Last night, at 12:01 AM, I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2. I sat with hundreds of other Potter-lovers in a cavernous theatre, all dressed as different characters from the franchise- everyone from Dobby to Lucius Malfoy to Fenrir Greyback; I even saw a Darth Vader & Princess Leia wandering around, shaking their heads and joking, "Am I at the wrong movie?" Those with the best costumes were asked by strangers in the audience if they could take pictures together. The few without costumes (including the two friends I came with) felt embarrassed to be normal! As we whiled away the two hours before the movie started by reading Prisoner of Azkaban, I thought of what people had been saying all day: this is the end of our childhood.
The story of my romance with Harry Potter is not particularly unique or interesting; Harry and I met when I was handed the second book (yes, the second one) by my grandpa, who told me it was supposed to be very popular with kids my age. He could never have predicted how true that statement would become. I can still see the book in my hands, brand new, and feel my anticipation of another good read. As the years wore on, I read each of the books eagerly. I had in-depth conversations with friends and neighbors that lasted for hours on Harry Potter. After Half Blood Prince was released, I must have spent hours guessing who R.A.B. was, what the other Horcruxes were, and whether Snape was good or bad (of course he's good! Dumbledore had to be right!) In the summer of my sixth grade year, I went to the midnight release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows with my patient aunt. We waited in line eagerly, discussing how much we loved the series with the other fans in line. I read the book from 6 in the morning to 2 that afternoon, and cried the whole way through. I'm sure many other people have this story: reading the books from a young age as soon as they came out, and seeing the movies as well. I saw the sixth movie in Australia with one of my best friends on the day it came out, and the seventh (part 1) at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park in Florida, again on the day it came out. And last night, for a grand finish, I dressed up and saw the final movie at midnight, a little less than a month before my 18th birthday.
The movie itself was excellent- epic in scale, poignant and emotional. As someone who's never thought that the central actors were unbelievably talented, I thought that Daniel, Rupert, and Emma performed perfectly this time, enhancing the movie where they used to detract from it. This was a movie about Harry more than anyone else, and Daniel Radcliffe carries the movie with ease and sensitivity, embodying the Harry of our imaginations perfectly. The other actors, as well, finish their roles with excellent performances, especially Alan Rickman (Snape). The sequence in which Harry discovers the reason Dumbledore trusted Snape so much is beautiful and heart-breaking, as is Snape's death- at once horrifying and touching. Rowling has an incredible gift to be able to make people cry for Severus Snape: a man so mocked and hated throughout the whole series, and yet who the theater all cried for. As always, the visual effects were spot on, enhancing the magical world and taking it to the next level of believability. The soundtrack was beautiful (that's something I always notice), epic and touched with sadness and a sense of finality. From the opening, the film jumped right into the action, which is relentless until the final 5 minutes. From the Gringotts break-in to Hogwarts, the action is exactly how I pictured it- except for a few crucial details.
These details are my complaints about the movie. In splitting the last book into 2 movies, the filmmakers basically ensured that every detail could be put in the movie. Part 1 did this extremely well. Part 2, not so much. It completely cut out Teddy Lupin, Harry's godson and Lupin & Tonks' son. It's a real loss, as it makes Lupin and Tonks' death that much sadder, and brings Harry's story full circle: Teddy's story is much like Harry's own. But I can understand that the announcement of Teddy's birth might have felt too happy in the midst of planning to break in to Gringotts. Percy Weasley never returns to assist the fight in Hogwarts, and Fred's death isn't shown onscreen, only his body- I sobbed the hardest at that point in the book, and in the movie, too, it was the point at which I (and people all around me) broke down. An added fight between Nagini and Ron/Hermione feels pointless and overwhelming- as viewers, we really just need to see Harry and Voldemort dueling.
But the thing I am the most dissatisfied with in the movie- and it's a big one- is Voldemort and Harry's final duel. It takes place in the courtyard of Hogwarts, which is cinematically impressive, but it takes place alone: just Harry against Voldemort. They are almost wordless as they throw spells at each other, and then, Voldemort's wand flies to Harry, leaving his Killing Curse rebounding at him. Voldemort looks at Harry, and then sort of dissolves into ashy flakes that float gently up into the night sky.
Dissolves? He just dissolves? That's it? Why couldn't he go out with a bang, a finality? Even a hardening to lifelessness, or a collapse, would have been better than just flaking into the air and floating like snowflakes. And he dies in silence. One of the things that makes the duel between Harry and Voldemort so memorable in the book is the dialogue between them. When Harry says, "Think, and try for some remorse, Riddle...Try for some remorse..." It is such a great moment of Harry offering Voldemort one last chance. Harry understands Voldemort, and for once, he has more knowledge than Voldemort. They were equals, before, when Harry sacrificed himself to kill the Horcrux inside him, but now Harry has the upper hand. I so wish that they had talked, even for a moment, in their duel. And finally, I wish that everyone had watched the duel so that they could see Voldemort die and react. There is little to no resolution or reaction to his death by everyone else at Hogwarts, and it would have been a bigger relief in his death to see everyone else relieved.
Despite my problems with it, the movie was still an epic ending to the series. I literally sobbed through the last half hour to hour of the movie, as did many others around me (from what I could hear of the sniffing). I didn't sob only because of what was happening in the movie; I sobbed because it was the ending of something so incredible. So many people love Harry Potter, and for good reason. As I sat there, watching Harry sacrifice himself for everyone in the castle, I was reminded powerfully of first Aslan in the Narnia stories, then Jesus himself. Harry Potter emphasizes the importance of love, but more importantly, it tells the truth of love to millions of people. It shows the truth of our Creator's love for us to every single fan of Harry Potter. It is a true story, one that adds beauty to the world and that will continue to teach people for years and years to come.
Harry Potter is the soundtrack to my childhood, first through the books, and now through the movies. Though my journey with Harry Potter will contain no more surprises, I know I will continue to love Harry and his friends for the rest of my life. I will continue to look to J.K. Rowling as an example of how to create a real world from your mind, with believable details and authenticity; as an example of how to create characters that literally can walk off the page, and are so real you know them like your best friend; as an example of how to tell a true story about the world around you. Goodbye, childhood. Mischief Managed.
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