I promise to explain the picture.  Please bear with me.

We have quite a few Harry Potter fans at our house. Naturally our three kids. Excitement builds before each book or film is released. But the biggest fan at our house is my partner Eileen.

So imagine her reaction when I called her to fill her in on the big news. Last week, Rowling announced to a group of adoring fans that Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, was gay.

Eileen affirmed for me that this was big news. She used superlatives to describe him. He is the smartest, kindest, strongest and wisest. He’s the guy everyone seeks out for advice and is committed to ensuring that the young wizards at Hogwarts use their powers for good.

Rowling tells us he was in love with Gellert Grindelwald. Grindelwald was a bad guy. Very bad. 2nd only to Voldemort (one of my many nicknames for George W. Bush). Turns out that they were kindred spirits at one time and then Grindewald went over to the dark side.

Wow. The most highly regarded, well-respected elder statesman at Hogwarts – gay! No wonder they all wore such nice robes!

But personally, I was rooting for Hermione. Not because I think she is gay. Alas, she seems throughout the series to be flagrantly heterosexual.

So here’s why. I have a different gay theory about the Potter series - a theory that is powerful in its own way. And it’s about Hermione.

I believe that an entire generation of lesbian adults will remember when and where they saw the first Harry Potter movie. They will remember who they were with. They will look back on that afternoon matinee, as the moment they knew they were lesbian.

They will remember chatting with their friends at Friendly’s after the movie, with all their pals going on and on about how cute Harry was. They will remember being quiet in a puzzled sort of way.

These women will remember that for them, it was all about Hermione. Now let me be clear. I don’t mean this in a sexual way nor am I even suggesting that it would even be apparent to them. It’s just that through the “lesbian lens,” there is no question that Hermione is in the foreground and Ron and Harry are in the background.

Let’s face it. Hermione is just the complete package. She is brilliant, loyal, and courageous. She’s adventurous, determined and you know from the first time you see her in the first film that she will be a beauty.

I know from whence I speak. Not because of Hermione. Because of Maria Von Trapp.

My friends talked about how cute Kurt was and how hot Rolf the telegram boy was. This is not what I remember about The Sound of Music.

I can hear and see the opening of the film. The music beginning to swell, the wide shot of the rolling hills. And then there she is. Spinning round and round in her little apron.  She opens her mouth to sing and I am captivated. (hoping the picture now makes some sense).
I saw the movie many, many times. Each time, I’d root for Maria to leave the convent. And yes, there must have been a part of me that hoped she would leave the convent for me.

I mean come on. She could make clothes out of drapes and create songs in four-part harmony on the spot. And such diction. Would I ever know someone in person who could articulate her consonants like that?

What’s fascinating is that I am not the only lesbian I’ve met who was captivated by The Sound of Music and Julie Andrews. There are a whole lot of us.

That’s why I am sure there will be a sizeable Hermione fan club, too. J.K. Rowling continues to have such impact on young people. With the revelation of Dumbledore’s sexual orientation, she reinforces her philosophy about the series - that it is “ a prolonged argument for tolerance.”

But maybe what’s unspoken can be of equal impact. For women gay and straight, Hermione gives us a model of a woman who stands up and stands out. She is a woman who speaks her mind and does not deny the power of human emotion.

And for future lesbians of America, maybe Hermione casts a special spell.

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