Prologue:

A couple days ago, I saw the the trailer for the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two movie. Then I saw it again. And again. And again.

I wanted to cry, laugh, scream, throw a tantrum. And so, to vent my feelings, I wrote this.

Part One: The Beginning

I am not part of the Harry Potter generation, nor am I proud of this fact. In fact, The Sorcerer's Stone was published a year before I was born.

But when I was nine, I picked up The Philosopher's Stone and started reading it. My life was never the same again.

The Harry Potter books were unlike any other books I had read before. The characters don't step off the pages, they leap off, twirling and dancing.

I screamed at the Dursleys when they punished Harry. I laughed when Dudley grew a pig's tail. I could hardly contain my excitement when Harry discovered he was a wizard.

And then it was off to Hogwarts, where I marveled at the lessons, sympathized with Hermione, and hated Snape.

And over time, Harry became part of me.

I flinched when the basilisk almost killed him.

I worried for him when Sirius Black escaped Azkaban.

I smiled when he won the Triwizard Cup.

I loathed Umbridge and her Educational Decrees.

I cried with him when Dumbledore died.

And when at long last, he defeated Lord Voldemort, I celebrated with all my heart.

All too soon, I finished the series. My only comfort was that the last few movies were still in production.

That comfort didn't last very long.

Part Two: The End

When the movie is over, my last piece of Harry will be torn away.

Deep inside my heart, it will leave a scar. A scar that, like Harry's, will remain etched in me for the rest of my life.

People may go on with their lives like before, but I won't.

Maybe one day, like Harry, the pain of my scar will fade away.

But even when the pain is gone, the scar will always be there.

Epilogue:

J.K. Rowling, if you're reading this, I want you to know that you can't even begin to imagine how many lives you have touched, including mine.

It's been a few years since I first met Harry, wrapped in a blanket and being carried by Hagrid, but every morning, I wake up and still hope that maybe today, my Hogwarts letter will arrive.

I'm sure I'll continue doing so until the day I die.

In the end, I'm reminded of the quote I saw on a T-Shirt once. It read, "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."

Let's all raise our wands in tribute of the finest masterpiece in modern literature, and smile because it happened.