Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2 comes out tonight, as any good Harry Potter fan is well aware. And of course my midnight showing ticket is all bought and ready. But I'm going to let you in on a little secret: the Harry Potter movies? I could take 'em or leave 'em, really.
It's really the books I love. And from where I'm sitting now on my bed, I can see six of them on my bookshelf (number 1 got lost sometime in the past 12 years and three international moves), half of them the British versions. We were living in England when they first came out, and I remember sitting reading it in my Year 3 classroom. And I got The Chamber of Secrets for my 9th birthday. See?
(Things to note in this picture: 1. 'joined up' handwriting 2. the fact that I wrote my sister's
full name...as if I know other Linneas anyway? 3. that I still write the date in books when I get them.)
So to all the people upset that this is the end, I would have to disagree. We already all know how it ends. We learned it four summers ago, huddled in an armchair in the wee hours of the morning, unable to put it down until the very last page. That was when the mixed emotions of finality came: triumphant, satisfied, but a feeling of loss because these characters we've walked - and flown - with for so long are staying within the pages and we must close the book and leave them there.
But at the same time, it's never there. The books are still there, the characters are inside waiting, ready to take us on that journey with them again. To be reread and reread til clumps of pages fall out in your hand (pages 373-400 in my Goblet of Fire are not connected to the rest of the book, just saying). Time and time again you can get caught up in that imaginary world, the one that is just not the same on the big screen as it is in your head.
This is the magic of books, and the magic of Harry.
p.s. Don't worry, I'll tell you about the wedding and all that soon enough... :]
[image via Pinterest]
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