30 years ago today, James and Lily Potter were tragically murdered in Godric’s Hollow. Though, I wasn’t alive in 1981, my parents were, and they remember the events of October 31, 1981 very clearly.

I should point out that my parents aren’t magical. They’re Muggles too just like me. But they had a lot of magical friends when they were in high school back in 1981. My Mom remembers being a freshman in high school and annoyed that she only got to see her magical friends over the summer.

That night in 1981, my Dad remembers going to the movies with a few friends and feeling that there was something in the air – something not right:

That night was such a weird night to begin with. A few friends and I went to see Halloween II, which had just opened and we left the theater scared as it was. Even though we had some magical friends, they were all at Hogwart’s and there wasn’t internet or cell phones back then so we had no idea that it had happened when it did. The entire month of October just seemed spooky. You just kind of knew something was going on…you could feel it in the air. Something wasn’t right. The next morning I woke up to a Howler from a family friend and heard the news. Even for us Muggles it was a really scary time.

My Mom, a freshman in high school, was never a big scary movie fan and didn’t go to her friend’s party that night because she too felt that something wasn’t right:

I had plans to go to a costume party that night as a witch of all things, but I decided to stay in. I had gone to the mall to buy the new Olivia Newton-John album “Physical” which had just come out when I noticed some cats acting funny. The night before, we heard loud terrible screeches in the skies but nothing was ever there. There were owls flying everywhere and swooping down very low to the ground. It just gave me a weird feeling, even for Halloween. I called a couple of my girl friends and we stayed in and watched Saturday Night Live because I was too scared to see Halloween II and Donald Pleasance was hosting with musical guest Fear, ironically enough. In fact, I remember something weird happening that night during SNL and they had to stop the show and cut to commercial. Things just weren’t right.

I asked my Mom how she found out about the murders and she mentioned that my grandparents had received an owl with a copy of the Daily Prophet which had all the greusome details:

Yes, Sunday morning I remember an owl landing on the window pane in the kitchen and delivering a newspaper to your grandmother. She and your grandfather had acted strange all morning and barely talked over breakfast. They weren’t magical either, but they knew something was wrong. Your grandmother knew Lily’s mother through a mutual friend, so she took it a little harder. From what your aunt tells me she still has a copy of it hidden somewhere.

I then asked my Mom when she heard about Harry Potter:

I don’t understand magic talk, even still. All I know is that Harry ended up deflecting a curse because his mother loved him. Some of our magical friends have tried to explain it to me and your Dad but we never quite understand what they’re talking about. But one thing always stood out and that was how apparent it was that Lily loved Harry and how amazing it was of James to sacrifice himself so that Lily had a chance to save herself and their son. That always stuck out in my mind. Harry has gone on to do some amazing things in his life, even for us Muggles, so it’s a miracle he survived that tragedy.

It’s a miracle indeed. 30 years later, we remember Lily and James and the sacrifice they made to give a better life to not only Harry, but to the wizards, witches and Muggles all over the world.

Do your parents or grandparents remember what it was like to hear the news back in 1981? Did any of them know James or Lily? If so, post their comments and thoughts below in memoriam.