I stuck with Harry until the very end.

(Warning: The first part of this entry is a rant. If you would like to skip the negativity, head on over to the next paragraph.)

I just came home from watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 for the second time. I refuse to count the first time I watched it in Newport Cinema because the movie goers there had absolutely no theater etiquette. Every rule in the book was broken! There were ringing cellphones left and right! The guy beside me talked on his phone for a whole scene (I mean, if you wanted to chat, you could at least have the decency to step out of the movie house)! There were a couple of babies making all kinds of noise, which would've been cute in another situation but absolutely irritating in a movie house. I don't know why their mothers did not have the good sense to not bring their babies into a screening of the DEATHLY HALLOWS. I know it's Harry Potter and all, but it's not exactly a children's movie anymore. And it's definitely not a baby's! The worst of them all was this guy sitting 2 rows behind us who was the text book definition of the most horrible kind of movie goer. He talked during the WHOLE movie. He'd announce when a scene is coming up, squeal and make incredibly jologs comments whenever an exciting scene comes up and he'd mention all the proper names and terms from the book out loud as if to show off the breadth of his Harry Potter knowledge. I hated him very much. I wanted to throw curses of the magical and crass kind at him. Sad to say, I was not able to properly appreciate THE FINAL Harry Potter movie because of all these inconsiderate people. Plus, the movie house was not even HD!

Okay. Rant over.

I watched Harry Potter (in 3D this time) again today with my family. We stuck to good ole reliable Greenbelt 3, thank goodness. Anyway, I think I am still in a bit of denial. It still hasn't sunk in that this is the end. Obviously, I thought the movie was amazing. Of course, like any other reader of the books, there's always one part or another that you just imagined differently in your head and it was infinitely more mind blowing and exciting. You're always slightly disappointed or spewing out ideas and opinions on how a certain scene could've been done. Of course, I've accepted long ago that the movies can never quite capture the books. The individual imagination of the millions of Harry Potter readers combined is just too immense to capture in a 2.5 hour movie. In the course of this decade, everyone, including myself, seems to have learned to accept and appreciate every movie on its own. After all, what the movies have been able to capture far and immensely outweigh those that it didn't. In fact, it might be almost be held negligible. Also, I think we have all come to love everything that has to do with the Harry Potter series so long as they stay true to the essence of the story. And, undoubtedly, this series has. This final movie is no different. It was a fitting end. I was thankful for that beautiful moment they allowed Snape to have in the last film. He deserved it really. His undying love deserved it. I don't think I should even begin to mention Alan Rickman and his heart wrenching performance, or I might also have to get into Helena Bonham Carter's portrayal of Hermione trying to act like Bellatrix, and Ralph Fiennes' mad desperation as Voldemort, and Jason Isaac's emasculated Lucius, and Michael Gambon's ethereal but incredibly human Dumbledore, and Matthew Lewis' badass freedom fighting Neville, and Tom Felton's broken and confused Draco... and Dan, Emma, Rupert (I feel like I grew up with you guys)... and and... everyone! I love all the moments each character had! They all had a chance to shine and bid a proper farewell to us! Everyone has just done such an absolutely amazing job bringing this story to life! That includes all those amazing set designers whose work had to be bulldozed in the end, the costumes, props, special effects, music... everything! They all just fit into a perfect whole! I am so grateful! This past decade of Harry Potter was an intensely personal experience for me, I think. I felt like each and everyone of these people were working towards bringing the story to life... for me! That's how amazing their work has been because I sincerely think every Potter fan felt the same.

I am quite sad that this chapter of my life has come to a close. Indeed, Harry Potter was a part of my life, just like he was a part of so many other's. I am one with everyone who feels like the end of their childhood (or any chapter of their lives for that matter) was somehow marked by this particular ending. We have all, indeed, stuck with Harry until the very end.

I actually regret beginning this entry with a rant now because everything about this series has been nothing but wonderful and exciting! And, in hindsight, I realize that nothing could possibly ruin Harry Potter for me. Not even a theater full of inconsiderate theater goers. Harry Potter is too great a story and too deeply entrenched in my heart for me to ever really associate anything negative with it. So, Newport Cinema 4 people, I forgive you. I fully intend to watch the movie again anyway. I don't think I'm ready to let it go.

For now, let my final words be a resounding THANK YOU to JK Rowling for enriching my childhood with this beautiful story. I will definitely miss Harry, Ron and Hermione and I fully intend to introduce my kids to these old friends someday.

I will also be forever waiting for my owl.

Love, Oli :)