"And where would it take me?"...."On."

What follows is my initial set of reactions to the final Harry Potter movie (which I saw with Katie Lovett and her roommate Whitley Rainey).  Also, I'm going to try implementing a footnote system to add extra thoughts - let me know what you think!

On September 1, 1998, Scholastic released a book by a relatively unknown author entitled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Sometime between then and 2007, when the seventh and final installment of the series was released, I read all seven novels in the series, many of them multiple times. In fact, on July 21, 2007, on vacation in North Carolina with my family,[1] a 17-year-old me read the seventh book about three 17-year-olds all in one day.

Similarly, in November of 2001, an 11-year-old me was exposed to the first Harry Potter film, featuring an 11-year-old set of characters.

The series connected to all sorts of people, but for my generation in particular, or even just those a year or so older and younger than I am, this series had an especially profound effect. We were connected to it in a way that no one else ever will be. We lived the growth, the knowledge, the love, and the demise of every Potter character. It was ourselves that we imagined receiving that letter to Hogwarts,[2] it was us that experienced the same social growing pains that the characters encounter, and it was us that, at 17, believed that if it were asked of us, we could set out to change the world too.

Certainly other generations will have their claims to the “Harry Potter generation”. My sisters were 1 ½-years and not even 2-months old when the first Harry potter book came out. But they were almost 5 and 3 when the first movie came out, which we owned on VHS.[3] Certainly, my sisters will believe that, while I watched Harry and his counterparts mature and solve larger and more complicated problems, they actually grew up with the Potter series. By the time she was 10 my youngest sister, Jessie, had read all the books, and I’m sure there was some slight feeling of disappointment when no letter from Hogwarts came on August 24, 2009.[4]

There will always be critics. There will be those who wish the movies had played a little more closely to the books in some areas.[5] There will be those who wished for a couple more things to be included in the books.[6] But mostly, there will be millions of people, perhaps more, who experienced the development of this wonderful series.

I wonder whether or not the actors from these films will ever be able to shake their appearance as these characters. And I want to feel sorry for them, because I know they probably cannot. But too much of me has been invested in this series for me to feel that way. (Plus, as everyone knows, I think Emma Watson is wonderful.)

I’m not sure I was quite ready for the end of this series. I’m still not entirely convinced it is over. Walking out of my first viewing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II at 3 a.m. last night felt odd. Still digesting the movie, I was curious about a few alterations they made to the story (see footnote 5). But I was also trying to understand what it all meant. Of course, I understand the central themes – love, compassion, sacrifice, friendship – and how they all play together and everything. And the series, of course, isn’t going to go anywhere any time soon. It will certainly be something I share with my children, and I’m sure there is still plenty of money left to be made.

Still, there was an eerie feeling as I walked home next to the river under the nearly full moon. And I thought about the childhood and adolescence of the characters in the stories, and thought about my formation years: tennis (sports in general I suppose), school, and friends.[7] And I began to worry – I’m a year away from tennis and school being over, and this was the end of Harry Potter. Was this the official end of my childhood?

And then I realized something. At the end of the book and movie (SPOILER ALERT! I guess…but you probably know this happens) Harry still, after all of that, has his friends. Ron, at the end of the book, responds to his daughter’s question about everyone’s stares by joking, “Don’t let it worry you. It’s me. I’m very famous.” If Fred and George Weasley stand for anything in the books, it’s the persistence of youthful joy, despite all else that goes on.[8] As long as we’ve still got friends, I’m not worried about losing my childhood any time soon.

There were plenty of other things going through my head. Plenty of other scenes to digest. Plenty of other metaphors to understand. But there will be time for all that. After all, we are still kids.

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[1] Oddly, we were on the beach in the exact same spot that I would visit three years later with a few of my friends over our Easter Break.

[2] And over time our belief was rationalized to fit our new age: In the real world you wouldn’t get a letter until you’re done with elementary school. In the real world you wouldn’t get a letter until you’re 16 and can drive. In the real world you wouldn’t get a letter until you graduate high school and finish your education. In the real world you wouldn’t get a letter until you’re 21? In the real world…maybe when you finish all your education?

[3] That’s how you can tell a series has been going on for a long time – VHS.

[4] It should be noted that my other sister, Kathryn, only read 3 ½ of the books – it did not surprise me when she told me she thought the second installment of the seventh movie was awesome but that Jessie had doubts.

[5] I’ll go ahead and include myself in this category, though my issues are mostly minor. Such as (SPOILER ALERT!) – why couldn’t Harry have just asked for his wand back from Hermione and mended it with the Elder Wand…and then broken the Elder Wand? Or (SPOILER ALERT!) why didn’t Voldemort die in front of everyone? It was almost like Harry needed to tell people he was dead as he was walking back through the Great Hall.

[6] I will not include myself in this category.

[7] And Harry Potter.

[8] And if (SPOILER ALERT!) Fred’s death doesn’t make you tear up for that reason, then I have little hope.