Caution: SPOILERS. Do not read if you haven’t seen Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows–Part Two in theaters yet.
The midnight premiere parties have ended, and the excitement of seeing the last Harry Potter movie has died down, but the magic of the series will still live on. The UTC community continues to react to the bittersweet end of the J.K. Rowling’s series.
“Harry Potter has been nothing less than the reflection of my childhood. I started reading the books when I was eleven years old. As Harry and his friends grew up, I grew up, and a lot of the pressures and dilemmas they faced, I faced as well,” Megan Maier, a UTC senior, said.
Maier, a student in the UTC’s Undergraduate Honors Program appreciated the relatable characters in the series. “There has never been a character that I’ve related to more than Hermione Granger. There aren’t many relatable role models for goody-goodies and overachievers when you’re in middle school, so it was nice to have that through Rowling’s books,” she said.
“Harry Potter is also one of the main reasons I stuck to writing. I thought if Rowling can make a plot this complex, surely I can put a little more effort into mine. Also, she took a nerdy concept (a “wizarding world”) and made it a pop culture staple. I believe fantasy as a genre is far more acceptable in mainstream television and movies now thanks to her work,” Maier continued.
Rowling’s books also provided hope to others that were struggling with their writing.
“When I started reading the books, I was at a point in my life where I really doubted myself as a writer, thinking I wasn’t worthy of the craft. Rowling’s work taught me that all I need is an idea and words, that bridging those was the real task and source of cleverness, and that it takes more courage to have faith in myself than to face critics big and small. All those things are reflected in her three principal characters, Harry, Ron, and Hermione,” Jennifer Manning, a UTC alumna, said.
Celebrations for the final film included both some fun costumes and some bittersweet feelings.
“As for the final movie, I went with a group of friends to the midnight showing. We made t-shirts. Mine had a quote from the dedication in the seventh book—Until the very end. I’d been to midnight premieres before for the movies, but this one was different. There was excitement, but it was tempered a bit by sadness. I don’t think I’ve heard so many sniffles in a theatre before,” Maier said.
“My preparations for the final film included creating a Bellatrix Lestrange costume from Goodwill purchases, drinking a bottomless kettle of PG Tips [a tea popular in Great Britain], and watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows—Part One twice,” Manning said.
“In the final scene of the final film, we see the Hogwarts train pull out of the station, transporting the children of our favorite characters to that magical castle in which they matured, just as we, the readers, say farewell to the series–to the school that became our home, to the world that called on our imaginations, to the characters who became our families and our comrades, and to the stories we shared both in and out of print–clinging to the hope that future generations will appreciate it as much as we did, and still do,” Manning continued.
