To Be Continued

Children, gather round

I'm going to tell you a story

Of a young boy, magic spells, a prince in disguise

Daring duels, tragic romances, friendships forged

Battle valiantly fought, terrible deaths cried over

And the destruction of dark forces

Are you sitting comfortably?

Then I'll begin

Once upon a time…

There was a family called the Dursleys

Who lived at Number Four, Privet Drive

In Little Whinging, Surrey

There was Vernon, and Dudley

And Petunia

Now her sister was very special

She wasn't like us, children

She could do magic

Was she a witch?

Yes, dear, she was

Did she have warts and a toad?

No, but she could turn teacups into rats

Shush now, let me continue the story

But Petunia's sister

(Who was named Lily)

Was married to a man named James Potter

And they had a son called Harry

And then a very evil man killed them

And Dumbledore left Harry with his aunt and uncle

Who were to raise him as their own

What was the evil man's name?

You'll find out soon enough, dear

Is Dumbledore important?

He is, dear, remember the name

Now, the story gets deeper

On Harry's eleventh birthday a giant came for him

The giant's name was Hagrid

And he was Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts

And he gave Harry a letter

That asked him to come to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

This, darlings, is where the story really begins

Was Hagrid a friendly giant?

He was very nice and he had kind eyes

Now, no more questions

Let me finish the story

Harry went to Hogwarts

And on the train he met Ron Weasley

And he found out he was famous

Because he'd destroyed the evil man

Lord Voldemort, but you can't say the name

Harry was sorted into Gryffindor house

And an adventure began

He met Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster

And Professor Snape, who didn't like Gryffindors

And Professor Quirrel, who's turban smells funny

He met Hermione Granger, also in Gryffindor

She was an insufferable little know-it-all

And he and Ron told her as much

But on Halloween night

They saved her from a mountain troll

And they became friends

At Christmas, Harry was gifted with an Invisibilty Cloak

His father's, to be exact

And he went exploring at night

And found the Mirror of Erised, that showed his one desire

To see his parents again

But Dumbledore took the mirror away

And they thought Snape was trying to steal

A stone that gave immortality

But he wasn't

He was trying to protect it

But they didn't know

And they went down after him

But Harry found Quirrel

And he took off his turban and showed the back off his head

And Voldemort was there, attached to his soul

And Harry looked into the mirror

And saw himself with the Philosopher's Stone

And Voldemort tried to kill Harry

But Harry's hands burnt him and so Harry lived

And Voldemort had no body and he was a spirit

And Harry got to leave Hogwarts alive and well

Having stopped Voldemort returning

After that there were six more years, darlings

There were fights, and friendships

And Voldemort came back and the war began again

Dumbledore died and Harry went on the hunt for Horcruxes

And then he killed the darkest wizard of all time

All was well, even though they lost many lives

And this was watched by millions of people

On the edge of their seats, chewing their nails

Cheering, laughing, screaming, crying

Falling in love with his scar and his name

Because there's life, and then there's life when you have Harry Potter

And because it's just too easy to fall in love with the saga

And there's the ever-present luminous sign that reads:

TO BE CONTINUED

So go out there and spread the word, darlings

Tell the world about the next generation

(Teddy)

(Victoire, Dominique, Louis)

(Molly, Lucy)

(Rose, Hugo)

(James, Albus, Lily)

(Scorpius)

(Lorcan, Lysander)

Tell them not to cry, not to lose hope

As long as we believe, the saga will continue

Let's strive to keep the phenomenon alive

To make sure that eleven year olds still wait for their Hogwarts letter

That the word 'serious' always sparks a smile

That life with Harry Potter goes on

We started it, and we will continue it

Harry Potter is love

Every word of it is real to every person who's had their heart touched

And his adoring fans will never fail to shed a tear over him

Phew, that is the longest poem I've ever written! I felt I had to do this, for us, for the Harry Potter fandom.

This is for all Harry Potter fans, and most particularly my friends at the NextGen Fanatics forum, who I know will be beside me every step of the way as I strive to keep the phenomenon alive.

No favourites without a review, please and thank you :)