Well, folks, it's over :*( The last movie installment of the Harry Potter series released last Friday, and for much of the boy wizard's fans, it is a bittersweet ending to the last 11 years of our childhood, worth of a sniffle and a tear or two.

There's no doubt that ever since 1998 when Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was released in the US (1997 in the UK) the story of the boy wizard has conjured up a very powerful spell on children and adults alike. With 389 million copies of the books sold worldwide, a record breaking $168.5M of tickets sold just for the final movie's opening weekend, a theme park, millions of midnight opening parties, and countless merchandise, Harry Potter has definitely made itself into a noteworthy brand, a significant icon in the late 1990s to early 2000s.

Anything related to Harry Potter just screamed 'HP advertising strategy' and you really can't help but think about how genius it was! The storyline already captured the hearts and attentions of people around the world. Readers and/or movie-goers had to wait months before finding out the mysteries that were intertwined in the story. That in itself, generated lots of buzz. People would wait outside their bookstore in tents to be first in line to buy the next book and news networks would cover it. Millions would dress in Hogwarts uniforms while anxiously awaiting the books and movies at midnight release parties.

Anti-witch groups protesting the stories just helped the narrative gain even more attention because people had to read these "devilish" books and decide for themselves if their children should be exposed to reading about witchcraft and wizardry.

When children all over the world are spending the next 24 hours or even the next few days locked in their rooms after a book release, reading 600 page books non-stop to find out what happens, coming out only to go to school or eat, before burrowing themselves back in their room to finish reading, before finally coming out looking awestruck and hooked/curious to know what will be revealed in the nextbook... well then you know you're onto something big.

Even the movie trailers with their intense scene clips, dramatic music, and only the short, powerful phrases by Dumbledore or Voldemort, kept fans in ultimate suspense because only just enough of the action was revealed, and not a single scene or phrase more.

The incredible storyline and the suspense generated from spacing out the book and movie releases, months and even years apart, are what I think created the most buzz. It was a genius strategy that kept fans longing for more, guaranteeing that books would fly off the shelves in a day and movie tickets would be sold out in minutes upon release because fans absolutely could not wait another minute.

The spacing of the books and especially the movies, into the midnight premiere ofHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (the first of the series to be featured in 3D at IMAX) did one more thing that many books can only dream of doing. For over a decade, Harry Potter developed itself into an cultural icon, and will forever be linked with this era, Generation Y. With the kind of lasting impression the franchise has made, the adventures of Harry Potter are very unlikely to fade from the forefronts of hearts and minds for quite some time.

In a previous post, I talked about how TV networks are re-running some of their older cartoons which would interest college-aged students. Even while the last movie has only been in theaters for a few days, many people are already wanting to re-live all their Harry Potter moments. For the days leading up to the releases, fans would re-read and re-watch the entire series. I'm even seriously considering watching the last film again in theaters even though I was #27 in line at the midnight IMAX premiere.

This is it. We will never be able to re-live all the excitement that came with midnight releases or even see an original HP movie in theaters. Harry Potter was a huge part of millions of people's childhoods and it has come to a close. It's like our childhood is ending and we finally have to grow up into adults. It's really sad when you think about it.

I will always cherish the times I had reading those gigantic, marvelous, books of a wizarding world I prayed (and still do) wish was actually real, and all the fun and excitement I experienced from HP hype when I attended midnight release parties for the books and movies. I don't want it to end!!!

And advertisers and the great J. K. Rowling know that. Let's keep the fun going, shall we? While it's not quite the same as the books and movies, fans around the world can't wait for the Harry Potter world to continue it's legacy... online!! As if we need another excuse to be hooked on Harry! Let's see what J. K. Rowling and Sony (lucky them!) have in store for us on Pottermore!