Life

Seeing everyone sad about the end has made me think about how much of an effect Harry Potter has had on my life. It definitely encouraged my love of books and probably was the first story I really felt like I wanted to read more of. I remember standing at midnight waiting for the books to be released then going home and reading non-stop into the early hours of the morning to finish the book. Crying at the tragedy and laughing at, what always seemed to be, Ron's stupidity. And then the books that had followed me through my childhood, growing with me, discovering relationships and sadness as I found them in my life, they ended. Excitement became sadness as I read the last few pages and the end of Harry's childhood.

And now I am ending my childhood, making my own decisions and fighting my own battles, the films that so fantastically illustrated my imagination are ending. An era that has made me the person I am has come to a close and however unsure I am of what the future holds I know that I'm not a child anymore. I know that I am older, hopefully wiser and a much better person now than I have been. But that still doesn't stop the fear of change. 5 years with the same people who know me for who I am, have seen me up and very, very far down. They understand that I don't mean what I say and that I love them all despite my sarcasm.

Although my childhood and Harry's childhood have ended, the conclusion does give us a chance to remember the tears, hugs, laughter and discovery that growing up has brought us. It also helps me to realise the most fun I have had over the last 16 years has not been the drinking or staying out late misbehaving but the afternoons in the sun messing around with friends and the late evening conversations. If I could give myself one piece of advice with the aid of a time turner it would be this: Don't take yourself too seriously, you can't solve every problem.