"There are no more horcruxes. It's just you and me. Neither can live while the other survives, and one of us is about to leave for good." -- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
It blows my mind that the Harry Potter generation is over. I remember when the first book came out - I was nine, and we read it as a class in 4th grade. No one could pronounce Hermione's name correctly (something J.K. Rowling made fun of in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), but we were all completely blown away by the magic of Rowling's storytelling. Jessica and I sped through Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban (Books 2 & 3), and could not wait for the next books to come out. From then on, we always pre-ordered our books on Amazon, and it never took me more than a couple days to read each new book (including Book 4 which we read right after our move to Virginia, without any furniture in the house!). I feel like readers of my generation grew up with Harry Potter - even to the point where I was 17 when Deathly Hallows (Book 7) was released and all of the characters were 17. Each book in Rowling's series is increasingly mature, complex, and intense -- something I could appreciate as a reader who was also maturing and growing up.The Harry Potter films brought in a completely different view of the books. While I enjoy the movies, I definitely believe the books present a more complex plot and deeper character development. Granted, its hard to turn 1000+ page books into movies of an acceptable length, so I understand why a lot of the nonessential plot points and details were left out of the movies. After seeing the final installment, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2, last night, I thought they wrapped up their shortened storyline very well. All the same, it was a very surreal experience to see the last movie. Just like with the release of the Book 7, it seemed so, well, final. Unlike the majority of the Harry Potter fans today, I grew up with the characters both through the book series and the films. It's sad to see the end of this phase in our lives -- it's truly the end of an era.
