Blogging from the other side (no spoilers)

Well, it's out. We're on the other side of Harry Potter, so to speak, and it feels so odd. I still can't wrap my head around it and I don't really want to. I'll put it out there, after the last scene faded to black last night, I sobbed. There was a steady stream of tears going from The Prince's Tale through the end. Once the credits started rolling it just hit me that it was over and I couldn't keep it in. But enough about the sadness! What did you guys think of the movie? My first reaction? I thought it was amazing! In the past, upon leaving the theater for the first time I'd be critical of what they changed in the movie and what I didn't like, gradually warming up to the movie and talking about what I liked. With Part 2, though, my first thought after it was over (and after the tears) was "that was amazing!" I'm seeing it again in about an hour, so I'll be able to cement my opinion of it, but as of now it's my favorite of the movies. Yes, of course things were changed, but I think the movie was true to the spirit of the book and a great send off for the fans.

Okay, onto the list! Given today's momentous occasion, I've been planning on doing a Harry Potter related top five. I was actually going to do a top five list of moments from Harry Potter, but Casey beat me to it! So instead, I present to you my top five characters (excluding the trio).

1. Neville Longbottom. Do I even need to explain this one? No? Okay, good. I will a little bit anyway, though. Neville is a very real character to me. He's not the bravest, not the smartest, not the "-est" really (except in Herbology), but he always tries his best and doesn't lose heart. He's lived with tragedy his whole life, but perseveres regardless. And, come on, it's Neville. Okay, I will amend my earlier statement: Neville is the bad ass-est. (Which is now a word.)

2. Remus Lupin. My love for Lupin really started when I last reread Prisoner of Azkaban. It had only been a year or so since I'd last read it, but reading it as a 21 year old gave me an oddly different viewpoint of the book than reading it as a 20 year old. Maybe I'd grown up and matured more than I'd realized in that past year, but I felt like I was getting a much more "adult" view of the book than I had on previous readings. That new viewpoint made me sympathize with Lupin's character much more than I had before. He was really a wonderful role model for Harry and I wish we could have seen more of him in the books.

3. Bellatrix Lestrange. Evil to the core, yes, but she's so fascinating. She really is just bat shit crazy and we love and hate her for it. I'm failing at coming up with more reasoning behind this choice, but really she just fascinates me.

4. Severus Snape. You can't deny it, for the most part he really is a huge ass, but he's a brave ass who did the right thing. He lived with only one man knowing the truth about him, while nearly everyone else around him believed him to be deeply evil and despised him. Not the nicest or best person, but one of the best characters.

5. George Weasley. I always struggle when it gets to this point in a "favorite HP characters" list. I want to put down both Fred and George because the books and movies don't always make it the easiest task to discriminate between the two of them, but they are two different characters. I've chosen George because I do like his more reserved nature. Fred was the one who instigated most of their pranks and was more immediately outgoing, whereas George was a bit quieter and displayed a more caring nature. Both great characters, but what pushes me slightly over to George is that (if I had to choose), I think I'd rather be friends with him.

And there we are! I wish I could spend more time on this list to go into more detail about the characters, but I'm off to see Part 2 again!