Harry Potter


I sit here typing moments after finishing the final Harry Potter book, delayed, I know, but finished nonetheless. I didn’t want the book to end, the adventures to come to a close. While it is early Friday morning, almost two weeks since the book’s release, I find myself teary-eyed and not ready to sleep, but to reminisce – for finishing the book has given me a renewed shot of adrenaline.

Don’t worry, my post will remain spoiler-free for all those (like me hours earlier) who have not completed their adventures with the bespectacled, lightning-scarred wizard. The end of the book – to be brief – was amazing and everything I hoped it would be. But I won’t be focusing on the end, but the journey, which had held us all captors for some ten years now – and will continue as the two more movies debut and the stories are re-read and passed down generations. This is what I want to look at. The book’s legacy.

J.K. Rowling, admittedly, will never be able to top Harry Potter. But who would want to, I ask? I am still amazed and agog to think of how this one person could have such an imagination, such a keen knack for storytelling: the descriptions, the characters, the all-encompassing plots… I have told my friends that her work is truly poetry in the form of prose (which sounds odd because prose, by its very definition, is something that is not poetry), but J.K. intermingles the two. Also, the words she has created… Muggle is now part of the world’s vernacular, now appearing in dictionaries. Her impact on the world is awe-inspiring. She has done what all literary greats have done – created something not for the here-and-now that will soonly be forgotten but something for the ages, which will stand the test of time. Well, only time will tell, but I only hope this series is not considered just children’s literature, for what we have is something far greater: a tome that inspires, connects all readers of the series, and makes each of us a little happier after reading. (Think to yourself, what would a world without Harry be like? I won’t go there…)

I owe a lot to Ms. Rowling. Like others around the world, I was not as strong or frequent a reader before beginning the series, which seems to have lit a spark in me. While I cannot credit J.K. with helping me out entirely, I still give the woman credit for me finishing larger books with more enthusiasm and speed. Thank you.

So, Harry James Potter and his adventures have come to a close. What’s next? Well, we still have two more movies and a major (and amazing) theme park in the queue. Plus, we can re-read the books now, with the ending in mind and, who knows, we might discover even more. Any up for a game of Quidditch?

If you also want to see on more HP and Rowling, NBC News has done a lot over the past week on Today and Dateline. Rowling also reveals some more details that aren’t in the books.

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