The books and movies have de- fined an entire

generation, and now it will all come to an end.

The release of the fi- nal Harry Potter movie, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” on July 15, will mark the end of the Harry Potter franchise as we have all come to know it.

“I have been reading and watching “Harry Potter” practically my whole life, so it’s sad to see it finally ending, but there are always reruns and my books are still there,” said junior Vera Lopez.

Over the last decade, there have been eight Harry Potter movies (in- cluding the unreleased film), each has come to hold a special place in fans’ hearts.

The members of the cast have all grown up and gone on to do great things.

Daniel Radcliffe, who plays Harry Potter, has become a well-respected theatre actor in both the United States and Eng- land and is currently on Broadway starring in the musical, “How to Suc- ceed in Business Without Really Trying.”

Rupert Grint, who took on the role of Ron- ald Weasley, has become a successful actor, best known for his roles in in- die films.

Emma Watson, or Hermione Granger, has also become an extreme- ly successful actress in her own right as well as a model.

When each received these roles, no one could have predicted that they

would be such successes and assist in turning mil- lions of people into not only Harry Potter, but J.K. Rowling fans as well. The books have inspired millions of dollars worth of merchandise, a movie franchise, and most re- cently, a theme park at Universal Studios in Or- lando, Florida.

Once this last movie is released, things in the Harry Potter universe will begin to slow down, how- ever that doesn’t mean that the series won’t con- tinue to grow with legions of new fans every day.

The greatest thing about Harry Potter is that no one will ever really outgrow it. It will forever inspire and influence mil- lions of people, even after the movies stop being re- leased and the merchan- dise sales drop.