by Adam DiOrio
I remember where I was on July 21, 2007, the day Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows was released in book form. I was waiting in line at the North Dartmouth Barnes & Noble just minutes before midnight, when the store would open and the 400 or so people outside would be let in to purchase the last Harry Potter book ever. I initially felt silly as I made my way through the crowd of Muggles dressed in Wizard robes, many of them running through the parking lot with pretend wands casting make-believe spells. Then the feelings of silliness went away as I realized that I was enjoying being at this 
very unique event with a group of people I didn’t know, and it was all because of a children’s book. Besides, the truly silly thing about the whole night was that I was a 26-year old man waiting in line on a Saturday at midnight, just to buy a book so I could go home and spend the rest of the night reading.
And read I did. By 1am I had finished the first chapter. Later on in the day around lunchtime I was about halfway through, and by 6am the following morning I was out back on my porch, reading the final few chapters by the light of the rising sun. I distinctly remember putting the book down and taking a break, knowing that the next time I put the book down there would be no more Harry Potter left for me to read. Ever.
Luckily for fans of the Harry Potter series, the movies are way behind the books. Another turn of luck is that the final book has been split into two movies, the first of which is being released on Friday. The final book was split in two because it was not possible to squeeze 759 pages worth of source material into a three hour movie.
So, now that I’ve ruined my street credit and admitted to being a Harry Potter nerd, I’ll top it off with a list of seven things to look forward to in the seventh Harry Potter movie:
1. The Deathly Hallows- Before the final book came out we had no idea the Deathly Hallows even existed. At some point in this movie we should find out what they are, how they came to be, and how they tie into the rest of the story.
2. Dumbledore- Just because the old Headmaster at Hogwart’s is dead doesn’t mean his story is over. In Part 1 of the Deathly Hallows, Harry starts to believe that maybe he didn’t know Dumbledore as well as he though he did.
3. No Hogwarts- The majority of the first six movies took place at Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In Part 1 of the Deathly Hallows, don’t expect much more than a glimpse of the school. Moving the entire story and all of the characters outside the familiarity of Hogwart’s will make for a totally different Potter movie than we’re used to.
[revenueshare id="13"] 4. The Quest for the Horcruxes- I expect this movie to look and feel similar to Lord of the Rings, with lots of beautiful, mountainous scenery and footage of Harry, Ron, and Hermione traveling the countryside in search of more Horcruxes to destroy. A Horcrux, you may recall, is an object containing part of Lord Voldemort’s soul. Harry must hit the road in order to find all 7 Horcruxes, which he must destroy before he can face Voldemort.
5. Harry, Ron, and Hermione- In order to make a good movie you need good actors. The actors playing the roles of Harry, Ron, and Hermione have grown up on screen, becoming pretty good actors as the series has moved along. For this movie, they’ll have to be good. There are some serious events taking place, and the actors must be up to the task to make it work.
6. Lord Voldemort- Considering he is the main villain of the entire Harry Potter series, Voldemort has spent a considerable amount of time off-screen. We didn’t even get to see him until the fourth movie, and since then he’s done little, but the threat of what he can do has always been a character all by itself. In the Deathly Hallows, Voldemort isn’t messing around anymore. He finally gets personally involved in the hunt for Harry, torturing and killing his way towards his final showdown with The Boy Who Lived.
7. Severus Snape- If ever an actor was born to play a specific role, it has to be Alan Rickman’s portrayal of Severus Snape. Throughout the first six films, Snape has been at odds with Harry, partly because Harry’s father treated Snape like crap, and partly because he doesn’t believe Harry to be the great wizard everyone else does. Tempering that, however, is Snape’s love for Harry’s deceased mother Lilly. Harry has the same eyes as his mother, so every time Snape looks at him he is reminded of his feelings for her. As complicated a character as Snape was previously, he became even more so after he Avada Kadavra’d Dumbledore clear off Hogwart’s Astronomy Tower near the end of Half-Blood Prince. Snape is one of the great characters in this series, and he will be very important as the story winds down.
As we near the last of the Harry Potter movies, there are many questions that still need to be answered. Why did Snape kill Dumbledore? Will Harry be able to locate and destroy all of the Horcruxes before Voldemort kills him? Who will die? Who will live? As the series hurtles toward the inevitable showdown between Harry and Voldemort, will the movies be able to live up to the legacy of the books?
Check in on Saturday morning for a full movie review of Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows.
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