I’m geeked, primed, totally ready to be sucked into the vortex of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2. I’ve re-read the last half of book seven, watched Deathly Hallows Part 1 and made arrangements to go with friends to see the movie this evening. My ticket is bought.

I started this journey when I read the first Harry Potter book in January 2000 and then re-read it for my intro to Children’s Lit class I took in the fall of 2004. Books two and three are hardcover editions printed and bound where I worked at the time of their 36th and 27th printings respectively. Book four is a softcover edition I bought at Meijers.  Book five is another hardcover edition I received on June 6, 2003 printed and bound by Edwards Brothers in Ann Arbor. I’m not sure where I book six, but book seven is by far the most impressive. I stood in line, (queue) at Blackwell’s bookshop in Oxford, England with six other fellow students and bought it at midnight Saturday July 21, 2007. I was in Oxford taking my last class towards my master’s degree in Children’s Literature. It was thrilling to see people of all ages sitting on the curd outside the store with their noses in the book reading intently. Several of our group finished the book during our ten day stay. I waited until I got home to read it.

Oxford, England 2007

So here I am writing about going to the last movie on the second day of its release. Will it disappoint me? Will it surprise me? Or will it just fulfill my expectations and end this eleven year journey?

“Protego! Stupeyf! Protego totalum . . .Expelliarmus!” and all the other spells that will be whispered, yelled, and shouted this evening.

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