Interview with TaylorMarieKeen! ⚡💚

Taylor is a 21 year old proud Slytherin who has been expressing her love for Harry Potter online since she started her Instagram account in 2011 - alongside this she has been able to use her online presence to connect with the cast of the Harry Potter films and make some magical friends along the way! 

We have been following Taylor for a while now and we love following her on her adventures to the Harry Potter Studio Tour in London. 

From Wizarding World favourites to content creation, we thought it would be great to (virtually) sit down with Taylor and ask her about all things Harry Potter!

What is your favourite thing about creating content?

I would consider myself a fairly creative person, especially when it comes to my interests, so combining the two and being able to use my love for the Harry Potter series and use my own ideas to express myself and engage with other likeminded people is amazing! It also helps to create an escape if you ever need it. I can just let myself zone out and be myself without the pressure of other peoples opinions. You end up meeting SO many people who also enjoy the same things that you do and it encourages you to create even more.

What/who inspires you?

I take inspiration from everything! Inspiration being the key word - I love being able to see different creators using their own styles inspires me to do the same, but I take a lot of pride in the fact that in everything I do I make sure it's my own ideas and that the way I design and create is personal to me. The people I've connected with online help to keep the creative flame going for me, talking about our love for Harry Potter only wants to make me express my love for it even more! Alongside that, everyone in my personal life who may not have the same interests as me, but who express their love for other things help to inspire me to always follow what makes me feel happy. Seeing people be passionate about things only encourages me to do the same!

What/who are some of your favourite HP accounts?

I would be here forever if I was able to name them all! But a few would include: @cherrywallis, I've been watching her for years and I just love her -  Cherry's Wizarding World collection is my collection goals forever. Some of my amazing friends that I found through my love for Harry Potter are: @jesisetoystory, @gigi.peachy, @sophiesneverland and some of my most favourite magical artists are: @lemon.whiskers and @amyinthemagic

How did you build up your following?

I'm lucky to have connected with so many people through not only this account, but other accounts on different social media platforms too. When it comes to a following, I've never had a goal but if people like what I post and subsequently like me for that, it's a huge bonus! I found that growing up in my early teens especially, I found it hard to relate to people in my real life about my interests and would be worried about expressing myself, but being able to come online and express that side of myself freely is what brought my passion to what it is now. I've grown to realise that people like being able to come online and relate to what they're seeing, so I always keep it 100% transparent and am just myself because I know that's what I would have wanted to see when I came online, I'm just super lucky that the people who follow me seem to enjoy that!

What's it like being part of the Wizarding World community?

It would be very cliche of me to say magical, but honestly that's how I would describe it! For myself anyway, I've always had Harry Potter and the Wizarding World present in my life as a mechanism to delve into my own imagination and explore another universe, but being able to do this not only by watching the films or reading the books for the 1000th time, but by being able to come online and speak to people and admire their content and perspective surrounding it is incredible. Everyone within the community just wants to be themselves and be accepted for that, and I'm really grateful that we're able to do that so freely.

Favourite thing about the Harry Potter Studio Tour in London?

Anyone who knows me or who has been following me for a while knows that this place may as well be my second home. This year alone I've managed to make 5 trips between May and July (some may call that excessive - but we must not tell lies) and I do of course have more trips booked and planned in the pipeline for the rest of the year! I'm really fortunate to only live half an hour away from the tour, so being able to visit so often is a huge blessing. With over 15 total trips under my belt in the last few years, I feel like my knowledge on the tour is quite trustworthy, but my favourite thing about it changes every time! 

Celebration of Slytherin was their most recent event that look place, and as everyone knows I am HUGELY house proud and could talk about my love for Slytherin house all day long, so being able to visit my favourite place and see it decked out in green decor was sensational! Gringotts and Diagon Alley are parts of the tour that I look forward to seeing every single time, and I still get overwhelmed when I see Weasley's Wizard Wheezes in real life. A newly discovered underrated highlight of visiting the tour though is experiencing it with people who haven't seen it before, I've been lucky to do that on a few of my recent trips and seeing other people enjoy that magic for the first time makes me so happy!

