Finite Incantatum

And just like that, it's over.

I actually just woke up 45 minutes ago after taking a 3 hour nap upon returning home from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. Over a decade of dedication and study. Now what am I supposed to do? What new adventure must I immerse myself in? For now...

YOU GOT IT: SPOILER ALERT!  IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FINAL FILM YET (WHAT KIND OF FAN ARE YOU) YOU MAY WANT TO WAIT ON READING THIS.

I am so glad they decided to chop up the last film in order to really cover this epic finale. The first time I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 I felt exhausted mostly because they covered 500 pages in one film. That would be like squeezing books one and two into a single film. It wasn't until the second and subsequent times was I really able to relax and take in the whole movie. I am quite happy with the result of Part 1. As mentioned in earlier posts, they never really built Dobby like they should have so his death was a hard blow only because I remembered how I felt when it happened in the novel. All his devotion to Harry outweighed his fear regarding returning to Malfoy Manor to rescue Potter and the others. It is more a slap in the face that Dobby had to die for it (at least that's how I felt). Everything else really fell into place and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE how they told the story of the "Three Brothers" in Part 1. It is only because they were making two movies from one book were they able to do this I'm sure.

So this morning at 10:00 A.M. I took my seat in anticipation of the final piece in the Harry Potter puzzle. I don't think in 2001 I really acknowledged that this would all come to an end some day. I definitely did not realize how involved I would be with all the characters. Yes, I cried A LOT during this film and even threw my hands up and cheered multiple times. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 did it's best to give me the final installment I so anxiously awaited. The only real rub I had was Harry breaking the Elder Wand in two (which does NOT happen in the book). Now, I would have been fine if they had him do this after he repaired his original wand like he is supposed to, but they didn't. That irks me because the act of repairing his own wand and reburying the Elder Wand with Dumbledore (which IS what happens in the book) shows how mature and humble he is acting in not accepting the Elder Wand as his own therefore avoiding any temptation of greed/power. However, I can live with that since it is the only real problem I had.

Everything else went well. They didn't cover Dumbledore's life and family secrets or his relationship with Grindenwald, but really it was an okay subplot to avoid. They did keep the scene at King's Cross, and the major points were covered. They sort of blew over the death of Fred which I'm okay with because that particular scene in the novel D-E-V-A-S-T-A-T-E-D me! (Percy redeems himself a mere second before his brother is killed! WTH? Percy should have died because no one likes him anyway!) My heart broke mostly for George who would never have his twin with him again. As sad as I was about Tonks and Lupin, I think they handled that well (except for the random comment Lupin makes about his son when Harry uses the Resurrection Stone-since they didn't build that subplot up properly it was a weird comment to make in the film).

I think I cried the hardest at Snape's incredibly violent death and then his crying (like with his tears) out his memories to Harry. Honestly, I always routed for Snape even when it seemed like he had done his worst by killing Dumbledore. I was so relieved when I read the seventh book to discover that my faith in Snape was rewarded. In the novel his memories are sad in that he causes Lily to cut off their friendship after calling her a Mudblood (it would be like Ron calling Hermione one) to look tough while being bullied by James and Sirius. In the film they made it seem like their first year in Hogwarts Lily just seemed to take a shine to James over Snape. I'm okay with it but would have like to see them all as teens since that's when Snape's heart is broken for the first time. Yet, I LOVE how they show Snape discovering Lily's body after Voldemort murders her. I was a sobbing mess!

Finally, the epilogue was perfect! Now I am an adamant believer that Rowling NEVER needs to write about any of this ever again. She did a lovely job of tying up everything and showing how life goes on in her epilogue. I don't need to know what Harry's children do at Hogwarts. I don't need to see what happens directly after the fall of Lord Voldemort (The Harry Potter Lexicon is a wonderful site if anyone wants to know what happened post Voldemort). I am quite content where she's left us. My sister had commented that she wished they had put wizard pictures of the Harry/Ginny and Ron/Hermione weddings and their lives on the sides of the credits. That would have been cool, but really I'm happy. I did register at Pottermore where it looks like Rowling will be posting all her notes and back stories, etc. but that doesn't mean I want her to actually publish this stuff. I fear that if she does, she'll "jump the shark" and the original seven stories will lose their magic (no pun intended).

So good-bye for now Harry Potter at least until my super-duper mega Blu-Ray boxed set of all the films is available:). (Damn it. I'm choking up again just typing this!)