Let me get this cleared out before I’m attacked by an angry mob, I love Harry Potter. I’ve grown up with it, I’ve read all the books, watched the movies and even bought a $30 wand at the theme park (I still have no regrets). I also feel proud that Hermoine and I share the same birthday (September 19th! Woot!). So why am I writing this article? Well, I guess I think that HP may be running its course. I always thought that the ending to Deathly Hollows was a perfect conclusion to the series, that it doesn’t need more spin offs or sequels because it’s done. Due to this, I didn’t read The Cursed Child. I have no interest in Harry Potter’s son and the other characters’ children. I'd like to leave it to the imagination of what comes next. I’ve heard about what happens in the play, and honestly, it reminds me of bad fanfiction. I’m not going to give anything away, but I think it was kind of unnecessary. Frankly, I would've preferred a story revolving around The Marauder's Map but that might just be me wishing for more Sirius and Lupin. It’s great and all that J. K Rowling wanted to continue the story, but like all great things, it must come to an end eventually before it overstays its welcome.
The world of Harry Potter is great, don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, but when I heard that there will be four more, I couldn’t help but sigh. I think that Fantastic Beasts would’ve made a good standalone, but four more? A sequel I might understand, but four feels like pandering. It also makes it seem like Hollywood wants to make more movies because it’s a popular franchise, and the more popular something is, the more likely people will see the movie, resulting in tons and tons of money.
Splitting the last HP book into two movies made sense because so much happened in the last book and it was the finale, the studio wanted to finish the series off with a bang and it did. Fantastic Beasts on the other hand—while it’s a charming movie—I don’t think warrants four more movies. Yes, I heard that we might get a Grindelwald vs Dumbledore battle, which sounds cool, especially since we’ll see a younger Dumbledore, but I'm not feeling as excited as say, when a new HP book or movie comes out. I’ll still watch the new movies out of nostalgia and curiosity, but I’m not going to be as hyped up as I once was.
Like I said previously, I love HP and am enthralled by how much this series has inspired the world, I even wrote an article about HP’s influence, but I think it’s a good time to put the series to rest. I think the longer something lasts, the quality and excitement wears down. Cursed Child had mixed reviews because a lot of people were content with Deathly Hollows's ending, and if there's more of it it'll seem unnecessary. Deathly Hollows was a good ending to a wonderful series and I'd like it to stay that way. It's great that Fantastic Beasts is set in a different time and not a continuation, but I still think it's time for the Hogwarts Express to leave the station for the last time.
