IT ALL ENDS.

I've been equally excited for and dreading July for one reason - Harry Potter. Ever since I saw the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 on its premiere night I've had the sad realization that the end of my childhood has really come, and this time I wouldn't be able to shake it away any more. I've been in my job for more than four years, yes. Some of my friends are already married, some already have babies, yes. The old crushes I've had when I was a teenager failed to elicit the same giddy feeling I've had before, yes. I am twenty-freaking-five years old, yes. All these and more, yet nothing, nothing drives the truth that I am no longer a child closer to home than the fact that next year and the coming years after that, there'll be no more new Harry Potter books and/ or movies to look forward to.

I won't be able to watch the premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 here in Manila because my friend Dewi who "supplies" my premiere night tickets will spend this week - her birthday week - touring Asia. It's a well-deserved vacation for her, so have a safe trip and take lots of photos, girl! As for me, I got myself this:

Ticket to the July 14, 2011 10:30AM screening at the SM North EDSA - IMAX theater

I booked tickets the moment SM Cinema posted the movie schedules. I even panicked a bit because the site kept on crashing on me that I called them up and the lady suggested I just reserve tickets over the phone because the servers cannot accommodate the number of people logging in, wanting to book. After about thirty minutes of listening to a busy tone and redialing, I finally got in! Reserved my tickets without any other hitches, then picked them up last Monday.

Anyway, being a true Potter geek that I am, let me share with you this ultra-awesome book I got last April. I have been looking for it all over so when I finally saw it from a bookstore's window, I SQUEALED and RAN to the bookstore, completely forgetting and leaving my friends behind XD

Harry Potter Film Wizardry

You all know how I love collecting books and DVDs, and I LOVE books that tell how movies are made, so Harry Potter Film Wizardry is a total score! Not only does it feature behind-the-scenes commentaries by the producers, directors, art people, actors and other people behind the Harry Potter movies, it also contains copies of props from the movies! At P1,799, it is one of the most expensive books I've ever bought. The price is totally worth it though, and let me show you why. I wanted to take a photo of each page but that would take me forever, besides I'm sure the publishers would want you to get your own copy ;p Here are some choice pages:

Table of Contents

Conceptualizing how Hogwarts will look like

The "evolution" of Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter

My favorite - Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley. I love both the character and the actor!
WEASLEY IS MY KINGGG!

Wizarding coins: galleon, sickle and knut

Emma Watson as Hermione Granger

The making of The Burrow

Facts about the faculty

The Black family tree tapestry

Matthew Lewis as Neville Longbottom VS Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange

Fleur Delacour's wedding dress is soooo beautiful ♥

Now would you look at these:

The Hogwarts letter addressed to Harry

Borgin and Burkes catalogue

Oooh... Libatius Borage's Advanced Potion Making!

Quidditch World Cup: Ireland VS Bulgaria programme

Invite to the Yule Ball ♥

Blech! Dolores Umbridge and copies of Proclamations she enforced

Weasley's Wizard Wheezes catalogue

Ministry of Magic Identity Card
Works kinda like a passport, to identify yourself as a witch or wizard when the Ministry was hunting Muggleborns down

And my favorite: Marauder's Map!!!

The book also contains a two-page preview of HP7 part 2.

If I have any qualms about the book it's just that they should have waited until the final movie is shown before they release it so that it will really be complete. All in all though, I really love that its chockful of photos, trivia, and little extras. Reading the complexities of making the HP films made me feel  like I was there  beside David Heyman, Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuaron, Mike Newell, and David Yates, watching the action unfold. It just made the film a lot more magical to me ♥

I held my breath the entire time I saw the trailer for the first time, so now I am afraid I will get a heart attack when I watch the real thing. I'm sure it will be a really emotional experience for all of us who will be at the movie theater that day. The Harry Potter books aren't just books for us, they are places of wonder and awe, of magic, and of love and friendship. Yes, we are sad Harry Potter has come to its end, but we are very thankful  to JK Rowling for promising that Hogwarts will always be there to welcome us home. I will cry like a baby on the many times I will watch it (yes, I have made it a personal mission to watch it as many times as I can), but I won't care. Only a true Harry Potter fan will understand.

1,090,739 words, 3,363 pages, 199 chapters, 17 hours and 14 minutes, 8 movies, 7 books, 1 story.
Thank you Harry Potter, for such a magical childhood. ♥

EDIT: MY FRIEND DEWI ASKED HER OFFICEMATE TO GIVE ME A TICKET! I WILL BE AT THE PREMIERE NIGHT TOMORROW!!! I AM SO HAPPY!