For Two Lakeville Teens, Final Harry Potter Movie Marks End of an Era

Bridgette Stangle was just 8 years old when she finally got her hands on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

The book was a bit tattered, but if it was interesting enough for her older brother, Brian, to read on the bus, in bed, at the dinner table, and at Easter dinner, then it was something she figured she needed to check out.

“I looked up to my brother—if something was cool enough for him, I needed it, too,” she said. “He insisted he’d let me have it when he was done … man, it took forever.”

Brian said “forever” actually took five weeks, and that he agreed to help Bridgette read the book—she was only in third grade after all—when she needed help.

“It was great because when she finished, we could talk about it and how cool it was,” said Brian, who was 12 years old at the time and had already begun reading the second book: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Shortly after Bridgette finished book one, the duo watched the first book’s cinematic counterpart, which was released in November 2001.

Now Bridgette, 17, and Brian, 21, are readying themselves to experience the eighth and final cinematic chapter, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, which starts showing 12:01 a.m. Friday.

Together, the two of them have been eagerly anticipating each new book and each new movie with the same zeal Bridgette had when she was itching to read the Sorcerer’s Stone nearly a decade ago.

But while they are excited, they’re both sad, Bridgette said.

“I’m keenly aware this moment may be the last of its kind for Harry Potter fans like us,” she said. “Since I was a kid, there’s always been anticipation for another book or another movie, but after this… well there’s nothing, huh?”

But that won’t stop either of them from enjoying every moment of the final movie. Brian even has his robes and Slytherin tie and scarf ready to go for the midnight showing they'll attend with a group of friends.

“I’m a bit of a Draco fan,” he said with a smile. “Plus I love green.”

The boy who lived

So, can you describe the differences in appearance between a hippogriff and a Thestral? That is, of course, if you can see the latter.

Has your mistletoe ever been overtaken by nargles?

Can you name the positions of Quidditch?

If you can’t answer any questions from above, you likely fall in the minority.

About 450 million copies of the seven-part fantasy series have sold worldwide. The books have been translated into 67 languages. The first seven movies have grossed more than $6 billion worldwide, making it the most successful franchise of all time.

It all started June 30, 1997, with a book about a boy who lived in a cupboard under the stairs finding out he was a wizard. No one knew how this 11-year-old boy’s story would unfold, coming to an end July 21, 2007, with the release of the seventh and final installment, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Gatherings for the midnight release of the final book were held from Minneapolis to Moscow and everywhere in between.

Bridgette remembers the final midnight book release she went to in Orlando, FL, while visiting family.

The then 13-year-old dressed as Hermione Granger, one of Potter's best friends and one of the main characters.

Epilogue

And it’s all that excitement the past several years that has led to this point.

People of all ages have spent the past days, weeks and months revisiting the texts, movies and anything Potter-related to ready for what could be a once-in-a-lifetime moment: the cinematic end of a franchise based on a beloved series of books that, while defined a generation of readers and new readers alike, broke down barriers and age discrimination of what is and isn’t a “kid’s book.”

In short, the books, in a time of texting, Internet and videogames, afforded children and adults alike the opportunity to sit down, digest someone’s written word and world, and use their imagination.

For Bridgette, she’s updating her Hermione outfit for the midnight showing, and even called to ask Lakeville's Mueller Movie Theater if she could bring her dog, named Snape, to the event dressed as a hippogriff. They declined.

"I want this to be a great night of fun, because this is kind of it," she said.

And as those weary eyes open late Friday morning—or early afternoon—to get a second helping of Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Brian said he knows things will be different.

“Nothing will ever impact me as much as Harry Potter did,” Brian said. "It was such a big part of my childhood, nothing will touch it, I don't think."

But after a pause, Brian rethinks.

"Well, maybe my kids can someday have as much fun in the Harry Potter universe as I did," he said. "I imagine that would be pretty big."

All is well.

Want to go?

Lakeville's Mueller Family Theater, located at 20653 Keokuk Ave., will have Harry Potter marathons this week, as well double features Thursday and Friday and a midnight showing of the movie early Friday morning.

For more information, visit their website or call them at: (952) 985-5324