Harry Potter

Warning: what follows is probably the nerdiest thing I've ever written. Prepare yourself or skip it.

Obviously there's a lot of Harry Potter discussion happening everywhere, and of course I have to weigh in on it because I am a devoted Harry Potter follower to the core.

I got the first book waaaay back in the day before there was all the craziness. It was the only book out then, I got to be a little fan girl for every book release! In 5th grade I won a free book from a book-fair at school (probably by being a uber-nerd and reading 5,000 books on some list) and while I was browsing, the librarian suggested Harry Potter. She said it was supposed to be big in England. I decided what the heck, it's a free book and the cover was colorful so I got it. And finished it in like two days. From then on, I was completely addicted. I was severely disappointed when I never got my letter from Hogwarts. And imagine how badly my little teen self lost it when I found out they were making the movies! I crushed on Daniel Radcliffe so hard (too bad he grew up so short!) and was jealous of every one of them for being able take part in such greatness. I've read the books more times than I can remember and will continue rereading them. It never gets old.

Of course I married a fellow HP nerd, it would be out of the question not to. Who else would I have in depth conversations about side characters with? Brendon has actually read the books more times than I have. We even had Harry Potter star in our engagement pictures. And we had a quote from Dumbledore in our wedding ceremony thanks to our fantastic officiant. HP for life y'all, that's our motto.

So needless to say, we were a little excited to see the Deathly Hallows Part 2. The Deathly Hallows was my favorite book, I loved reading every line. And the movie did not disappoint. Of course, they strayed from the book a bit as every movie does, but I think they did a fantastic job regardless. It was beautifully done. Insane to see how all the actors have grown, we grew up with these kids! When they were little, we were little! Everyone played their parts beautifully. I cannot imagine the experience it was to BE these characters, to grow up as them. They were all on fire in the film. I was especially impressed with Neville (he had the most dramatic change growing up, he's so tall!) and of course, my man Severus. Snape is probably my favorite character (aside from Harry), and seeing the back story on him and Lily was one of the things I was looking forward to most in the film. And it was great. And I cried.

It was a very emotional movie for me, I was literally in tears throughout the whole thing, seeing all the moments I loved so much about the last book brought to life. Watching everything finally unfold and come to a close was beautiful, especially since it was so well done. I cried about happy moments, sad moments, about it being over, lost in my Harry Potter love. It was truly the end of a great story. No more books, no more movies. Luckily there are seven books and eight movies for us to reread and rewatch until we are old farts sharing them with our grandkids. And that sounds like a fantastic plan to me.