a kind of magic

"It's a strange thing, but when you are dreading something, and would give anything to slow down time, it has a disobliging habit of speeding up" --Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Harry Potter is over. Of course I went to the midnight showing. Of course I went with Ariel. Of course we saw it in 3D with the special-edition Harry Potter-shaped glasses. Of course I brought my wand and my owl. Of course I cried.

I was the first person in my third grade class to read the first Harry Potter book. I've read all the books--mostly at about 1:00 in the morning on the day they came out. I've seen all the movies. As Harry got older, so did I. As the books got darker, I got more mature. I fell in love with the characters. I knew them by name. Hogwarts was a real place that I went back to in my mind just as Harry did in every book.

I was so excited to see this last movie (and it was absolutely incredible), but in the back of my mind, I was slightly dreading it. I didn't want to say goodbye to something that has been a part of my life for the last twelve years. That's more than half my life. Harry Potter--the books and the movies--was such a magical journey. As Daniel Radcliffe said, this is not the end of the story because "each and every person...who have followed these films over the last ten years will carry this story with them through the rest of their lives and it will affect what they do."

It's been magical. Thanks, hp. I'll love you for always.