At the end of July and beginning of August, I just had this weird feeling going through me. It was only a few weeks after seeing the final Harry Potter movie for the first time. It was hard to imagine that there would be no more Potter movies. So I started writing down my thoughts. I put it aside for a while. A while ended up being about months (I didn't plan on waiting that long). As the DVD release date approached for the final film, I got the essay back out and went back through and edited the essay.
Yesterday was the release date for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, the final one. And to coincide with that release, I released my essay on OMGWire.com. I talk about how I was first introduced to the series, and transition into my feelings on the series coming to an end and what that means for me. I suggest reading the whole essay so you can understand why I titled it "Why I Refuse to Say Goodbye to Harry Potter."
Below is a short excerpt from the essay:
I didn't want to write this. I really didn't. It's been about four months now since the final Harry Potter movie came out, and I may have been in denial. In denial that the end was here and it's passed by me in a flash. I didn't want to write this, because I didn't want to say goodbye.
I first met Harry Potter in 1999. I was 11, the same age Harry was when he received his letter to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I never received mine, but I got so much more than just a mere letter. On Christmas Eve of that year, I received the first three books as a Christmas gift from my step-grandma. I had never heard of this series before, but thanked her because she knew I loved to read. Little did she (or I) know how much that one choice would change my life forever, would turn out to be more than just a simple gift.
But it didn't start that way. I began reading Sorcerer's Stone, and can you believe it when I say I didn't get very far before I stopped reading and stored the books away? At that time, it didn't catch my attention for some reason. A few months later, though, I was going through my closet and rediscovered Harry Potter sitting there with my other books. I decided to give it another chance. And boy am I glad I did. I can't even imagine what my life would have been like if I didn't. Before I knew it, I had swallowed up all three pretty much in one gulp and hungered for more. The problem? The fourth book wouldn't be released until summertime. And so Harry Potter went on the backburner again, but only temporarily. On the morning of July 8, 2000, I received a call from my mom (I had stayed at my grandparents' beach house the previous night) that UPS or some other delivery truck had pulled up and delivered a package. She didn't think she had ordered anything, so she was a little confused. But when she opened it, there was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I had completely forgotten that I had entered a contest through one of the bookstores at the mall to win a free copy of the book. I told her to make sure to bring it with her when she came out to the beach house later that day. To the average person, two weeks might seem like a short time to read a 734 page book. And at the time, it was fast for me. (My speed time would quicken dramatically for the remaining books).
Goblet of Fire changed everything. Not just for me, but for the fandom and the franchise. After Goblet of Fire, I discovered Harry Potter fansites, who were all dissecting and analyzing the books for clues to what would happen next. I read through every single news item and rumor to see what the plot of book 5 would be. It was excruciating to have to wait three (THREE!!!) years for Order of the Phoenix.
Tragedy struck just over a year later...
The entire essay is much longer than this. To read the full essay, click HERE.
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