I was so sick yesterday, and have been for the past few days, so I had to miss the last ever Midnight premiere of a Harry Potter film, which was pretty tragic, but at least I've delayed the end truly ending for a bit longer. I feel as if, when I go to see the last film, it'll feel the same way as going to see the first film. I went on a school excursion with the quaint little private school I attended in primary school. We all dragged along Harry Potter toys- I had a fuzzy Hedwig that I had adorned with glittery clips, and a three-headed Fluffy. We sat in the cinema with our teachers, giggling and feeling as if we attended Hogwarts ourselves, and had arrived here on the Hogwarts express, rather than being chaperoned by parents and teachers. Our tiny feet didn't touch the ground. We ate the Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans and Chocolate Frogs they used to sell (where did those go!? I always loved giving my brother horseradish flavour and telling him it was raspberry). We spilled popcorn, and then the curly golden font we've all come to know so well descended onto the screen and we were in awe. My friend Lauren pinched me when Harry came on screen. The cinema was decorated with tackily beautiful gold streamers and cutout owls and black and gold glitter. Everyone was silent, and my friend Matilda started crying when Professor Quirrell unwrapped his turban and exposed Voldemort. That first screening was magic, as we'd spent our whole childhood with Harry up our sleeves. Our dog eared copies of The Philosopher's Stone and The Chamber of Secrets came with us everywhere. There were count downs until the books appeared in delicious smelling local book shops (I always bought mine in Balmain- the really old store with the ladders and the soft carpet). There were competitions in the primary school playground as to who had read the books the fastest. We grew up with Harry, with our own imaginings of Gringott's and Hermione. We laughed at how we imagined Crookshanks to look, and the quips made by Fred and George. Harry was ours, he was everyone's.
And then the films came out, and our imaginings of the characters were replaced by Rupert Grint, and Daniel Radcliffe and Maggie Smith, and the magic of the owls descending for the first time on Privet Drive. We grew up with Harry. Everyone who says that this is the end of an era, is right. This is good bye to our childhoods. We can no longer make new trips to Hogsmeade, or watch as Harry and Ron play Wizard's Chess. We can no longer eagerly anticipate the release of a new film or book. The characters grew as we grew. When Ron first showed an interest in Lavender Brown, we'd started getting crushes too. As Hogwarts crumbled and the ministry was taken over, our innocence was lost too. Harry was no longer the young boy staring into the mirror of Erised, and neither were we. We'd all grown. We were older, things weren't as simple as buying a packet of chocolate frogs, and avoiding Snape in the corridors. Things were new, and sinister, and imbued with a never before felt sense of responsibility. This is why this last film is so monumental. The Harry Potter Generation, we're all around 18, 19, 20 now. We've grown up- as Harry has. We have to say goodbye to Hogwarts, and childhood, and magic. This last film is how we're all going to do that. We're going to sit in the cinema, and cry our eyes out, because we really are letting go of something important, something precious within ourselves.
This is an important goodbye. I hope we can all keep the magic somehow. Childhood is over, and the world we're faced with now certainly holds less Hogwarts feasting, and rivalry with Draco Malfoy. However, J.K. Rowling's final dedication included us all- 'and to you, if you have stuck with Harry until the very end.' We have, and he will always be a part of us, even when we're forty and working in an office. When we're doctors or lawyers, or real estate agents, with children and mortgages, we'll still know whether we're Ravenclaws, Huffelpuffs, Gryffindors or Slytherins. We did stick with him until the very end, and he stuck with us. For this, we should all be proud. We may have left Hogwarts, but we will never forget it.
And then the films came out, and our imaginings of the characters were replaced by Rupert Grint, and Daniel Radcliffe and Maggie Smith, and the magic of the owls descending for the first time on Privet Drive. We grew up with Harry. Everyone who says that this is the end of an era, is right. This is good bye to our childhoods. We can no longer make new trips to Hogsmeade, or watch as Harry and Ron play Wizard's Chess. We can no longer eagerly anticipate the release of a new film or book. The characters grew as we grew. When Ron first showed an interest in Lavender Brown, we'd started getting crushes too. As Hogwarts crumbled and the ministry was taken over, our innocence was lost too. Harry was no longer the young boy staring into the mirror of Erised, and neither were we. We'd all grown. We were older, things weren't as simple as buying a packet of chocolate frogs, and avoiding Snape in the corridors. Things were new, and sinister, and imbued with a never before felt sense of responsibility. This is why this last film is so monumental. The Harry Potter Generation, we're all around 18, 19, 20 now. We've grown up- as Harry has. We have to say goodbye to Hogwarts, and childhood, and magic. This last film is how we're all going to do that. We're going to sit in the cinema, and cry our eyes out, because we really are letting go of something important, something precious within ourselves.
Map of Hogwarts hand-drawn by J.K. Rowling
This is an important goodbye. I hope we can all keep the magic somehow. Childhood is over, and the world we're faced with now certainly holds less Hogwarts feasting, and rivalry with Draco Malfoy. However, J.K. Rowling's final dedication included us all- 'and to you, if you have stuck with Harry until the very end.' We have, and he will always be a part of us, even when we're forty and working in an office. When we're doctors or lawyers, or real estate agents, with children and mortgages, we'll still know whether we're Ravenclaws, Huffelpuffs, Gryffindors or Slytherins. We did stick with him until the very end, and he stuck with us. For this, we should all be proud. We may have left Hogwarts, but we will never forget it.
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