To everyone, who had Harry, Ron, and Hermione on a first-name basis by the third grade…

To everyone whose 11th birthday had them crossing their fingers for that acceptance letter to Hogwarts…

To everyone who, like me, grew up alongside the Boy Who Lived…

This is for you.

The ones who understand everything Harry Potter made possible – a belief in magic, messenger owls, and an entire world we couldn’t even see, let alone be a part of (damn you, Statute of Secrecy).

And now, the franchise that created this world is over. For some, it a has quite literally been a fixture in life since our earliest memories of being able to even hold a book.

Which of course, as friends caught on, led to the inevitably endless discussions over best character, best book, best movie adaptation and arguments over every other even vaguely debatable aspects of the books. And that’s where the real magic that Harry Potter held shines through, in the memories that they helped create, in movie marathons and book release parties. In picking friends based on who had the newest “Harry Potter” book on their desk. (Or who had the biggest stack.)

 But even though there won’t be another book to tear through in record time or midnight premiere to scream at, Harry and company won’t ever disappear beneath the Invisibility Cloak of time.

They still, and always will, exist in the suspicion that the crazy neighborhood lady looks just too cat-like to not be an Animagus. They will exist in the knowledge that Honeyduke’s could trump any See’s Candy, and that Flourish and Blotts will beat out Barnes & Noble any day.

 And, of course, they will always exist in the books and films that fed our fanaticism for the last 14 years.