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If you haven't seen the last movie or read the last book, you might not want to read this, as there are some spoilers on who dies (especially at the end). The title of this article is taken from the Wizard Rock song of the same name by Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls. In other words, it's not my idea. One last thing: I know Sims2Girl wrote an article about the end of Harry Potter, and she said it was okay for me to write this.
"It All Ends 7.15." This was the slogan on the promotional posters for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2". And in a way, it's the truth. Now that the eighth movie is out, there will be no more movies, no more books -- nothing. At least, that's what I thought until a few weeks ago, when Pottermore was announced. There really isn't much known about Pottermore except that the books will be interactive and there will be tons of new material from J.K. Rowling herself. So, that's something to look forward to, come October, or July 31 for those lucky people who get to beta for the site. But even with Pottermore, which I'm sure will be amazing, it has, to some extent, ended, and that's really just horrible for its fans.
I have literally grown up with the series. The first book came out a few months after I was born. I was about three when the first movie came out and my parents brought me to see it. I liked it, but I wasn't immediately a huge fan. In fact, when I was five or six years old, I tried to read the first book. The first few pages instantly bored me. I stuck to the movies; I watched the second and third, but my dad didn't let me see the fourth or fifth because they were PG-13, and he was very strict with that. So in the summer that the sixth movie came out, I realized that I wanted to see the others, so I told my dad I wanted to try reading them again. I devoured the series in about a week, reading every chance I got. Then I watched the fourth, fifth, and, when it came out, sixth movies. That was the start of my being a fan. And in less than a year, I became a "Potterhead."
Harry Potter has changed my life. Through it, I've made friends (mostly on this site) and discovered my love for writing. In addition to that, I moved at the same time I discovered the books. I'm shy, so transitioning to a new school was hard. Harry Potter helped me through that. It kept me happy, it gave me something I loved. My friends on Whyville basically kept me sane. I also discovered the fan-made parody, "A Very Potter Musical", so when I'm feeling down, I just watch that, and -- BAM! -- it instantly cheers me up, just like that. In addition to all that, Harry Potter has changed my outlook on life, making it overall more positive.
And now that it's over, I really don't know what to do. I joked with my friends that I'd be an empty shell like someone who'd suffered from the Dementor's kiss. (The Dementor's kiss is having your soul sucked out of you by the guards of the wizarding prison, Azkaban.) I'm actually dealing with it a lot better than I'd expected to. While I am extremely upset that it's over, I'm not spending all my time sobbing. I guess it helps that I have my fanfictions to write, and I have my friends who are going through the same thing. I think that it also helps, that, in Daniel Radcliffe's (Harry Potter) words at the London premiere of the final movie, "I don't think the series ends tonight, because . . . each and every person, not only in this square, but watching around the world, who will see this film and who have followed these films over the last ten years, will carry this story with them through the rest of their lives . . ." And also, in Jo Rowling's words, "Whether you come back by page or by the big screen, Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home."
Their words are true. While the final movie was the "end of an era," Harry Potter will stay with it's fans forever, and it will never truly end. It will always be in our hearts, as cheesy as that sounds, and it will always be with us. In the final movie, Harry asks ghost-like forms of his parents, Remus, and Sirius, "You'll stay with me?" And they answer, "Always -- until the end." And that's true with the series. Harry Potter will stay with me until the end. I will read the books to my kids and show them the movies. They'll have no choice but to love it.
So yes, it is the end of a completely incredible 14-year era, but it's the start of a new one. One filled with role-plays, fanfiction, e-books, interactive stories, new information from the brilliant author herself, and soon, a new generation.
So now, I say goodbye to my countdowns, the waiting, the rush of seeing a new movie for the first time, the tears, the deaths, the love. I say goodbye to Fred Weasley, one half of the second-best pranksters ever seen in Hogwarts, who died laughing; to Severus Snape, the Slytherin who died like a Gryffindor, the boy who loved, the bravest man Harry has ever known; to Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks, who will never see their son grow up; to little Colin Creevy, who idolized Harry Potter; to Dobby the house-elf, who died free; and to everyone else who lost their lives in the final battle. And finally, I say goodbye to Harry Potter himself, the boy who lived, the chosen one; to Hermione Granger, a role-model for girls everywhere; to Ron Weasley, with whom I share my love of food and fear of spiders. I won't bore you with my goodbyes to every single character in the books, so I'll leave it at that.
Just one final thing, and I think I speak for every single fan when I say this: Thank you, Joanne Kathleen Rowling.
And now, I'll leave you with the lyrics to Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls' song: "End of an Era".
Don't you ever wonder what will happen when it ends?
How will we let go of the, the ones who we call friends?
And I know, it's only a story, but for so many it's more than that.
It's a world, all on it's own, where we want to put on that sorting hat.
I will miss the train ride in,
And the pranks pulled by the twins,
And though it's nowhere I have been,
I'll keep on smiling, from the times I had . . .
With them.
Could, there ever be again, another one like this?
One, that's brought us together and, started it's own music movement.
I will miss the train ride in,
And the pranks pulled by the twins,
And though it's nowhere I have been,
I'll keep on smiling, from the times I had . . .
With them.
Soon we will see it closed,
The final chapter exposed,
It's an, end of an era,
and I see it clearer,
that nothing will ever be the same.
So I will miss the train ride in,
And the pranks pulled by the twins,
And though it's nowhere I have been,
I'll keep on smiling, from the times I had . . .
With them.
So don't you ever wonder what will happen when it ends.
Mischief managed.
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