A Very Potter Ending

      

According to facebook, many of my contemporaries seem to be under the impression that their childhood has officially ended now that the final Harry Potter film has come out. I understand the sentiment, however, if leaving Harry behind is a landmark of maturation then I left childhood several years ago when the final book came out. If you aren't a Harry Potter fan then nothing I say here will be at all meaningful to you. If however, you are already a fan, then please do feel free to stroll with me on this path through memory lane.

Harry Potter. 

If you get it, you get it. And if you get it then you'll know that Harry Potter is so much more than a children's story or an adventure novel or a good mystery. It's this beautiful, fantastical, hilarious yet tragic story of love and loss that happens to take place in a totally magical setting. Most of us are in agreement that Harry Potter will become a classic. I'm a firm believer in the immortality of the written word--all I have to do is pick up one of the books, open it to a random page and Hogwarts will still be there. But I do think that maybe, even to a new reader, some of the magic will be lost. 

How so? Well my generation, by which I specifically mean me a 20 year old (and I suppose anyone within a few years of me on either side) literally grew up alongside Harry Potter. I was generally about Harry's age when each book came out so we grew up together and I got to go to Hogwarts as a fourteen year old, a sixteen year old, etc waiting in real time for the next book to come out when Harry and I would be about the same age.

Harry's angst in book five never bothered me because, guess what?! I was a hormonal teenager as well the first time I read it! I was probably just as unpleasant as Harry except that my main problems had to do with school and his main problem was that the most evil wizard of all time was hunting him down and systematically killing every person he had ever loved.

I'd be a bit moody as well. 

A lot of people who are different age groups don't agree with me and I'm sure a lot of people my age would argue that Harry was too whiny in book 5. That's fine, whatever. But it does bring me to something a bit bigger which is this: at no time will Harry Potter be as meaningful as it is right now because Harry Potter is a product of this time period. I'm sure there are cultural and social components of it which the modern reader takes for granted but which a future study of history may show to be endemic to our time. A bit of an obvious example would be the emphasis on social justice: respect for muggles, rights for House Elves, tolerance of people or species that are different than your own, a gay headmaster. Not only did J. K. Rowling work for Amnesty when she was younger, she also lived in a time when the definition of equality was becoming more expansive and when globalization was becoming a huge force in the world. I can't tell you what exactly the symptoms of this are in her writing because I am too close, but I know they are there.

And then of course when I say that Rowling "lived" in that world of globalization and a broader push towards tolerance, I of course mean that she still lives there. And so do we. From a historical standpoint, it will take decades to be able to look back and really see what the underlying motifs idiosyncratic to this time will be. I don't know what future readers will find archaic in Harry Potter. All I know is that Harry is my contemporary and when my grandchildren or great grandchildren read the books they will be getting a glimpse of my childhood. I imagine they will experience it similarly to the way I experience something like classic Winnie the Pooh; I love it and think its incredibly sweet but at the same time I am very aware that it is vintage and I feel  distant from whatever world existed when it came into being.

That's a little sad isn't it? Not really. Harry will always be a beloved character. He will continue to be loved by new readers long after I have reached the sweet age of retirement and am rocking away somewhere in a nursing home. All it really means is that we should cherish the Harry we've got. Because we have the Harry of the 2000's and when we revisit the books we will simultaneously be revisiting the people we were when we first read them. When I go back to book seven I will always retain the feeling of pure anxiety I felt as I neared the end, literally praying in my head that the characters would be alright before remembering that it was all a story. When I go back to book two I will remember the fear I felt as a child, insisting that my mom stay in the same room as me while I ventured with Harry and Ron into the Chamber of Secrets. When I read book one I remember how much it made me giggle that Hermione wanted to sing from the top of the astronomy tower that Malfoy got detention.

  

I could go on and on, but the point, I suppose is simply this: that Harry Potter (as nerdy or lame or whatever as it sounds) is a good friend and a key aspect of myself. Not just the child within me but the person I am and will continue to be. In celebration of this fact I decided to dress up for the last big hollaballo (the last one that will be socially acceptable at least. I'm sure HP will provide Halloween costume inspiration and themed parties for many years to come) I dressed up as Luna Lovegood. 

This was mostly due to the fact that I didn't have any costumes with me and that I needed an excuse to debut the new yellow coat I was bragging about earlier. But it was very fun to have a bunch of girls over, listen to the Harry Potter theme song, take pictures and walk down to the theater together.

That's the Great Hall Behind Us. I'm making weird expressions in all these pictures because I'm Luna

Emerging from the Gryffindor Common Room. Hermione, Bellatrix, Luna and Mrs. Weasley

One of the many Vanishing Staircases.  This picture snapped just in time

Having fun on the grounds

Hermione, Luna and Molly Weasley 

Final showdown between Bellatrix and Mrs. Weasley

A very excited crew

After the movie. Thats our authentic British friend Chris next to me

Well, the movies may be over, but the books are immortal. So when I say LONG LIVE HARRY I'm also, in a way, saying, LONG LIVE CHILDHOOD. Thank you Mrs Rowling, for reminding the world that we're never too old for magic and thank you Professor Dumbledore for explaining that just because something takes place inside our heads, why on earth should that mean its not real?

A Fond Farewell