In 2001 I watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in theaters. It was enjoyable, but I can’t say I was taken with it. It was fun and it was cute, but I certainly wouldn’t have guessed walking out during the final credits that I had just been introduced to one of my favorite movie series. I’ve watched the movie several times since it’s release and it’s grown on me, but it wasn’t until the release of Chamber of Secrets that I really got into the movies and waited for each new installment with great anticipation.

 

Buying tickets for Deathly Hallows, part 2 was a bittersweet moment - looking forward to what lay ahead, but knowing that it would finally be over. No matter how awesome the film ended up being, it was the last; there would be no more Harry Potter. Never again would I sit in a crowded theater, wait for the lights go down and have the familiar opening musical theme spread across the room. There will be no more of Hagrid’s silly gaffes, no more unexpected appearances of my favorite free house-elf, Dobby, and no more skin-of-the-teeth getaways by Harry and friends.

 

Deathly Hallows, part 2, more than any other entry in the series is a fan-centric riot, an homage to the legions of Potter fans that have lined up for movie openings and book releases, often dressed as their favorite characters. There were tears aplenty among the audience I saw the movie with. Cheers went up every time series stalwart, Neville Longbottom appeared on screen. Fan moments were sprinkled throughout. Mrs. Weasley’s utterance of a single word, drew howls of delight from the crowd. This and a few other moments, while obviously written with the fans in mind, were actually distracting and pulled me out of the moment. The worst of these is Professor McGonagall’s inane one-liner preceding the final battle.

 

On the whole, I enjoyed part 2. The slow pacing of the part 1 lingers for only the first few minutes of its successor and then things move rapidly. Voldemort and his cronies have never been more vicious. Their attack on Hogwarts, the centerpiece of the battle between the two sides, is brutal and somewhat heartwrenching. Watching the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry take blow after blow and begin to crumble around our heroes was indeed painful, but not nearly as much as I might have anticipated. Despite all the years I’ve spent watching Potter and pals run around the school, during the battle, the vast hallways and cavernous rooms felt mostly unfamiliar and vague as they filled with debris, blunting the pain substantially. The breakneck pace of the battle slows down here and there to let us catch our breath and to allow the characters last moment revelations and these all worked for me except for Harry’s unnecessary detour to King’s Station for a 5-minute rendezvous with Dumbledore, which went on far too long.

 

Don’t get me wrong, there was much to love in the part 2. The break into Gringotts and the succeeding break out were both excellent in different ways. From there everything is Hogwarts. We are reunited with some of our favorite characters and Voldemort, now in possession of the Elder Wand moves in for the final showdown. Most satisfying, though was the vindication of Professor Snape. From the first book through to the end of the Half-Blood Prince (I haven’t yet read Deathly Hallows) I believed in Snape. The moment we experience Snape’s true history and Harry’s later proclamation about him at the Hogwart’s Express was so gloriously moving. <Insert one glistening tear here.>

 

All in all the part 2 caps off a great series on a high note, wrapping up all the loose ends fans have been tittering over. While I felt some moments were underwhelming, they will perhaps play better at home where I can experience them alone. Now that I have seen the end of the story on the big screen, I can go back and read book 7 and fill in the gaps.

 

At the end of a decade of Harry Potter at the movies, there is much to laud. The series is a singular achievement. Consider the scope of the story and how it played out over 8 movies. For me, only two of the films would I consider less than stellar. I can’t think of any other movie series which has stayed so consistently fresh over years of production. James Bond, Star Wars, and Star Trek are probably the only other series that have run long enough to be worthy of comparison. Each one of them has had a couple resounding duds, both critically and commercially. So I boldly say Harry Potter is the epitome of what a movie series can be; nay, should be!

 

But now it’s all said and done! What’s next for Potter fans? J.K. Rowling has stated there’s a possibility of an eighth and ninth book following some sort of adventures in the Harry Potter universe, but that’s not much to hold your breath for. The new Pottermore website looks like it might be interesting. It comes online at end of July. Word leaked on the Net is that it will contain a shop which will be the only place to purchase the freshly released e-book versions of all seven novels, but more importantly it will contain interactive adventures that follow along with the books. Additionally, according to sources, Rowling has written more than 18,000 new words of new content for the new site that will flesh out characters, locations and other background information. (See more details here.) Again, I’m not holding my breath, but I’m willing to wowed. I want to be wowed. I’m in need of a new source of magic.