I'm suffering. HP has been a part of my life for 10+ years. It took up half of my childhood/teens. Honestly, I don't think there will be anything that comes close to replacing the magic and beauty of it all, but there are so many good books out there to read still! As for the movies, my "movies seen at the theater" average is going to dip significantly now. HP was pretty much all I ever saw, with a few exceptions.
But the best thing about the time we live in: we can relive it over and over again through books and DVDs. No, it won't have the same adrenaline rush or giddy feeling we all felt when the books/movies first came out. There will be no more midnight showings or book release parties. There will be no more dressing up (or maybe there will!). But we can still go back. That's what is going to "get me through it."
I remember being in 8th grade and my little sister telling me I HAVE TO READ Harry Potter. I told her it sounded stupid. One week, we had a Scholastic Book Fair (anyone remember those?) and they had the Sorcerer's Stone. I bought it on a whim. I started reading it and it literally took me about two weeks just to get through the first couple of chapters and I all but gave up. Then two of my friends told me it was awesome and I needed to give it another go. I did and I was hooked. I read the first four books in a week and a half. I had to borrow 2-4 from my sister's friend because neither of us had them. We were at Barnes and Noble bright and early on the mornings that 5-7 came out. I have them all and they are the treasures of my book collection.
I have so many fond memories from both the books and movies, but my favorite is probably when DH came out. My sister and I went to get it at midnight at Walmart. We (me, her, and said friend) were the only people dressed up. We waited in line for at least an hour, probably more. When we got home, my sis went to her room, me to mine, and we read. We read straight through the day. Then we went to visit my mother, who was living with my g'ma at the time. We slept on beds in the basement. We were sitting on separate beds, less than ten feet from each other, having a reading contest. She usually reads quicker than I do, but she did something (took a shower or did some homework?) that put her behind me a couple of pages. When I got to the scene were Bellatrix is basically torturing Hermione, I let out a huge gasp and she was all, "WHAT? WHAT?!?!" I kept reading and making odd gasps and noises through the torture and Dobby's death, with her only a page or two behind me. It was so much fun! I think she ended up beating me to the end, but not by any more than a few minutes.
I went to B&N today and was wondering around and saw they had a section up front for children's literature. The top three rows were filled with HP and the Sorcerer's Stone, complete with the little red Scholastic logo at the bottom. I picked one up and smiled. It's been ten years and I feel like it all came full circle in that moment.
Look what you made me do, OP! I can't express my feelings for my friends or family, but mention Harry Potter and I start waxing poetic!
ETA: I was looking around on the
HP Scholastic website, and they have a pronunciation guide. That would have been helpful back in the day.
There are three pronunciations (A, B, and C) for Voldemort. It made me giggle.
