By Lyndsey Gilpin
Blimey, it’s been a long journey.
A simple story that started out with a boy in a broom cupboard has transformed into a twelve-year, billion dollar, epic franchise that will soon come to a close, leaving fans across the world feeling bittersweet.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part One premiered in theaters at midnight on Nov. 19. It was a moment that fans have dreamt of since author J. K. Rowling announced there would be seven installments of the series. It was the event that marked the beginning of the end.
Deathly Hallows, Part One begins the story of Harry Potter’s (Daniel Radcliffe) journey with his schoolmates, Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint), to track down and defeat the evil Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) from taking over the wizarding world as well as the Muggle world.
Many college-aged students know Harry’s story by heart. Some know it word for word. They first cracked open the Sorcerer’s Stone around the age of eight. Today, their novels are falling apart at the spine from repeated reading and have crumpled corners from dog-earing pages throughout the years. And now, the story is ending as they step over the threshold of childhood into adulthood.
“I first read Harry Potter in the sixth grade,” said Mark Anderson, junior bioengineering major. “I picked up my friend’s copy of The Goblet of Fire and saw the name ‘Voldemort.’ I asked him, ‘Who’s this guy?’ He told me that I needed to read the first three to understand.”
Anderson went home and discovered that his sister owned The Sorcerer’s Stone, so he began reading.
“After that, I was hooked,” said Anderson. Since then, he has read each book and waited for the midnight release of the last three at bookstore parties.
Morgan Forrester, a junior social work major, started reading the series in the fifth grade.
“It’s fun and educational,” said Forrester. “It not only has entertained me through the books and the wit of the characters on screen, but also with Harry, Ron, and Hermione facing so many adventures and challenges and overcoming them it teaches resiliency and perseverance.”
Friendship, said Forrester, is another important concept that Potter has taught her. “It teaches you to hope for the best and stick with your friends.” she said.
At 9 p.m. on Nov. 18, theaters across the city were already packed with fans, including Forrester and Anderson. Hogwarts robes dragged across the tiled floor. Wands waved through the cool theater air. Lightning bolt scars and wire-rimmed glasses marked the faces of dark-haired boys. Their excitement did not wane, not through the winding queues, the rush to secure the best seats, or the dimly lit wait once inside the theater.
Cheers erupted at the familiar sound of Potter’s theme song in the first moments of the film and even louder at moments of triumph and courage by the characters. The same enthusiasm held strong as viewers walked out of the theater, whispering about the difference in the novel and film and scenes they loved while some quietly wiped tears from their eyes.
Five hundred pages of a book translated into almost three hours on screen. Part One was finished. Whether they liked it or not, the fans had to accept that much.
“After I read the seventh book, I felt like, ‘Well, that part of my life is over,'” said Anderson. “But I had the movies to look forward to. This was pretty amazing. It was the best of the seven.”
It seemed that most students shared this sentiment, feeling that this film followed the book better than any of its predecessors. However, some felt that no matter how faithful the movie may be, it could never live up to the book.
“I can’t think of much they missed,” said Allie Porter, senior nursing major. “But I liked the book better. You form the scenes and characters in your own imagination and it’s hard for anyone else’s ideas to live up to that.”
As the imaginations of millions try to cope with the differences they see on screens, the inevitability of the final movie approaches. Rowling’s books left moviemakers the task of bringing niches and plot aspects from the entire series together for the culmination.
“My favorite aspect of the Deathly Hallows book was the way every important detail in the previous six became significant,” said Alvey. “Everything fit together perfectly to bring Harry Potter’s story to a close.”
No matter if their favorite details were included in Part One or if they will be included in the finale come July, fans still have those imaginations to bring the story to life for as long as they wish. If they doubt this ability, they may need to reread the words of Albus Dumbledore:
“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”
