Age of Enchantment: the End of Harry Potter

As Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 swept the big screens on Friday, we learned once again that good triumphs over evil. When John Williams’ familiar soundtrack hailed the end credits, the film’s audience witnessed the conclusion of an era. If the final film leaves fans at all disappointed, it is because there was so much to live up to. 

“He'll be famous - a legend - I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in future - there will be books written about Harry - every child in our world will know his name!" (Professor McGonagall, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone) 

Harry hit U.S. bookstores in 1998

Shortly after the wild-haired little boy entered bookstores in 1997, he became a household name and went on to title one of the biggest franchises in entertainment history. There is no argument that author J.K. Rowling created an international phenomenon. The past thirteen years are being called the Era of Harry Potter. What does this mean then, for those who lived through the Potter Age? If I might borrow a phrase, it was the best of times and it was the worst of times. 

It was an age of enchantment. Rowling’s universe is not a wholly separate world like Middle-earth or Narnia. Instead, wizards, witches, goblins, house elves, and hippogriffs live undercover in secret pockets of the modern world. Protective spells cloak anything that might startle Muggles (those who lack magical abilities). Even with our ordinary world as the backdrop in the stories, Rowling creates an atmosphere of wonder that beckons readers into flickering candlelit halls and strange forests.  The school bullies and the drabness of homework are equally vivid. By marrying the everyday with the magical,  Rowling seems to admonish that real adventures happen outside the imagination, and real beauty and real danger are everywhere around us. 

Rowling’s creativity and literary prowess are enough to charm her readers. But while sales in round-rimmed glasses may be booming, but there are deeper truths under the wizard garb of Potter fandom. More important than their lessons in Herbology and Defense Against the Dark Arts are the lessons Harry and friends learn about friendship, sacrificial love, and virtue. These lessons are put to the test as the protagonists choose to defend what is good, even to the point of death. As the plot thickens and more complex themes unfold, characters and readers alike realize what it is they’re holding on to. 

2010 Quiddich World Cup in NYC

Further proving that the Boy Wizard’s influence can’t be contained on the printed page, the International Quidditch Association was established in 2007. The Rowling-created sport involving broomsticks and the ever-cunning gold Snitch has been adapted for Muggle athletes and can be played on college campuses across the globe. The fifth Quidditch World Cup is scheduled for November 12-13 in New York City. 

With a little magic,
Radcliffe is now the 5th
richest person under 30

The Harry Era was also an age of rising to fortune. As orphaned, mistreated Harry became the most famous and most hunted wizard in the magical world, J.K. Rowling ditched her welfare status for a net worth of $1 billion. Likewise, Daniel Radcliffe is now richer than Prince William due to his successful onscreen portrayal of the Boy Who Lived.  DH Part 2 boasted the highest-grossing opening day in box office lore, bringing in $92.1 million on July 15. The Gringotts Goblins would be proud. 

The success of the franchise has also cast an age of contention. Christians especially are wary of Harry and his fellow students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Fear rose that the books promoted the use of sorcery. Christian leaders and parents continue to debate whether it is safe for kids to go around shouting “Expecto Patronum,” but that’s another saga. 

For those fans who literally grew up with Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Draco Malfoy, and Harry Potter,  Deathly Hallows Part 2 marks the end of childhood. Gone is the age of camping out in bookstores draped in Gryffindor scarves. There will be no more predicting of future plots or anticipating midnight showings with wands at the ready. It is the end of a journey, but the best parts can still be enjoyed for generations.