The Harry Potter Studio tour is a home away from home for me, it always will be, and I feel so privileged to have it be so accessible to me.

If you could live by any Harry Potter quote, which one would you choose?

As we are all well aware, the Harry Potter series is well renowned for its huge selection of amazing quotes, but one in particular has always stood out for me and will do forever. 

"Of course it is happening inside your head Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?" 

Every single time i even read that quote I get shivers, it's not one that I typically hear anyone say is their favourite but as many of my friends know, it's something that means a lot to me. I think more than anything it just sumps up the whole of the Harry Potter series and the way it impacted my life, from the minute I became obsessed with the book after receiving the Philosophers Stone for my 8th birthday, to now at 21 expressing my love for the series in every way that I can. For years and years I lived inside my own head and fantasised about an alternate life that involved all of my favourite characters and storylines, and just because it was happening inside my imagination doesn't take the value away from it. 

Honourable mentions for favourite quotes go to:

"I am what I am an I'm not ashamed" - Rubeus Hagrid

And the classic: "Always." - Severus Snape

So we know that you're a Slytherin, but if you had to choose another house to be a part of, which one would you choose and why?

Coming from the most house proud Slytherin you could ever meet, this feels like a betrayal to even think about, however - Gryffindor will always be the house in which I admire it's students more than anything. And to be honest, sharing a common room with Fred Weasley is enough to sway me to the Gryffindor side.

Favourite Harry Potter film/scene?

My favourite film has always and will always be The Chamber of Secrets. It holds so many memories for me as a child watching it and developing my obsession with Draco Malfoy, and the storyline is very close to my green and silver heart. I love that it gives us a deeper dive into the back story of Slytherin house and He Who Must Not Be Named as well.

As for my favourite scene, there is SO many incredible ones to choose from, but the practice Yule Ball scene from Goblet of Fire will reign supreme forever - no matter how many times I've seen it I will always cry laugh at Ron dancing with McGonagall. 

If you could be any character from Harry Potter, who would it be and why?

I'm so grateful that the Harry Potter series has provided us with so many amazing female characters that I have looked up to since I was a child. that being said, I have always adored Ginny Weasley and she would take the trophy for this one. She is incredibly protective over the people she cares about and would do anything for them, this is proved the whole way through the series (especially in the books) and I love her attitude towards everything - plus she plays Quidditch professionally and if that isn't your life goal, you're lying.

What is your Patronus?

My Patronus is the same as Professor Snape, a Doe. This is something I'm so happy with, as Snape's storyline is one of my favourite parts of the series, so having that small connection to his character is really special.

If you could cast any spell, what would you choose?

The practical part of me would choose Accio, or Expecto Patronum just to experience that magic in real life. But to be true to myself, I would love to cast Morsmordre and conjure my own Dark Mark!

Do you have a favourite piece of HP merch? 

I'm a collector of many Harry Potter things, including Funko Pops, replicas, pins, clothing, shoes, art, books and many tattoos dedicated to the series. However - a collection that I adore is my bag and purse collection which as my Instagram followers know, is ever growing! I am Loungefly and Danielle Nicole obsessed - I strongly blame Vanilla Underground for stocking these incredible bags on their site and allowing me to grow my collection even further because I cannot resist buying them! I encourage everyone to take a look at their stock and treat yourselves to a magical bag, you won't regret it I promise!

What would be your top tips for Potterheads wanting to create their own Harry Potter social account?

It sounds silly, but just be yourself! When you're passionate about something it shines out of you, don't ty too hard to fit in with the way other people express themselves if it doesn't feel natural to you, that's what makes you unique and what encourages other people to love what you create. 

Let your personality show through the things that you post, it can be nerve wracking to start with but the people who want to support your account will love you for the way that you are. There are so many lovely people in the Wizarding World community who want nothing more than to meet likeminded people who they can be themselves around.