Who is excited about the final Harry Potter movie?

I am! My friends and I are going to the midnight premiere tonight. I'm super excited-I’ve been a huge harry potter fan ever since I was little.

(A blurry pic of me with a copy of Harry Potter back before the first movie came out)

I actually first heard about Harry Potter in school, and I didn't like the cover, so I refused to read it. Then I got a copy of it for christmas. And another copy. And another. After we had six copies in the house, my dad took one and started reading it to my sister. I overheard him, and was captivated enough that when he stopped for the night, I grabbed another copy and read the whole thing in a day or two. 

We went to visit my aunt the next day, and I couldn't stop talking about it. She said she had to buy me the next two books just to get me to be quiet long enough she could say a word to my sister. What can I say- I was spellbound.

So now I'm wondering- what did make Harry Potter so popular? Other than the fact that it’s awesome, it has everything a good adventure story needs- lovable characters, a well thought out plot, an enchanting setting, mystery, suspense, a touch of romance (in the later books at least), and the right amount of humor.

But there are also a lot of books that have all those things and aren’t anywhere near as popular as Harry Potter. Some people might toss this up to luck, or say it was great marketing. That may be, but part of the reason I think the books were received so enthusiastically by our generation is because we grew up with Harry. Literally. When I read the first book, he was a year or two older than me, and as I kept growing, the books kept coming out a little more than a year apart (or so it seemed) so that by the time the last one came out we were both seventeen.

It makes me wonder how appealing it will be to later generations, because if they start reading at ten or eleven, the first few books might be right up their alley, but I’m not sure they’d enjoy the later ones, as they get much darker. While if children wait until they’re older to start reading, they might find the first books too juvenile. Unfortunately, I’ve seen this happen to too many friends. It’s tragic, but understandable.

However long harry potter manages to hold on, JK Rowling is certainly an inspiration to all us aspiring YA authors. She said she got lots of rejection letters before anyone gave her an offer. When it was first publish, they only printed 500 copies. And now… it’s Harry Potter!

Any other HP fans out there? What is it about the books (or movies) that hooked you?