A fan's goodbye to "The boy who lived" or Childhood's End.

DO NOT READ FURTHER BELOW IF U R NOT A HARRY POTTER FAN OR IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED THE FINAL MOVIE YET. I AM NOT TO BE BLAMED FOR SPOILING SOMEONE'S CINEMATIC EXPERIENCE.



                      THE NIGHT IS THE DARKEST JUST BEFORE THE DAWN

How to start the end of the journey that J K Rowling had set rolling inside a cafe almost 20 years earlier. That day a part of me was born but I was not to know of it until 2006. Yes, that's when a friend of me introduced me to the world of Harry Potter. I was amazed as my soul slowly united with that of Harry and his friends as Rowling opened before us the Chamber of Secrets. Plenty of people think its just a children's book series. It is, but it is more than that. It contains values, shows strength of character, finding inner strength in the darkest hour, power of friendship and love. But then only a true Potter-head would understand.

Okay, forgive me for being too nostalgic and let's delve into the issue at hand. The ultimate Potter movie. I have never put much thoughts about the Harry Potter movies. They deviated hugely from the books and broke my heart often. But that didn't prevent me from watching them again and again. I bought the ticket for every new release with utmost expectation that my faith would be vindicated somewhat. Finally I am left with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Deux. "It all ends 7.15" the poster says - an ominous reminder of the end.

After I read huge amount of online material by heart and know which scenes would be there and which characters will steal the scene I was prepared for my final rendezvous.

I thought 130 minutes was not enough to cover the exhaustive material properly. I am happy to be proven wrong. 130 minutes was perfect. Though they could have developed some parts of the story by adding an extra 8-10 minutes but more to that later.

Now if you thought Part 1 was dark and brooding Part 2 won't give you much time to think. Those familiar with the canon knows clock is ticking and Harry must find out the remaining Horcruxes before he faces his nemesis,the most dangerous dark wizard, Lord Voldemort.

Now the my feelings about a few scenes.

1. Students walk in a line as dementors hover over Hogwarts. Snape the new headmaster looks on through the coffin-like glass window. - Sets the tone for the movie as we know what has happened to our beloved Hogwarts.

2. Hermione as Bellatrix - the trio enter Gringotts in search of a possible Horcrux. Helena Bonham Carter perfectly captures the essence of nervous Hermione. (Good Morning!! :P)

3. Escape from the vault on the Albino dragon. The CGI dragon is beautifully done and must be one of the best scenes of the movie.

4. Harry knows Voldemort is angry. He knows his secret is known.He knows Harry is destroying his horcruxes one by one. Here we see the vulnerable side of Voldemort. He is more menacing. I wish this scene was a bit longer.

5. Aberforth Dumbledore- the brother of Albus with whose help the trio enter hogwarts castle. I wished more of Dumbledore's back story was uncovered at this point and his search for the Deathly Hallows with Grindelwald would be touched upon. But cinematic time was running out it seems.

6. Mcgonagall sends an army of Stone Knights to protect Hogwarts- amazing really. (" I have always wanted to do this!") And we always wanted to see this, Professor.

7. Voldemort's voice hissing  - "You have 1 hour to hand over Potter" as a little girl screams. A portentous warning of the events about to unfold.

8. Mcgonagall, Flitwick, Slughorn and Molly Weasly set out protective charms which form a dome over the castle. The scene is beautifully done so is the background score. We know Hogwarts will fight back with all its might against Voldemort's army. The tone of the battle is set.

9. Harry goes to seek the whereabouts of the diadem of Ravenclaw from the grey lady. Nicely done again.

10. Room of Requirement : Harry finds  Diadem, Fiendfyre starts, escape on broomsticks. But the finishing touch is moment where Harry returns to save Draco. Oh almost forgot the Cornish Pixies. Delightful. :)

11.Battle starts with all its mayhem. Giants vs Stone Knights. Death Eaters vs Professors and Order Members.We see familiar faces come back to fight. Even the spiders join in. Many of the shining spires and noble Gothic arches of the great castle are reduced to ruins and ashes, providing an apocalyptic battle-space. We  briefly  see Fred, Remus and Tonks' dead body, a scene that reminds us the sacrifices they made.

