I’m excited to share with you all that I will be getting my first tattoo in September of this year. My artist is still finishing the sketch, but it will be a Jame’s Potter’s stag patronus in that ethereal blue and white fading down into a Deathly Hallows symbol. Since high school, I had been talking about how if I were to get a tattoo, it would be a Harry Potter themed one. After going to Universal Studios in February, I realized why shouldn’t I get a tattoo now instead of holding off and waiting years to get something I have always wanted. This will be my first tattoo and I wanted to share the process of finding the artist along with the reasons why I want this tattoo.

Once I decided I was going forward with my Harry Potter tattoo, I started researching different shops. My first requirement was to find a shop that supports women, but also the LGBTQIA+ community. As a consumer, it’s my due diligence to ensure my money wasn’t going to someone who was actively trying to degrade the rights of an entire group of people. I settled on Jackalope Tattoo which is one of the few shops in the Twin Cities with women, trans, and non-binary artists. The shop itself was beautiful with a variety of different plants everywhere and privacy between the different booths. The artist I picked specializes in water color work. My tattoo will have this blue / white look to it and I had a specific image in my mind of how I wanted this tattoo to look.

Now I will go into my reasons why I have always wanted a tattoo:

Harry Potter Made Me Love To Read

Reading has been a huge hobby of mine which started from reading the Harry Potter books as a family. My dad’s side of the family has a cottage in Minnesota that we would travel to in summer. As we read the Harry Potter books late in the evening, we would hear the lapping sounds of the waves hitting the shore. My dad used to work in radio, so he would have this soothing, calming voice whenever he read the books. He also used to do sound effects like if he was reading Hagrid’s lines versus Harry’s. My love of reading grew from Harry Potter. 

To Remember My Father

Part of this, is to remember my dad. This is however, not the sole reason I want a tattoo. The permanence of a tattoo is a great way to remember my father forever. I think it’s incredibly meaningful to have an artist draw up a memory based on a person and blend it with a childhood story.

To Remind Me To Love Everyone & Judge Less

The Harry Potter book series has many adult themes as I’m seeing when I’m doing my re-read this year. One theme is how bigotry can ruin a society. The bigotry is seen with “mud-bloods” and “pure-blood” wizards. In the height of the Second Wizarding War, “mud-bloods.” were being put on trial or executed based on their magical family history. The Harry Potter series teaches how if we are more accepting and open to everyone, it leads to a more peaceful way of life.

September cannot come fast enough. I’m proud of myself for going through this instead of backing out or putting it off. If you have any first time tattoo tips, please them in the comments!