The premier of the very last Harry Potter film just ended today and formally concludes the Potter era. Arguably the book of the decade Harry Potter was to this generation what Lord of the Rings was in the time of Woodstock. And I consider myself fortunate that I was born not too early nor not too late to be at the appropriate age to fully appreciate the impact these books have made on the world.
It is by far a better alternative than what todays children have to contend with as iconic storybooks characters (Twilight sucks). From the first day that Harry was visited by Hagrid on the small island in the middle of a storm to the last time he would ride the Hogwarts Express me and my generation have gone with him in his magical world both in page and film.
I can still remember how I gasped when Harry found Quirrell instead of Snape in the last chamber in front of the Mirror of Erised. And from that moment on I was hooked. J.K. Rowling masterfully produced a world where its history was not a low hum in the background but an actual entity within the story that the characters have to maneuver through, not an easy feat especially when spanned in so many volumes. In fact it was well done that the detail and perfect arrangement of historical and contemporary twists and turns could only be compared to Tolkiens Lord of the Rinds or Stephen Kings Dark Tower series. As well as contending with their own stories and emotions.
I also had the privilege of growing up with these characters and age as they did. I was eleven when Harry and his friends were and for every year patiently anticipated the next volume as they grew, so did I.
Though I have always made the comment that the best books of the series were the first four, which were incidentally the ones written before the film adaptions began, I wouldn’t trade any book in the series for anything else.
I’ve always gauged the value of the book by how I felt by the end of it. A tragic heartache for me personally is knowing that a book is particularly good when I am overcome with a dreadful feeling that I lost something precious as I turn the last page and as the series draws formally to a close I fell as if something close to me has died.
Tweens and jejemons will never know this feeling and I think I am excused in thinking that I am better than them for it.
On a side note, as part of a promotional campaign for the last movie they’ve launched a Find your Own Patronus App on Facebook. It’s not a quiz as I suspected at first but seemed like a random algorithm based off a computers IP address but its wicked fun anyway. What is a Patronus you ask. Well, Professor Lupin explains is “a kind of Anti-Dementor-a guardian which acts as a shield between you and the Dementor. The Patronus is a kind of positive force, a projection of the very things that the Dementor feeds upon-hope, happiness, the desire to survive.”
A Patronus is supposed to be unique to each person and here’s mine.
A phoenix! can you believe my luck?! Anyway, here’s my sendoff to a wonderful story. It was well worth the wait and I am eternally grateful that I was able to experience something like this in my life.
sigarilyosadilim 