This is it

Tonight's the night.

I was talking to my friend, Jeff, about the last Harry Potter book and he said his daughter, Zoe, is sad that soon, likely this weekend, they'll have finished the book. Zoe wants to spread out the reading over weeks. We know that won't happen.

It's an interesting sentiment for a phenomenon that's been building for around a decade, each book slowly revealing more and more of the mysteries intricately woven throughout the story. After all, tonight is the moment all HP fans have been waiting for -- the resolution of the story -- when all will be revealed.

But I understand, and I'm sure millions of others understand, exactly what Zoe is talking about.

Zoe will miss the anticipation of waiting for a new HP book. The months of occasional tidbits trickling forth about new characters or villains. The excitement of being among hundreds of other HP fans as they wait for hours to purchase the latest volume. She'll miss the revelations, surprises, and plot twists uncovered late at night, as her father reads aloud to the whole family, staying up way past bedtime because they just can't put the book down. She'll miss the satisfaction of reaching the end of another well-crafted story filled with wonderful characters.

I will miss these things too. This book is different from all the rest because it's the last. This epic story finally will be complete which is both a remarkable thing, and a terrible thing.

Presumably in this last book Harry will save the day and graduate from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Tonight Harry Potter leaves childhood behind.

Tonight, everyone who has been touched by these books will leave a little bit of childhood behind as well.