Remembering Harry Potter

As you may have noticed, I decided to devote the majority of the A&E section this week to Harry Potter. After all, he’s graced our presence for the last 13 years — blessing us with seven novels, courtesy of J.K. Rowling, and eight movies, the last of which flies into theaters today.

A lot of people may not realize it — especially if they never gave in to the hoo-ha of it all — but this whole Harry Potter journey is kind of a big deal. Think about it: What other series of films can you name that have spanned 10 years and kept the entire cast, aside from the use of four different directors, through each and every film? All while managing to hold on to an adoring fan base and gross $2 billion and counting at the box office? There is nothing like it — just as Harry Potter is The Boy Who Lived, this is The Series That Lived. And unfortunately for us, the time has come for Harry Potter’s journey to come to an end — one that I’m sure we’ll never forget. Just as I have never forgotten — as I’m sure many of you, as well — the first time I was introduced to the magical world of Harry Potter.

I was probably 12 or 13-years-old when I first discovered the boy wizard. I managed to get a hold of the first novel, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” before the entire world caught on. It was 1999, and it started when my mother took my best friend and me to our middle school book fair. A bookworm at heart, I relished in the many choices of books I could get my hands on. While I could never make up my mind when it came to choosing one novel over another, my friend was the opposite. She saw the colorful cover with a boy on a broomstick at the center of it all, and there was no turning back. And although you should never judge a book by its cover, as we all know, when it came to the cover of Harry Potter, there was no doubt that it would be a spectacular novel — it just looked like a fun story — and her inkling was spot on.

A few days later she had finished the book and moved on to the newly-released sequel, “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.” While we were waiting to go to the beach one day, she was so absorbed in her sequel I decided to take along the debut and quickly found out what was so special about Harry Potter and his friends.

From there, the anticipation for the next novel year after year was like waiting for Christmas morning, and the page count kept growing and growing. The initial book spanned 309 pages, while the last installment marked an epic 759 pages.

I can’t say I’ve read any of the novels in a day, or maybe even a week, and I can’t say I know every-which detail of every book — but I’m a fan. The novels are wonderful, easy to read and full of vibrant descriptions that make your imagination run wild. Rowling managed to create a world that every kid wanted to be a part of. And when the last novel, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” was published nearly four years to this day on July 21, 2007, it was a sorrowful and wonderful day all in the same. But it wasn’t the complete end. We still had the movies.

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On Nov. 16, 2001, Harry Potter graced the big screen. It was a task Director Chris Columbus (“Home Alone,” “Mrs. Doubtfire”) knew had to be perfect, as the passionate fans of Harry Potter would expect nothing less.

The adaptation of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” sticks out in my mind quite a bit. Simply for the fact that it was the first year my family and I decided to have Thanksgiving at home, just the four of us (my parents and my older brother). And while we let the turkey cook away in the oven, we decided to fill the time by enjoying a movie on a day where the theater wouldn’t be bustling with people. And so we did. By the time we got back, our food was nearly done, and we managed to have a yummy feast just as the students of Hogwarts did in the film. It was delightful — so much so that we repeated the same fare the next year when “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” was released around the same time.

The majority of the next six films were then released in the summer months — an easier way to rake in the big bucks, I presume — so my family and I retired that tradition sooner rather than later.

But it was a time I remember fondly, just as I’m sure actors Daniel Radcliff (Harry), Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) and Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) will remember their time making the films, as they were a mere 9 or 10-years-old when the initial filming took place, and they’re are now in their early 20s. They’ve spent more time encompassing their characters than they have being their Muggle selves. And we thank them for that. Because without them — and Quidditch and Horcruxes and Whomping Willows and Polyjuice Potion — our imaginations might have been as lonely as Moaning Myrtle.