I seriously, really cannot believe that the first half of the last Harry Potter movie is coming out next week. In 9 days, I will be sitting at a movie theatre and in 9.5 days, it will be over. I'll probably have just as big a crisis for the second one, but...it's...weird. Harry Potter was a huge part of my childhood, in some ways. I remember my teacher reading the book to us in fourth grade. She would read a chapter from a book every day after lunch, but I had PI most days of the week during that time, so I would usually try to find the book after she'd finished and read it myself. I remember most specifically the first chapter of the first book because I was so confused. I could not figure out what in the world was going on and then I had PI for most of the rest of the book. I remember begging my mom to get my the first book in 5th grade so I could do a group book project (ah...remember book reports? I hated those.). She got it for me and then I got the second and third for Christmas that year. I have pictures from that Christmas. My mom made me and Allyson matching dresses and we're all dorky and cute. The fourth book came out that summer and I borrowed it from Kylie to read on a road trip to South Dakota with my family. The 5th book came out when I was 14, the 5th when I was 16, and the 7th when I was 18.
I remember walking to a midnight release party for the 7th book with Kylie. We wanted to see Hairspray and neither of us had cars so my mom dropped us off at the movie theatre for the movie and then we walked to the book store and hung out for a while. It was really hot out and we had to walk a long way. Then after we got our books, we sat outside the store reading them and waited for Charlotte to come pick us up. There was something really exciting about 8 or 10 pages in and when I got to it, I sat and waited for Kylie to get to the same point. We read all night at the house Charlotte was house sitting at and in the morning she made me get up and fish an Easy-Up out of the pool, because it had stormed and gotten blown in. It was way too complicated for my sleepy, Harry Potter-filled mind.
I've heard some college freshmen say that the Toy Story series was written for them; they've been the same age as Andy and graduated high school right before Toy Story 3 came out. Well, Harry Potter was written for me. The books ended right after I graduated high school and the movies will end right after college. Of all the books I have, I've probably read these ones the most. Going to the Harry Potter theme park this summer was beyond awesome. Thinking about the last movie, about the events and moments that have to make it on-screen makes me feel weirdly emotional. By that point, it'll have been 13 years since I first heard the first chapter. I could recount so many other memories, of the books and the going to the midnight movies and...a lot of other things. Harry Potter hasn't been the 'defining force' in my life, but it has been a big part. I will be sad when it's finally, actually over.
Currently, I'm so hoped up and excited for next week that I can barely stand to do homework and waste time watching Potter Puppet Pals and the theatrical trailer on YouTube. or those of you out there who are as excited as I am...it's only 9 days, 3 hours, 44 minutes, and 57, 56, 55 seconds away now!
Vaya con Dios.
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