I just saw part 2 of The Deathly Hallows and I still can’t find the words to describe it.

I rarely become a fan of something. I don’t follow Glee like every person in America and I don’t shriek at the sight of characters from Twilight like every person in my area. For some reason, it was only the Harry Potter books that kept me late at night and the Harry Potter movie trailers that mesmerized me.

While watching, I felt like a decade of my life flashed before my eyes. I finished the first book the summer before I entered college and the last one right before I graduated from law school. I remember bugging my Mom, who was in London at that time, to fall in line and get me book 1… And book 2… And book 3. I remember having almost no sleep and being at the brink of being diagnosed with low sugar because I wanted to finish the bible-thick book 4. I remember waking up everyone in the house to accompany me because book 5 was being released at 6 in the morning. I remember reading book 6 in between classes in law school despite heavy study materials and terrorizing professors for recitation. And I remember trying to finish book 7 before I started reviewing for the bar so I wouldn’t have any distractions. I remember crying, laughing, smiling. I remember reading in busy coffee shops, sunny beaches, and freezing American weather. I remember rushing to bookstores so I can reserve the next book in the series. I remember my cat, who passed already, having her siesta on top of any Harry Potter book she could find on the bedside table or the floor, especially if it was the 4th one.

And years into being a lawyer, here I am watching the last installment of the Harry Potter series. I grew up with Harry Potter, the same way Harry Potter grew up before our eyes. It really feels like an end of an era. Melodramatic, yes. But not to millions of Harry Potter fans all over the world.. Who probably feel the same way as I do :)