"You're a Wizard, Harry," Hagrid told the young, confused boy. "I'm a what?" he responded, perplexed after a lifetime spent downtrodden at the hands of his aunt and uncle. The boy had never heard of such magic, had never seen giants or dragons, or dreamed of a life at Hogwarts.
Oh, how far we've come.
As the final chapter of the Harry Potter saga, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2," prepares to touch down in theaters on Friday, fans and marketers have spent as much time on wizarding nostalgia as anticipating the details of the final battle with Voldemort. The seminal adventure for a generation of children -- and adults -- the timeline of Harry, Ron, Hermione and company's adventures mirrors their own path of maturation, with stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson have become more friends than untouchable big-screen icons.
To celebrate that journey with the audience, Warner Bros. has released a new featurette that chronicles each of the series' first seven films, a decade-long adventure that has become the most successful film franchise in history.
Watch Radcliffe, Grint and Watson mature from first-time actors from the British suburbs into veritable stars -- and see if you can concoct a spell that can keep you from getting a bit emotional.