Sunday, July 24, 2011

Adieu Harry Potter!

After not getting tickets for last weekend, we went to watch the final installment of the Harry Potter series on Saturday. I thoroughly enjoyed watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. At the end though, when the screen read the words, "The End", mom and I looked at each other misty-eyed and simultaneously said, "J.K Rowling really ought to write more Harry Potter books". It really felt like the end of an era.

I started reading Harry Potter sometime in 2000. My sister was the one who provided the first book. After that, I raced through books 3,2 and then 4 (I got hold of book #3 before book #2 and read it in that order 'coz I couldn't wait). Then began the long wait for book #5. I got that as a bribe.

I pre-ordered books #6 and #7. I was awake through the night to finish the humongous book #7 on the day I received it. Well worth it! By this time, Harry Potter & co were like friends. I also took strange joy in the fact that according to the book, Harry, Hermione and Ron were born in the same year that I was (the cheap thrills of life).

In between waiting for the next book in the series to show up, I refreshed my memory by reading the existing books all over again. With each reading I found more pieces of seemingly irrelevant information which later tied in perfectly with the plot lines of future books. Nice!


Then there were the HP movies. Initially, I mostly watched them so that I could complain about how they were not a patch on the books (movies #1 and #2 were such snore-fests - I slept through movie #1), but the main reason was, as a devout Harry Potter fan, it would be sacrilege to miss out on anything HP related. But slowly, I started looking forward to the movies as well.

I have HP to thank for tiding me through times when I was sick enough to be forced to stay in bed. Once I started reading HP, I got so immersed in its world that I pretty much forgot any other discomfort. I usually never cry while reading books. But when Dumbledore died (what, you did not know that??) in book #6, I shed copious tears: about Dumbledore dying but mostly for Harry - he was now an orphan in every sense of the word. But the amusing part was, when I re-read the book, I cried *all over again*. Like one of my friends asked, did I really think Dumbledore would not die when I read the book a second time around? The power of books!

This post is simply a rambling but fond farewell to one of favorite works of fiction. Seriously, even though I smirk when bands/authors make a grand declaration of some tour or book being THE FINAL ONE only to change their minds about a year later, I would be the first one to hand Ms. Rowling a paper and pen if she decides to change her mind about not penning any more HP-related works. Thank you Ms. Rowling for creating such a marvelous world for readers to enjoy!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

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- T

SK said...

Awww nice tribute. You are making me teary eyed.
Caught the movie this past weekend too, wish all movies were 3D and on such a grand scale!

When they showed the scenes from first movie in this one, I was sooo surprised to see the tiny characters, Harry, Herm, Ron and all, how much they have grown! :--)

ಅಶ್ವಿನಿ/ Ashwini said...

Nice one Archana! I have to catch up with the movie soon.

Hey Archana you have been showered with a set of awards.Please check my recent post.:) Congratulations!

Archana said...

T - thanks - I had no idea!

SK - seriously! They all look sooooooooooo kutti in the first movie!

Ashwini - thank you, thank you :-D. I am flattered!

nourish-n-cherish said...

What a wonderful tribute to my favorite series of all time? I can totally understand the crying. Every time I read Harry going to the Forest to die, I cry!

She is truly a genius!

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I was so surprised to see the tiny characters, Harry, Herm, Ron and all, how much they have grown!!!!!!

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Archana said...

Saumya - I know, the power of good writing!

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