal favorite is the Hutchinson dining hall with the moving paintings.

(picture stollen from flickr) - we ate our $1 milkshakes in here for the first time a few weeks ago. It was awesome. 2 middle aged men sat at a table near us playing magic or some other huge crazy board game. 

2. Dean lives in a cupboard under the stairs. Basically. Well ok, technically it's a hallway, but at any rate it's not your standard bedroom. (And to be honest, he still sleeps in our room, so it doesn't get much use anyways, yet. ***update: NOT ANYMORE! Dean sleeps in his own room/cupboard now!)

3. The room of requirement: we have a door that leads to the building basement where everyone stores their stuff. There is stuff all over out there! Anything you need, it's probably out there! Too bad I feel like I'm stealing if I were to take anything. Not that I would... did... Wait, what? 

4. Deans nickname is Dumbledore. When Dean was in-utero, his cousins in Columbus referred to him as Dumbledore. Coincidence? I think not. 

5. Surname "Black." The previous tenant of our apartment has the surname of "Black," so our buzzer button still says "Black" on it. She was an old 86+ year old woman, probably a witch, and I believe to be related to Sirius Black, but one can't be too sure these days. Our apartment doesn't have the best walls, probably from spells gone wrong, rebounding off them. Perhaps she was a squib. I'm glad they haven't changed the name yet. It makes me feel cool. 

6. Hedwig: We scored this little hedwig from someone in Columbus. It makes a chirping owl noise when you squeeze it. Spencer used to play it for Dean when he was growing in me. When we play it for Dean, he smiles at it. If only we had a real snowy owl.

7. Forbidden forest: Hyde Park is safe. Everyone knows. But it is also common knowledge that you shouldn't go south of the midway (or at least 61st street), north of hyde park boulevard/51st, or west of campus. You might get shot. Seriously. I like to think Im more of a rebel though, and weekly go to Aldi on the south side, and I even went to the walmart super center once. (Now i go regularly, its great!) I was literally the only white person in the entire store. (Besides Dean). Everyone is super nice to us always, and I dont often feel unsafe, just out of place a little. It's like when you make friends with the centaurs. Just don't pull a Delores Umbridge and get on their bad side.

Spencer got this picture for me. Chicago shootings in 2015 to date: 2,636.

2015 Shootings in Hyde Park (the light blue area) to date: 3

8. Thestrals: okay okay, I have never seen them, but I've also never seen anyone die. But I know where they are. They stand next to this gate:

9. Lake Michigan = the Great Lake in Harry Potter 4. I even saw some gillyweed laying around last time I went. Or maybe it was just weed.

10. Moaning Myrtle.  One night I was having Spencer move some laundry out back in the room of requirement, and he came back in reporting that there was a problem I needed to come look at. Sure enough, the laundry sink had gotten clogged and had overflown all over the floor. Like All Over. So I had to mop the whole thing up (with a mop, magically summoned and appearing in the other side of the sink). For some reason I don't think the sink clogged itself; I blame moaning myrtle (because she probably died in the cages in the back).

11. "the Dark Mark" of Medici: we might be death eaters. At least we try, with these cool tattoos we scored from Medici.