12. Snape's Memory- In his dying moments, Harry manages to collect his memory. Probably the most important part of the movie. May be because it contains such a pivotal truth about Harry's mission. But more importantly because it finally does justice to Snape. Snape fans can rest assured all the important lines from the books are here with some new additions.

And I loved the additions specially when a kid Severus makes leaves fly towards lily to comfort her. Harry learns where Snape's true allegiance lies and also the ultimate secret Dumbledore hid from him. But deserved to be much longer. But then again, by the same logic whole movie increases almost 10% in length.

"Don't say you have grown to care for the boy?"

Snape casts his patronus which is the silver doe Harry saw in Part 1.

"After all these years, Severus?" "Always" - Beautiful. I could re-watch this sequence for eternity.I was literally crying throughout it.

13. Harry in the forest. The snitch opens to reveal the resurrection stone. Harry's Parents appear along with Sirius and Remus to comfort him in his last moments. "Does it hurt?" "Easier than falling asleep". Touching!

14. Harry surrenders. Harry ends up in limbo- Well I won't say the scene is bad but a tad underwhelming. A few more explanations was necessary from the man with the white beard. But seems director was too busy to catch the train.

15. "Harry Potter is dead" - A deadly silence entombs what remains of Hogwarts castle as Voldemort gleefully declares victory. Ralph Fiennes was at his sinister best here.

16. Neville's heroic speech. A brief pause before the final battle.

17. Final battle between Harry and Voldemort. Truly EPIC, a bit different from the book but loved it. Specially the part on the astronomy tower.
  

             

18. Molly Weasley's moment: "Not my daughter, you bitch! " - A brief duel with the venomous Bellatrix before Petrificus Totalus and Reducto (yes no Avada Kedavra). A satisfied smile of a job well done.

19. Ron and Hermione fails to kill the snake and the unlikely hero Neville cuts off the head of Nagini as Harry continues to battle Voldemort. I wished Voldemort put Body-bind curse on Neville just as in the book and he got the Gryffindor's Sword right at that time not earlier. It seems movie-makes gave him the sword to carry around, sleep with it for a while and then wake up and do what he is supposed to do. Then again quite expected if you follow the films and how they destroyed the books.

20. Voldemort's end. Yates - like. That's all I could say. Will disappoint many fans of the book.

21.Epilogue - We see the trio and Draco as they send off their kids to Hogwarts. Ron and Draco looks funny. Chocolate Frog leaps up to the window as Albus Severus Potter begins his Hogwarts journey. Will this magical world of Hogwarts return with him as protagonist? Only Time Will Tell.

Now the major disappointments:

1. The legend of the Deathly Hallows. Never fully stressed how Harry became the true owner of the deathly hallows and thus the master of death. Hence he had the choice to return from limbo. This point was not stressed enough.

2. Dumbledore's quest for the Hallows and his back story was not dealt with properly. Why he tried that ring that caused the curse was never explained. "I am an old fool Harry" . Probably director thought these scenes would confuse the movie-goers about the character of Dumbledore who is taken to be saintly and worldly-wise. But we Potter-fanboys missed it like hell. :(

3. A few lines from the book was cut here and there. But during dialogue delivery importance of some of the lines was lost , specially for the students.

4. The end was too corny with no sense of its significance. Battle-scenes were supposed to be longer and more elaborate. No jubilation after the end. Harry just snaps the elder wand in two and that's it. Then again, quite expected from the combo of Yates and Kloves. I didn't get my hopes high unnecessarily. 

Well that's it! The movie is okay but do not expect it to be Return of the king (How I wish Peter Jackson directed this series 3:).

But it brings us to the conclusion we will have nothing to look forward to.

Wrong.

Harry Potter will live inside all of us. In our hour of greatest need may we find hope and power to stand and fight back even if the odds are immense.

You can always read the books. They are much better and more elaborate. (Half-Blood Prince was a book they murdered shamelessly and I have never quite forgiven them for that.)

Thank you JKR for changing our lives.

Thanks to my friends and fellow Potterphiles with whom I had numerous heated debates and discussions, especially Gairik Dutta, who introduced me to this beautiful world.

Maybe this is a tribute to my never-ending obsession with Harry Potter but those who felt passionate about anything in their lives  will know about this feeling. A lump comes up in throat when you say goodbye to your favorite hero be in real life or magical.

But once the snitch is caught the game is over. Mischief Managed!