It all started with a boy who lived.

In 1997, a nameless woman published a story about a boy with magical powers. Thirteen years later, the saga of Harry Potter is about to come to an end.

As two kids who played “Harry Potter” every day without fail for most of their youth, we have no idea what we’re going to do.

November 19 marks the release of what is tagged as “the beginning of the end.” The first half of the film adaptation of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” the seventh and final book of the series, will hit theaters at midnight. And if they don’t get it right, heads will roll.

For the ten years of our friendship, we’ve revolved around the “Harry happenings” in the world. Together we watched the first movie on opening day, searched the mailbox on our eleventh birthdays for a letter from Hogwarts, and have stuck with the series that will conclude this summer.

How can we say goodbye to something that has become a defining part of not only our lives, but our generation as a whole? The answer: we won’t.

It’s not like we haven’t read every book a thousand times and experienced every detail with Harry. We traveled to Diagon Alley alongside Hagrid, soared around the Quidditch pitch on a Nimbus 2000, and walked into the Forbidden Forest to settle the score with Lord Voldemort. Over the course of our journey, Mad Eye taught us constant vigilance and Dumbledore let us know that what is right is not always what is easy.

We strove to combine the magical and Muggle worlds. We purchased Bertie Bott’s Ever Flavor Beans, bought our own Gryffindor robes, and actually have a Sorting Hat pillow that sends us to our appropriate Houses (Julie’s a Ravenclaw, Kelly’s a Hufflepuff). For Kelly’s ninth birthday, Julie purchased an Invisibility Cloak from JoAnn Fabrics for the low, low price of $3.75. And what we couldn’t do, we did through Harry.

Our point here is that for our entire friendship, anything and everything “Harry Potter” related has made its way into our hands.

And sure, you might think all of this is a little excessive; but that’s the love we have for these seven books. With the series coming to a close, we owe J.K. Rowling a tremendous thank you. “Harry Potter” has instilled in us a love of literature since childhood.

Rowling began planning the books when we were born, and the second half of the last movie, this series’ final event, will be released right after we graduate. As such a huge part of our lives, we know that this is not the end of the road.

That’s the magic of HP. The story never gets too old; and neither do we.