Childhoods ended Friday.
The final Harry Potter movie, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2," was released on DVD, marking the official end of J.K. Rowling's series ... for now, at least.
"I've been such a Harry Potter nerd since the first book came out, and my grade school teacher read it to our class," said Yuchun Lai, a 20-year-old marketing sophomore. "I've bought three Harry Potter film books because I love all of the behind-the-scenes stuff."
But much to the dismay of Harry Potter fans, Warner Bros. has spoken, and the DVD, along with the rest of the movies, will only be on shelves until Dec. 29. In other words, you have about six weeks to buy your copy.
Warner Bros. is following in the footsteps of Disney, who puts movies in the vault and releases them every few years as "special editions." In October 2009, the cycle began again with "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" being released on Blu-ray as a "Diamond Edition."
Elizabeth Boone, an 18-year-old business administration and theater freshman, said, although she already owns all of the DVDs, this move is an outrage.
"Potential fans are getting cheated," she said. "Though there are many ways of getting the movies regardless, it's still not cool."
Not all is lost, as Warner Bros. is only pulling the movies in the United States; the DVDs will stay on the shelves in the rest of the world.
At Walmart, the single DVD is priced at $13.96, and a bundle of all eight DVDs, called "Harry Potter: Complete 8-Film Collection," can be purchased online for $49.96. The Blu-ray version includes a conversation with Rowling and Daniel Radcliffe, a feature on the goblins and a look at the women in Harry Potter's world.
Representatives from Walmart, Target and Best Buy all refused to comment on presale orders of the DVD.
The film franchise has grossed about $12.1 billion for Warner Bros. so far, including $92.1 million the first day the final movie opened in theaters in the United States. Worldwide, "Deathly Hallows - Part 2" made over $1.3 billion in the box office.
For those who plan on being too busy studying to buy the movie before Dec. 29, don't worry: Warner Bros. plans on re-releasing all the movies in late 2012, likely with additional features.
But even this is little comfort for the most avid Harry Potter fans.
Math sophomore Jeremy Sparks, 19, summed up the Warner Bros. actions simply: "Greedy bastards."
