Harry Potter: it all ends

The last Harry Potter movie comes out tomorrow. I can't believe it. As my 6th-grade-teacher, an avid Harry Potter fan herself, said in our last Harry Potter club, It's been just 12 years and yet already we have seven books, eight movies, a theme park, wizard rock bands, three additional books, and lots and lots of fanfiction. After she finished talking about visiting the theme park, she said "So. The books are written, the movies are all out--well almost--, the theme park is built, we have tons of wizard rock bands. Will it all end?" 

I don't want it to end! I know it won't. Harry Potter has united us as fans. We didn't care what race you were or what religion you were. You were hated because you thought Harry would end up with Cho Chang, not because you were Muslim. People didn't care if you thought homosexuality was wrong-- they just wanted to know what you thought about Severus Snape. 

The first movie is one of the most successful. The movies-- you wouldn't believe how filled the theaters are. Harry Potter hoisted us through the "Decade from Hell", as Time dubbed the last decade. When my father got laid off, I turned to Harry Potter for comfort. I got grouonded from Internet-- I dove into Harry Potter for comfort. There are no words incredible enough to describe what one British woman managed to come up from a four-hour delayed train trip. I swear, some days it was easier to eat a raw egg mixed with yogurt than to pry my copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the binding in nearly three pieces, from my hands.

It won't end. I know it can't. How could it? You ask me. You're saying that "things are taking a turn"-- no, they won't. I know it. It's just the fact that-- there were days when we seriously considered suicide because Umbridge had given Harry detention AGAIN. Okay, maybe that's extreme, but when people camp out two weeks in advance to see a movie, you know it won't go away anytime soon. 

I learnt so much from Harry Potter. Sometimes it is weakness to show your feelings. Friends can help you if you've been a good friend before. Sometimes you have to get rid of your pride and turn to helpful advice. It's not the end of the world if someones makes a midly bawdy joke. 

This is getting somewhat long, so I'll wrap up on this. Harry Potter won't end, can't end, shouldn't end. My dad says eventually I'll be more interested in my boobs than how many times Ron said "mental" throughout Book 7. My mom says I'll some day "be ready for middle school" rather than be ready for a Harry Potter marathon. But I know I won't. I was nine-almost-ten when I came to Harry Potter. Now I'm been-twelve-for-just-over-a-month. Two years of my life-- and the two best.

So if you gave me three words to describe the almost indescribable, overwhelmingly massive--for lack of a better word-- universe Harry Potter has created, I would quote Ron's famous line "Are--you--mental?"

P.S. I must also thank J.K. Rowling for giving me the perfect expression for my novel I wrote last year-- "take a leaf out of one's book." I don't think any of us can ever take a leaf out of her (figurative) book because how can we match the talent of this remarkable young woman, but we can all take leaves out of the Harry Potter books and never let this era end. 

P.P.S. I will also be posting obituaries of all those who died in Harry Potter. Not just the last book, but the entire series. Over the next few weeks, you'll see these coming, plus "25 Random Ways Harry Potter Changed My Life." Look forward to more. (WARNING: SPOILERS ABOUND IN THESE.)