"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.

Though countryside skies and childhood fairytales promise a notion of their proximity and generosity, the truth is, stars rest in space at a distance beyond the mind's capacity to fully conceive. Steady fireballs burning lightyears away, it's more than their glow that make them the perfect metaphor for Hollywood's fame hierarchy: the sheer will it takes over so many thankless years to reach star status parallels the space flight required.

With that grit and patience and understanding of greatness required to reach that star level, conversely, the meteoritic rise and atmospheric flameouts of Hollywood one-hit wonders mimics the dangers of untethered space travel. So often, it's the child actor, shot from a rocket into show business at an age far earlier than is truly advisable, that assumes that arc of the solar flare, or the imploding dwarf that never shone bright enough. The stories of troubled adulthoods following childhood flame are legion, with a certain extra mettle required to avoid the fate.

Perhaps appropriately, given his character's legendary magical powers and storyline of simmering bravery and valor, it seemed that Daniel Radcliffe, the big screen's Harry Potter, would defy those pitfalls and reach that star status, so calm and collected and level-headed, he. And as his final Hogwarts adventure rushes toward worldwide release, it does indeed look as if he will be the exception to the rule, a star in his adult years akin to a Ron Howard or Michael J. Fox. But as he reveals, it wasn't always so written in stone that he would make that transition.

Speaking to GQ UK about a mid-Potter lapse in self-control and appreciation, Radcliffe revealed that for a while, "I became so reliant on alcohol to enjoy stuff. There were a few years there when I was just so enamored with the idea of living some sort of famous person's lifestyle that really isn't suited to me."

Now 21, Radcliffe largely escaped much paparazzi scrutiny for his hard-partying ways (though some photos were captured by the Daily Mirror), a stroke of luck rarely afforded a child star in the midst of growing pains. And though any photos that would catch him drinking would now only reveal a partier, not a law breaker, Radcliffe says he's moved past that point.