Well, it's here. The last book came out four years ago this month. The last half of the last movie comes out tonight. I have been trying really really hard not to reread the seventh book during my recovery. A movie will never live up to a book because it's impossible to capture the detail of a 700 page book in a two-hour movie (or even two two-hour movies, as the case may be). I am inevitably disappointed. So I make it a point not to see a movie adaptation unless I am a bit fuzzy on the details of the story. Then, and only then, I can be entertained.

I have seen the majority of the movies on opening night. I missed the first because I had not yet fallen into Harry's world. I was attending school at the University of Wisconsin at LaCrosse at the time, and I remember seeing the books in the on-campus bookstore. I thought they were only meant for children, and I remember being surprised that they were in a college bookstore. Then, prof. Poulton, my French Phonetics professor, giddily told us one Monday that the movie captured the essence of the story (and she acted like everyone there should know the story…oops). I accepted that if professors read the books and they were available in the university bookstore, then maybe they weren't just kid stuff.

I still didn't pick up the books until I was living with someone who had the set, but I was caught up by the time the second movie came out.

Harry's world blew me away. I was impressed by the completeness of the setting, the history, the lore, the prejudices, and the clear delineation of good versus evil. Moreover, the very adult themes wrapped within allegory were intriguing. The first four books were published when I began, and the wait for the fifth, sixth, and seventh books was excruciating. I wanted to know what happened to these characters so badly because they seemed real to me.

I did not pre-purchase tickets to the show tomorrow as I usually do. I wasn't sure if I would be able to sit through the movie much less the long line waiting to get into the theater for an opening day show of HP caliber. This week, I was bummed out because I thought I probably could make it through the waiting part, and I could definitely sit through the movie, but the tickets to the show I wanted were sold out.

Meanwhile, my husband, who isn't necessarily a Potter fan (but tolerates him well), heard an interesting snippet on the radio. In short, I am actually going to see the movie tonight—in less than three hours! I've never been to a pre-release showing, and I am ecstatic! I'm off to take a pain pill, and get ready to take some mental photographs due to camera complications (story for a later post). I will not be in costume as Nick had hoped, but maybe I'll see a few interesting attempts!