Saturday, July 16, 2011

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (You knew it was coming)

Hello, readers. I decided to take an unplanned hiatus from you but I have returned.
I noticed I still haven't written anything about Lithuania. This will happen soon. 
What I will write out is Harry Potter. 
Don't be mad; if anyone knows me or has known me, they know I adore Harry Potter. 
With this information known, it may not surprise you that I attended the midnight premiere of the last three movies and dressed up in full Hogwarts gear for both parts of the Deathly Hallows. 
Still waiting for my invitation to Hogwarts. I am 21 years old. 

Anyway, Harry Potter is a franchise that I have spend half of my life loving and losing major sleep over. Literally. I picked up 'The Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone" when I was 11 years old, despite a great initial dislike to the series. (I didn't like the name Harry and I thought fantasy tried too hard.) If I remember correctly, I'm pretty sure I picked up the book because the film version of the first book had just been released and I had an instant crush on Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter for those of you who have been living under a rock for the last decade). I could not put the book down. I finished it within the time between school ended and night falling. Can you say addict? The rest of the novels came in the form of casual gifts and, eventually as the other books in the series were released, my own personal summer vacation. (They always seemed to be released in the summer months.) I credit the history-making series as one of the main reasons for turning to creative writing as an outlet for my emotions and my expression of self. Before, I was always a bookworm, looking to learn new facts and extend my knowledge outside the classroom. With Harry Potter and the world J.K. Rowling so brilliantly crafted, I realized that you can successfully write fantasy with the ability to keep in touch with those of us who are non-magical, or "Muggles." 
As I've said before, I've grown up with this series. I've grown to feel that Ron, Harry and Hermione were my friends, not just three characters created out of someone's artistically awesome brain. I grew to care about them like real, tangible people. I cried when Sirius, Dobby, Dumblebore and Snape died and I wanted to kill Bellatrix and a handful of others myself. But I digress. At least with the series, I still had the films to look forward to and see this epic world come to life on the big screen. However, as the premiere date for "the Deathly Hallows Part Two" came closer, I realized that this is the end. Like the movie posters read, "it all ends." For the actors, for the wizardry world and for us. But I knew it would be a happy end. 
My luck had it that I work would from 5 to 10 on the night of the premiere. So, you know I busted out of my work as soon as humanly possible to get to the theater in time. I had to go to my friend's, get her boyfriend and pick up a friend of mine before we could make the trek to the Menominee Falls Marcus, the last theater we could get tickets from a week in advance. By the time we arrived, there was no line outside, which meant EVERYBODY was in the theater. I was honestly terrified of not getting a seat and decided, if necessary, I would push. But I didn't. However, our party of four did get separated but Nojus and I chose the lone pair of seats at the top of the smaller theater, so that was lovely. We were granted a broad view of the entire theater.
Alright, enough details about history and getting there. Now, the movie. 
You may have read the reviews this movie is getting and you might have read that they are good, that this installment is the best of out of all. Well, they aren't bullshitting you. It really is. The entire movie is visually captivating and beautiful, even in the darkest moments. Even if you haven't read the books, there are certain scenes (Snape's memory and first time seeing him with real emotion, Dobby's grave, Harry going to the Forbidden Forest for the final confrontation with Voldemort) that will pull at your heartstrings and, possibly, make you cry. Yes, I cried. Sobbed, actually. But I also laughed and cheered ("Not my daughter, you bitch!", Hermione and Ron sharing their first kiss, Crabbe causing his own death, and Neville killing Nagini!!!) and watched in awe as Voldemort crumbled away into nothingness and the light overcame the darkness. There, I almost cried in joy. Of course, I giggled ridiculously at the epilogue scene. Who didn't get a kick out of that? Personally, I think Albus Severus will be put into Slytherin. His initials are ASP after all and we all know what an asp is. And as Platform 3/4 faded away into the inevitable cinematic conclusion, I felt a rise and fall in my chest. It was over. But as I walked out of the theater, I knew that the past ten years of my literary life had been amazing thanks in part to this amazing series. And when I feel the desire to be nostalgic, whether it's alone or with my eventual children and their children, I will bring out the books, explain to them the great memories I had with them and hopefully, just hopefully, the books will touch them like they have touched me. 


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