When a saga comes to an end

So the little witch got to the last Harry Potter book. As everyone must know by now, Lucas is a huge HP fan. He started watching the first movies on TV - ad nauseam -when he was 3. His 5th birthday party theme was about him, and it was a couple of months before that when I started reading the first 3 books for him at bedtime. My sister gave him as a b-day gift last year the whole set of HP books, but he only started reading them this January (go figure...). And he simply didn't stop. Every morning before breakfast, he was with one of the books... 

Then before lunch he would read for me...

And especially at bedtime, he was 'glued' to the books...

He loves to have me reading for him before sleeping, so I would always read a chapter or two, mimicking characters' voices, before he read on by himself while I was on the upper bed reading my own books. Along the months he read Harry Potter's adventures, commenting about them with me and also discussing the characters' ethics and attitudes.

Some weeks ago, he finally reached book #7 and started feeling sad because the saga was almost over. About ten pages to the end of the book, he refused to keep on reading. He wanted to watch the movies again, and placed the book by his bed, untouched, for days. When I asked him when he would finish reading it, he replied, "when I'm ready." I didn't insist and respected his break time to absorb the whole idea of letting go. 

Last week, he finally grabbed the book, looked at me and asked me to read it for him. So I went under the blankets with him, and read out loud the final pages while he listened, comfortably resting his head on my shoulder. When the last line was over, he gave a deep sigh and thanked me, comforting me with a hug because I was, typically, with tears in my eyes. A minute later and he was alright, teasing me saying that he would start reading all the books again from the beginning!

He's got the movies stickers on his bed, Hermione's time-turner and the golden snitch on the TV table, Harry's wand behind the door... He often plays with his friends as if they were in Hogwarts. We often talk about the stories, and he shares his opinions on the many challenges and hard times Potter goes through. It's part of his life, and now that the books were read and are all back to the bookshelf, this essence will stay with him for the rest of his life, and I bet that if/when he has his own kids, he'll read the books at bedtime, exactly like I did, and the magic will rise to another generation. ;o)