Carrie (王佳薇)

Ten years after the first “Harry Potter” movie, J.K. Rowling no longer has to write in a small coffee shop; Emma Watson is one of Britain’s biggest movie stars; Daniel Radcliffe is holding his own on Broadway. Rupert Grint, Robert Pattinson, Alan Rickman and director David Yetes have all had their lives transformed.

And of course, us, the Potter fans. Only you can know what changes “Harry Potter” has brought to your life. As for me, I say long live Queen Rowling.

The last “Harry Potter” movie is the symbolic end of my childhood. The sombre, deeply satisfying final ending moved many people, including me, to tears. Many of us have grown up with these characters and actors. Therefore, watching Snape die was doubly sad. And even more symbolically, the death of Voldemort means the end of the story.

“Harry Potter” has been around for most of my childhood. Once I fantasized about being at King’s cross railway station tiring myself out by bumping into a wall trying to pass through; I still remember straining to see an owl flying across the sky and looking for elves in a dirty passage; and once I genuinely believed I could enter Hogwarts.

I couldn’t imagine my childhood without “Harry Potter.” In middle school, one starts to realize how complex and cruel the real world is, and one struggles to decide which kind of adult one would like to be.

“Harry Potter” provided a lot of lessons. It helped us learn about friendship, fortitude, bravery, honesty and love. It offered us another perspective on why we should accept the finitude of life and the inevitability of death, at a time when most pop culture is so vapid.

I am deeply sad. But maybe I shouldn’t be. It is time to say goodbye and become an adult.