Eight books, eight films, computer games, lunch boxes, 10+ years, $6 billion in worldwide sales, and there will be residuals for all the grownups for years to come.
As of Tuesday, Deathly Hallows had grossed over $525 million worldwide to make it the single best first week movie opening ever.
The first Harry Potter movie was “The Sorcerer’s Stone” and came out in 2001 – shortly after the first J.K. Rowling book was released.
And millions of kids are obsessed with Harry, Hogwarts, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Professor Dumbledore, Professor Snape, Lucius and Draco Malfoy, Professor McGonagall, Hagrid, and the worlds most hated villain ever - Lord Voldemort.
These are names that every kid has known for years, and the world has indeed, fallen in love with everything Harry Potter.
That’s what makes The Deathly Hallows so difficult for some children – they feel like they have just lost a lifetime friend to the dark side of evil.
Watch Harry Potter - A Look Back...
Remember how you felt as a child watching young Bambi getting injured, and the possibility of never seeing her mother again. Did you cry?
Now, multiply that feeling by about a million and stretch it out over ten years.
That’s what some child psychologists are saying will happen with the death of Potter. They say the death of Harry resembles the same emotions that a child feels after they lose a close family member to death, or after the loss of a cherished family pet.
And that has them worried.
In fact, some schools across the country are setting up “grief stations” during their summer sessions so children can talk to psychologists about their “loss”.
Other schools have consulted with specialists about how to deal with the long term effects of their summer session students coming to grips that they have lost a cherished childhood friend.
“It can be traumatic. They know it’s only a movie but their grief bubbles to the surface and they don’t know how to deal with it. Their grades can suffer and their social world can come crumbling down like a ton of bricks.”
Teachers and staff say they will be on the lookout for sudden drops in grades, irritability from normally stable kids, non-social behavior, and loss of interest in school, sports, and friends.
“Some children may not even realize or understand what is happening. All they know is Harry is gone and they don’t care about anything else anymore – friends, family, grades, or sports. These are the signs we will be looking for.”
J.K. Rowling seems to understand that you can’t just kill off Harry and expect things to be normal. She has already said she will continue to release “Potter” games, writings, and a website dedicated to everything Potter that emerges fans into an online social world of Harry Potter called Pottermore.
Watch Deathly Hallows Movie Trailer
Experts say this will help, and may actually spawn a new industry designed to keep the memories alive.
“Now you will have fans creating what’s called fan fiction and other cultural offshoots. There will continue to be a world of Hogwarts even though the movies have come to an end. Look at Star Trek, that legacy has lived on through comic-con, fan fiction, conventions, trade shows, and specialized websites.”
Now that the story has drawn to a close, some believe there will be spinoffs, sequels, prequels, and new books focusing specifically on still living characters like Hagrid, Hermione Granger or Ron Weasley.
Bottom line:
Our children are strong and will get past this brief hiccup in their emotional development. And it just may bring out new creativity that we can only imagine in pushing the continuing legacy of the world of Harry Potter.
It aint over yet….
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Related: Deathly Hallows Behind The Scenes Filming - Video
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