On why I cried for two hours in a theater.

It's an overused metaphor, but it's appropriate for a word nerd such as myself and for the context, so I'll use it anyway: A chapter of my life has closed.

For those who didn't know, the final Harry Potter movie premiered to the general North American public today (yesterday, technically, as it's after midnight). Also for those who didn't know, I really like Harry Potter and the imagined world in which he lives. "Really like" is actually an understatement. A friend of mine was kind enough to take my poor, penniless self to go see the movie today. To employ another overused phrase, it was magical.

I've read each of the books in the series more times than I care to count. These literary incarnations of the Wizarding World have been my chief interest, as can be expected for someone with an English degree, but I have also appreciated the cinematic adaptations as well. They're not nearly as satisfying to my story-loving core, but even I will admit that there are virtues to be found in films which are not accessible in books.

As an avid reader of the original written works by J.K. Rowling, or Jo as I like to call her, I went into the theater today knowing how they story would end; knowing what each dramatic, climactic moment would be; knowing which characters would live and which would die; knowing who would triumph in the end. And despite all of that foreknowledge, I was still just as deeply touched by the truth in the story.

That is why I have been so attached to these stories: truth. Real, potent truth. Not something watered down to the point that it's lost all of its meaning.

That and the fact that Jo did such a wonderful job of presenting characters that came across as real people, characters to which my young self could relate and with whom I found a certain friendship. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Luna, Seamus, Dean, Fred, George....Draco....we grew up together. When the last book was published, the book's namesake was 17, and I was a mere 19 years old. We were peers. As much as I read, it's still not often that an author is able to convince me to pour emotion into a fictional character like I would a friend I can interact with in the flesh. I applaud anyone who can.

Getting back to truth, though, Jo's stories are dripping in them. A man I admire, Ben Shive, after he saw the movie today, posted on Twitter, "Harry Potter was so so good. I was praising Jesus. No joke." I was, too. I did the first time I read the book, and I have every time since then. Why?

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." 1 Corinthians 13:13

...and...

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay his life down for his friends." John 15:13

Harry does that, both literally and figuratively, repeatedly. Other characters do that, both literally and figuratively, repeatedly. The Harry Potter stories make no secret of evil, and pain, and struggle, just as life, if fully lived, leaves everyone to confront such horror and tragedy. But the truth is, in the end, love is victorious. Voldemort doesn't take over the world. And neither does sin. "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world," said Jesus.

It's the pure and perfect love of Christ that has saved the world we live in. And it's the same kind of love that saved the Wizarding World. Sometimes (most times) I have difficulty understanding concepts when only presented abstractly, or even concretely when related to myself. I've found that most people have the same trouble. David, one of Israel's greatest kings, did when he took Bathsheba from her husband and had him killed. It took Nathan telling David a story of a poor man's stolen lamb for him to understand how atrocious his actions were. We need stories to help us understand the world, to understand each other, to understand God. Stories, good ones, capture our imaginations, the part of us still capable of wonder. Then, once they have taken hold of that one part of us we have left open to being vulnerable, the light they shed on truth makes it apparent to us, and that fully revealed truth is able to come in and change us. I'm grateful for stories like Harry's that help me to understand love.

This statement may shock some people, but I felt like I knew Jesus better after I reached the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for the first time four years ago.

The books reached their end a while ago. The movies have now done the same. Gradually, the hype will die down. But the stories won't change. They'll still be there, available for those who want to get lost in their wonder. Those who let themselves be lost will still find their way to the same truth. I intend to repeat the journey as long as my mind is still capable of understanding words.

And if I ever meet Ron Weasley in the flesh (although, his name wouldn't have to be exactly Ronald Bilius Weasley, or anything like it, just as long as his heart, personality and red hair are the same....I'll possibly negotiate on the red hair), I think I'll have to marry him.