thoughts on harry potter.

friday was a bittersweet day for me. the final harry potter movie was released. even though i know what will happen to harry, hermione, ron and he who shall not be named, i feel a little pang of sadness. friday marked the end of arguably the most successful series ever written/filmed. you can debate the content, the message and the philosophy behind the series, but you cannot debate the imagination or the fact that this series encouraged a younger generation to participate in a dying activity: reading. the fact that older people enjoyed the books, too, was icing on the cake.

i need to mention that i am easily sucked into hype of any form. i am not a trendsetter. i'm a trend follower. especially if the trend takes the form of a series. the lord of the rings, harry potter, twilight, star wars...i love them all. but harry potter is different. harry has been a part of my life (albeit a distant or subconcious part) since i was in 7th grade. our world has changed dramatically since harry was introduced to us.

in 1998, harry potter and the sorcerer's stone was launched into the homes of millions of people around the world. at the same time, john glenn was launched into outer space as the oldest person to fly into space.

in 1999, harry potter began his second year at hogwarts in the chamber of secrets. meanwhile, the country waited on pins and needles to hear if john f. kennedy jr. and carolyn bessette had survived a plane crash off the coast of martha's vineyard.

a few months later in september of 1999, the world got its first peek behind the bars of azkaban. at the same time, napster was brought up on charges of violating copyright laws.

we were sucked into the suspense of the triwizard tournament in 2000 in the goblet of fire. we were also sucked into the suspense of the XXVII olympics in sydney, australia.

we watched the twin towers crash, not knowing that we would never be the same.

the order of the phoenix was established to fight death eaters in 2003. george w. bush announced that saddam hussein had been captured.

shortly before hurricane katrina devestated the southern united states, millions of people experienced harry become a young man in the half-blood prince in 2005.

in 2007, we finally learned the fate of harry and the rest of the gang in the deathly hallows. as i closed that book and said goodbye to the characters i had grown to know and love, i also said goodbye to my best friends as i graduated from college and began the awkward transition into becoming an adult.

now here i am. seven books and eight movies later. thirteen years have gone by. in the time i've met and said goodbye to harry potter, i've become a grown up. our world has changed immensely since we first met harry. some changes were good. some changes were hard to accept. for better or worse, we've always been able to retreat to the comfort of the stories that j.k. rowling created for us as a place of refuge.

when i buy my ticket to see the last harry potter film, i'll do so with a heavy heart. i'm not above crying. i'll walk out of the theater knowing that something special has ended. i'll look up and i'll ask: what's next?