Allow Us to Explain

Of the many (many) fandoms that have cropped up over the past century, the Harry Potter fandom is one of the most impressive. "Pottermania" has been documented at some time or another by virtually every news stations in America, and I'm assuming Britain and many other western countries as well. J.K. Rowling inspires nothing if not a loyal following of people, but at some point things seem to have gotten a little out of her control. And though the series technically ended four years ago, even the most hardcore of book purists would be hard pressed to win an argument against the mark the movie franchise has had on helping to make the Harry Potter series even more lasting than it might have been otherwise. And for what could be considered the core of the fandom, those who largely stayed the same age as Harry & friends throughout the latter books, the movies may represent something slightly different. Like many of my friends, I was roughly Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint's age when they were cast in the films. I personally had discovered the books not long before that. I, along with the rest of the world, saw the Vanity Fair article featuring the very first images of little Danny as Harry in the cupboard under the stairs. A generation of kids not only watched these actors grow up in front of them on screen, but actually grew up with them. For these people this series has taken up literally half of their (and my) lifetime. It's not the end of an era because the series is "ending" (it will never end, not for us), it is the end of an era because for many of us it represents the closing of what has been one of the largest chapters of our lives. If there are no more midnight releases to dress up and congregate for, does that mean we now have to hand up our robes and enter adulthood ready to leave our fanhood days behind us? Is childhood over? (in some ways yes, in some ways hell no). Whether or not you agree with the evolution of Hermione's hair the re-assignment of Ron's lines, or the strange violent anger of Michael Gambon's Dumbledore (I vehemently disagree with at least two of those choices on the film makers' part), it's kind of hard to over estimate the power these films have had. With Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 being released later this week, effectively putting an end to the franchise itself (until the BBC miniseries in 2024, of course), we thought we'd take a look at the group of fans who prove that even when Warner Bros. have stopped making billions off of it, the Potter legacy will live on.