Harry Potter
*OBLIGATORY SPOILER ALERT*
As I sat there on my deck, hearing but not listening to the yells of neighbors, a lawn mower, a dog barking from a distance, I read those words which I had been so desperate to see but whose arrival, like the past seven years, I so desired to prolong. But as I read of the full extent of the prophecy, that Harry himself was a Horcrux, a strange and unparalleled sensation came over me.
From my heart to my mind, and throughout my frame, maturity swept over me like a warm bath. I'm not grown up, like I thought I would be, but something happened to me down there. I feel wizened, more sagacious, and, most notably, comfortable with those things.
Adulthood is going to begin, just like Harry Potter had to end.
I'm not the hairy little fourth grader with a penchant for Aqua, Furbies, and Pokemon anymore.
I'm the beautiful seventeen year old who loves Indie music, journalism, and political discussion.
But that little girl I was and the woman I'm becoming have one thing in common, and that is Harry Potter, and that will continue to be the thing that connects me to the past and drives me toward the future.
Bring on senior year. Then get me the heck into the rest of my life.
Go.