With the depressing reality that the Harry Potter era is now over, I decided to post my thoughts and feelings of a decade with my favorite wizards...
Once upon a time, I had never heard of Harry Potter until the first movie came out. Didn't I mention I hated reading? I did. Maybe that's why I had never heard of these books. My dear friends Melissa and Carrie would quote the movie ALL THE TIME as we scooted our way to seminary. I remember them telling me what it was about... a wizard in modern times, but it's sort of medieval... set in England. This was my thought... "that sounds SO STUPID."
I now eat my words.
My mom suggested we go see the movie in the dollar theater because it was so popular. Whatever. We went. I'm pretty sure I didn't blink and I probably drooled with my mouth open the whole time. I asked for the books. ME! I wanted to read a book! My mom bought me the first three in paper back thinking I would never read them. Well, for those of you that know me... the rest is history... I devoured them. I DID read them a time or two... I actually have lost count how many times I've read the whole series. Many. From then on it was midnight book parties and movie premieres, endless conversations with other crazies waiting for years on end for their Hogwarts letter to arrive. Maybe the owl got intercepted. Anyway, I was most upset to be gone on my mission when the 4th and 5th movies came out... as well as book 7. I KNOW! Book 7! It was tragic. But, I managed to get home without hearing anything.
Fast forward several years. Here we are just after the last movie came out. I'm very sad that there's nothing else to look forward to in the series, but I'm happy to say that I stuck with Harry until the very end. Now, the movies... I know the movies aren't perfect. I will be the first to laugh at Daniel Radcliffe's AWFUL fake crying in Prisoner of Azkaban. Or to quote the lovely Emma Watson's overly dictioned lines in the first four. A few quarks aside... I LOVE the movies. I have accepted they just aren't the books. They're different... and I love them both.
Leading up to this last movie premiere, I decided that I wanted to re-read the entire series. I thought it was a fitting way of finishing off the whole thing. School ended. I started reading. I only got halfway through Goblet of Fire before I left for Europe (posts still coming). Luckily, Tesha had it with her, so I finished it there. However, when I got back, I had precisely nine days to read the last three books and plan an epic party for the premiere night. Between reading and planning... I basically only thought of Harry for the entire week leading up to the movie. It was crunch time. I started reading Deathly Hallows the day before and got through the first movie's material. Thus, the day it all ended... July 14 (well 15 technically at midnight), I read the part from Shell Cottage to the end. I read the epilogue in the car on the way to set up for the party. I finished and it was marvelous. 
I love these books so much. They helped me to like reading. They took me to another world. They drove my imagination to new heights. They inspired me. So, to cap off my experience with the famed wizard, I will now reveal my favorite inspirational quotes from the series. I'm sure there's other nuggets of wisdom... I was reading the books to enjoy them, not JUST to write down my favorite quotes. And since I read them so fast, 6 and 7 are severely under-represented because I'm sure there's goodies there. Maybe I'll just go read them again...
Sorcerer's Stone (or Philosopher's Stone for you Brits)
"Ah, music... a magic beyond all we do here."
-Dumbledore p. 128
"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that."
-Dumbledore p. 214
"After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure."
-Dumbledore p. 297
Chamber of Secrets
"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." -Dumbledore p. 333
Goblet of Fire
"...it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be!"
-Dumbledore p. 708
"...we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided."
-Dumbledore p. 723
"Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy..." -Dumbledore p. 724
Order of the Phoenix
"Youth cannot know how age thinks and feels. But old men are guilty if they forget what it was to be young..." -Dumbledore p. 826
Notice, Dumbledore says everything worthwhile. Now, I just have to wait to have kids to read them to...
P.S. I thought 7.2 was AMAZING! It was SO epic and magical. There were so many moments that brought it all home. Everyone was there. John William's music reminded us of how far we've come. Can I just say McGonagall and Neville ROCK! And how about the world's most uncomfortable hug? LOVED IT!!!
Sorry for the world's longest post, but if you didn't like it, you wouldn't have read it all. Mischief Managed!
