The End of the Magic - My Harry Potter Review

I've been reading the Harry Potter books since I can remember, and I've been watching the movies since a little after then, so it is easy to say that in terms of literature and entertainment Harry Potter has been a big part of my life for a very long time. I'll admit to feeling sentimental in terms of seeing it end, though I am in no way equivalent to those needing grief counseling after the movie series' end. (Seriously, grief counseling? And I thought anime fangirls were insane.)
So, of course, I went and saw the eighth and final Harry Potter movie today. I will not spoil it too much for those who have not yet seen it, but suffice to say it was a thoroughly satisfying end to a truly great series. A lot of things were left out in the movie, yes, but under the circumstances and the time restraints the movie did a good job of wrapping up the plot and staying true to the book. It was enjoyable, and there were many truly good scenes in it that I can't wait to see again when the movie comes out on DVD. (I, for one, will probably be replaying the scene with Voldemort's nerdy laugh over and over again, I swear his laugh's almost as good as Dexter's Laboratory's Mandark.)
I won't say too much more on the movie than that. I know many of you haven't seen it yet and I don't want to spoil all of the good scenes. So I end my movie review part of this post with this: Go and see it, really, you won't regret it.
In the Harry Potter spirit, however, I've decided to make the second half of this blog post a list and description of my top five Harry Potter characters after seeing the movie, and, again in the Harry Potter spirit, I encourage everyone reading this to do the same! (Since I likely won't be able to have nerdy Harry Potter chats with any of you in the near future.) So without further ado, my top five Harry Potter characters:

5. Lucius Malfoy - Pretty sure anyone besides my mother reading is thinking "Why on Earth would she like one of the jerkiest characters in the entire series?" Trust me when I say it's really not because of his personality. The only reason I like him so much is because he is without a doubt the coolest looking character in the series. He's got epic hair, a smashing outfit, and the coolest cane-wand combo thing. Just the whole evil pompous rich person package. It's fun, really, just looking at him. Enough said.
4. Minerva McGonagall - Okay, so, after the movie, I had a thought. Since when was Professor McGonagall freaking AMAZING? And then when I thought about it for a while, she really has been one of the really great characters of the series. She is knowledgeable and always keeps a calm head, and really Hogwarts would have been sort of screwed without her. Plus, she can turn into a cat! I mean, really, how awesome is that. (Plus she has a giant freaking enchanted chess set of death, you've gotta be pretty awesome to have one of those.)
3. Luna Lovegood - I've always sort of related to her because she was the oddball of the Harry Potter group, and everyone who knows me know that I am most definitely an oddball. Just watching her in the movie makes me laugh, and reading all her little quirky sayings in the books sort of provided a great sort of comic relief in the darkening plotline. Plus, she's very wise in her own way and lives up to her Ravenclaw house reputation.
2. Severus Snape - Was this really a surprise? He's one of the most human characters in the entire series, and as heartbreaking as his backstory is, it was one that really touched me when I read and turned around my thoughts on him as a character. Plus, Alan Rickman really does a beautiful job of playing him. (Which is only natural, Alan Rickman's one of those truly amazing actors.) Also, I do love his very subtle, humorous wordplay, that really only Alan Rickman could pull off so perfectly.
1. Remus Lupin - And really, anyone who knows me doesn't find any surprise in this. He's always been my favorite character, ever since he was introduced in the third book. It's actually quite sad to me that he didn't get the attention he so thoroughly deserved in the movies. His minor subplot love story with Tonks was probably the cutest one in the whole series, plus he's another one of those really human characters Rowling developed. I can say without hesitation that he is my favorite fictional werewolf, and if I ever was to be weird enough to cry over any part of the series, it would be over his death. (Curse you, Rowling, for killing my favorite character. I hope you're happy.)