January 14, 2016

To the Broken Hearts of the Harry Potter Generation

Dearest fellow Harry Potter fans,

I know you. You know me. We are the kids that grew up alongside Harry, Hermoine and Ron, and tackled every adventure by their side as each new book was released.

We were the kids at the midnight release parties and who spent summer vacations locked away in our own "cupboard" with our noses stuck in a book, or two, or seven. 

We were the kids who secretly wished beyond hope that our letter would arrive soon and by owl.

And along the way we learned the lessons that shaped us into who we are now; 
"It is our choices that tell us who we really are, far more than our abilities." - Dumbledore
"It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends."  - Dumbledore
"Books! And cleverness! There are far more important things - friendship and bravery." - Hermoine
"We are all human, aren’t we? Every human life is worth the same, and worth saving." –Kingsley Shacklebolt
"Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if only one remembers to turn on the light."  - Dumbledore

But above everything we took something else from those books. Something that took the entire series to unfold and left us breathless and hollow as we lost Snape.

Snape, who we had hated all those years. Who had been the evil part of every theory we had. Who had been the reason we dreaded potions and who we always sought out on the Marauder's Map.

Snape, who was a Death Eater. Who was the person that killed our only hope, our Dumbledore. 

Snape, who loved Harry's mother above all else...



And as we lost him, and learned his secret, we learned perhaps the greatest of all lessons. That true love is eternal, no matter in what form.

So as we lose our Snape again this week I look back and reflect. I know it was a matter of casting, and that Mr. Rickman was not truly Snape. But I have to say he was the closest match to exactly who I envisioned as I read those books (except maybe for McGonagall, Maggie Smith made for a perfect Professor McGonagall). He embodied the character in every way, made us hate him-- and then love him, and then in the end, showed us that love was there all along. 

I know the movies are not as important as the series itself (hell we all know the books are better!). But I do feel without a doubt, Alan Rickman was who made the movies great. He was the piece that fell so perfectly into place in the end and gave us back the biggest missing part of the puzzle. He was the loss we felt perhaps the greatest.

And we are all feeling that loss again this week. The loss of a man who embodied a piece of our childhood. The loss of a man who like us, found that true love lives forever, even if within a fictional series-- and he loved it just as much as we did.

He will forever be the face I see when I hear "always." 




You will always be our Professor Snape, Mr. Rickman. Thank you for teaching us, the Harry Potter Generation, what love really means.

And fellow fans, I ask this of you--live your life with this kind of love. A kind of love you can look back on and whisper, "always..."

"Do not pity the dead, Harry, pity the living, and above all those who live without love." –Dumbledore
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12 comments:

  1. Love this. It is so beautifully written. :-)

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  2. Wow, this was great & I had no idea that he had passed before I read this. I too am a Harry fan & he'll always be Snape to me.

    & what a great way to end the post with that great quote from Dumbledore...

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  3. Always <3

    I feel you!!
    Such a loss but never forgotten !

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  4. Such a beautiful post for such a sad event. You captured it perfectly.

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  5. Would you believe that I haven't seen the movies, just read the books. I keep meaning to watch the movies and your post has inspired me to get on that!!! In memory of Mr. Rickman!!!

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    1. WATCH THE MOVIES. (You honestly just have to think about them as two separate things. The books are amazing. The movies are great. Make sure you don't compare them!)

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  6. There are chills running up and down my spine from this post. I only wish that I'd have written it. Harry Potter is the spark that lit my book-loving fire and, while I agree the books will always be better, the movies are an incredible piece of art all on their own- mainly because the casting is so incredible. This week we raise our wands for Severus Snape/Alan Rickman. Because without him the Boy Who Lived surely wouldn't have.

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  7. Such a great post. Totally unexpected and horrible news to wake up to yesterday :(

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  8. Love this so much! I definitely feel a connection to Harry Potter because the last book came out just as I graduated high school, so it felt like the end of an era. Also, Daniel Radcliffe and I have the same birthday, so obviously we should be best buds. ;) So sad to hear about Alan Rickman yesterday.

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  9. What a wonderfully written post! I had started to read the books again but some how fizzled out after finishing book three. Now I am feeling inspired to start again. Books 1-4 I have read multiple times but 5-7 have only ever been read once. And surprisingly I have not watched all of the movies. I think it's time that I buy the whole collection.

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  10. My heart broke just a little bit when I heard the news. He's absolutely wonderful and I wish we had more.

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