All Along The Watchtower

It was raining.
The moment I stepped out of the Cinema Hall, I was welcomed by dark clouds and soft breezes. And of course, the hard pelting rain. The movie I had just finished watching was the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2. There was nothing but an overwhelming sense of sadness, and nostalgia.

When the first Harry Potter movie had released in 2001, I was in Class 5. I remember watching this movie in a single hall theater in Goregaon and coming out of it wide -eyed. I had been unfortunately unaware of the Harry Potter Series up until David Heyman decided to make a movie on it. 


Needless to say, I wasted no time on getting my hands on the four books which had been published up until 2001 and finishing them in a span of 6 months. I had begged, borrowed, and almost stolen any book I found remotely related to Harry Potter. As I write this, I can see a copy of 'Quidditch through the Ages' and 'The Magical World of Harry Potter' staring back at me amongst my copies of the actual series. But soon, it had all been read.
And from then on, the wait began.

The wait for the next book to be published.
The wait for the next movie to release.

The wait, that agonizing wait, can only be understood for the ones who grew up with Harry Potter. And once the book did come out, there would be a period of a week where you'd refuse to talk to anyone who got the book before you in fear that they'd reveal some secret to you which you'd rather read in the book yourself. Once you did get the book, you'd read. You'd read till your eyes were droopy and your mum yelled at you to go and sleep as it was 1 AM and you were only 13. And then you read, as soon as your alarm bell rang at 5 AM because you just had to finish this book before you left for school. You just had to!

Then, once the movies came out, it was grander than our wildest imagination. Hogwarts was better than we'd pictured it, every character was just perfect, it made us yearn to reach out and gulp down a glass of Butterbeer. It even made us jump up, take out our wands, and fight the battle beside the Order.
Irrespective of exams, health or weather, once a movie released, you had to watch it as soon as you could. It was just wrong to think otherwise.

In the time where video games and television ruled, J.K. Rowling made kids fall in love with books again. For that, I'm truly in awe of her. For creating a world so enchanting, that people had no chance but to be drawn into it. A magical world, in every sense.

In retrospect, I'm so glad that I discovered Harry Potter at the age of 12 and not 11. Else I can't imagine the kind of hell my parents would have to put up with, when I demanded them for an explanation of why I didn't get my letter from Hogwarts.

The eternal Good vs. Evil story, that what is was. Yet it taught us so much more.
It gave us so much joy, so much happiness, and also, so much pain.

The little jokes, the inside spells, and the mischief managed shall never be forgotten.

I don't feel bad that it's all ended now, that it's all over. I do however, feel horribly bad for the ones who missed out on Harry Potter and it's magic. I feel horribly bad, for I know there shall never be another series which can captivate me the same way as this story did.

But I know, that every time I fall sick, every time I am sad and depressed, I can always plonk on the bed with a hardbound book, and relive that magic in my head all over again.


I remember the first time I entered the book store to buy my first Harry Potter book.
I almost didn't notice until I got back into the car with my book, as I looked outside while flipping pages -
It was raining.