MANILA, Philippines - The release of the latest Harry Potter movie has repeatedly been touted as the end of everyone’s childhood. As J.K. Rowling’s beloved series comes to a close with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II, many fans have been in mourning. The Internet has launched into choruses of “I’m not ready” and “I can’t believe that this is the end.” My Tumblr dashboard has been teeming with graphics and in-depth character analyses, has been filled with posts by people feeding their nostalgia, in preparation for the day most have been waiting for all their lives.
Sometimes I forget that it has been over 10 years since I first picked up The Sorcerer’s Stone. I had been about eleven years old, too, when I met Harry James Potter for the first time. Many of the younger fans didn’t quite grow up with Harry the way that my generation did. They never had to wait in quiet (sometimes rabid) anticipation of the next book or had to count down the days until the next one gets released. They never knew what it was like, reading the next volume of the young wizard’s life with unparalleled relish.
Many may wonder what was it like to grow up with The Boy Who Lived, but it’s hard to explain the attachment I have to the series. Most people won’t understand how a series of children’s books can mean so much to so many people.
While people have always associated the series with me, I’d like to think that it’s more than just an obsession. It was someone on LiveJournal who put best how the world sees the Harry Potter fandom: “(It) is the reason 10 million virgins know the mechanics of obscure sexual positions and fetishes and not know how to factor polynomials, Joss Whedon strike me down if I lie.”
The Harry Potter fandom is, at its worst, a congregation of strange people who spend hours reading into its mythos, pairing up the most obscure characters (e.g. concerning Beetle!Rita), and creating conspiracy theories. At best, though, it is a wonderful community made up of people that grew up and changed together. Harry Potter is a part of me. I used to tell people that I couldn’t be with someone who didn’t love the series as much as I did. Often, they’d think I was joking.
In the years that I had been part of this amazing thing, I have come to know so many people all over the world that have come to be a part of my weird, extended family. I still keep in touch with people I’ve met through LiveJournal communities. It may seem like a strange relationship, but I love every bit of it.
Aside from this, Harry Potter has made me truly believe in the ability of words to change the world. Evanna Lynch is the actress who plays Luna Lovegood, the odd Ravenclaw nobody could quite get. At the time of Luna’s introduction, Lynch was recovering from anorexia and found in her a kindred spirit. Lynch considered the letters exchanged between her and Rowling to be what ultimately made her want to get better.
I’d also like to believe that, despite the bad rap it has gotten from various groups — from the burning and the banning to the outright rejection — Harry Potter has ultimately affected the world in a truly positive way. The Harry Potter Alliance, a nonprofit group inspired by Dumbledore’s Army, partnered with NGOs and other groups to work towards “human rights, equality, and a better world just as Harry and his friends did throughout the books.” To date, they have raised funds and awareness for causes such as literacy, equality and the restoration of Haiti.
It’s stories like these that make me proud to have been a part of this crazy thing. Obsessing over the stories is fun, but nothing beats seeing how goodness and bravery can seep into the world from a group of people united by an 11-year-old wizard. You can’t help but feel that you were somehow part of something special.
In some ways, the last film’s tagline, “It all ends,” rings true. But I, for one, believe that something this magical can never truly end. At the London premiere of the film, J.K. Rowling uttered these magic words: “Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home.” For everyone who has ever felt a little bit like the boy who lived in a cupboard under the stairs. For those who want to entrust the same kind of faith in the goodness of the world as they placed their faith in Harry, and for those who stuck with him until the very end. For people like me and for people like you.