Accio, solutions! Magical vendor management tips from Harry Potter

I was 16 when the fifth Harry Potter book came out. My best friend and I had been total HP nerds since we were in fifth grade. Already conscious of being way too old for it, we decided to throw any hopes of being cool to the wind and go dressed in costume to the midnight book release.

Because the entire universe conspires to embarrass you as a teenager, my friend got sick at the last minute, leaving me to stand alone in line for hours. By myself. In costume. Holding a wand.

I was in line next to a ten-year-old girl and her dad. At one point, she looked over at me with all the smug disdain of a budding Bellatrix Lestrange and asked, “And who are you supposed to be?”

Luckily, you cannot actually die from embarrassment. If you’re as big of a Harry Potter fan as I am, I hope you enjoy these lessons for your financial institution from the Hogwarts School of Vendor Management Wizardry!

 

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