As I write this, I realize I was kidding myself to think that what I feel for this beloved series would ever fit in a single blog post. But then, if you’ve been reading my blog and know me at all, you are likely a fan of the series, too. In which case, we both know that emotional connections to stories like Harry Potter cannot be explained in words.
Yes, I am tearing up even as I write this. Because the series that accompanied my adolescence, the characters that even now speak to me about bravery, friendship, and love that concurs death, are about to light the silver screen for the final time.
The books will always be here. The movies will be playing over and over for years to come. Still, there’s something about seeing this series come to a close that puts things in perspective: I am a grown-up now. Life moves on. I am no longer that 13-year-old, frizzy-haired, introverted word-nerd reading
The Goblet of Fire under my covers at 3 a.m.
The small, shining faces of Harry [Daniel Radcliffe], Ron [Rupert Grint] and Hermione [Emma Watson] seem adorably dwarfed and baby-ish in retrospect. Next to their matured versions, we have proof that although it feels like just yesterday, 10 years worth of yesterdays have passed since they first appeared in The Sorcerer’s Stone in 2001.
A lot has happened.
For them and for us.
We’ve grown, too, together and in our own ways. Just like these fictional characters that feel so deeply real, we have struggled to hold our world together, to step forward when no one else will, to accept those very different from ourselves, to understand our enemies, to cling to love and friendship in our darkest moments, to decide who we are and who we could be. And we’ve survived, too.
So Jo, thank you for giving my generation a renewed love for reading, a true understanding for the power of literature to influence lives.
Whitney, dear cousin, thank you for all the times you let me come over and read the newest installment within 24 hours, and for helping me sneak off to the theater to see the latest film.
Harry, it’s been a pleasure. Expecto Patronum.
~
book·ish/ˈbo͝okiSH/Adjective
1. (of a person or way of life) Devoted to reading and studying rather than worldly interests.
2. (of language or writing) Literary in style or allusion.
3. (of art and all manner of lovely things) devoted to the written word as a form of art and as a way of seeing the world.
4. (of SheWritesandRights.blogspot.com) anything of the aforementioned characteristics as they are found on the interwebs and reposted by Bethany, because bookish and writerly things always give reason for amusement.