Caution, if you haven’t read the last Harry Potter book and you plan to, don’t read any further.

And if you are someone who believes that Harry and his magical friends are unhealthy for children then you probably shouldn’t read any further either.

Harry came along when my son was in the sixth grade and since Matthew and Henry were close to the same age in fantasy and reality, Matthew was able to identify with many of Harry’s trials over the years. He has read each book faithfully as it was released and read them all over and over in between. I started reading them a few years ago and soon, I too was a Harry Potter fan.

The final book carefully brings everything full circle for Harry, Hermoine and Ron. Like every installment of this series, these three throw themselves into life with passion and a quest for what is right.

And like real life there are some very sad moments in the final book. But that’s how it is in real life, if you really live life.

Sadness, hurt and betrayal are often the price one pays for love, in books and most importantly in real life. But often you are repaid in kind with a true love, the kind of love that can only come from a parent, a child or significant other. And that is why we humans (muggles) keep at it every day.

In discussing the book and series after we both had finished it, Matthew and I agreed that from the very beginning this series has been about love.

Love of every kind fills the pages. You find out that when Harry was only a small toddler his mother stepped in front an evil power to protect him at the expense of her own life.

In the last book a mother defies great evil and leans over a still-alive Harry and pronounces him dead so she can get to where her son is to protect him.

Harry sets aside his magic and digs a grave with his own hands to show his love for a fallen house-elf. Children and adults of all ages step in to battle with evil in the last book for the quest of what is right and their love of each other.

One of my favorite characters in the series pushes children aside to do battle with an evil witch who threatens to kill one of her children. Her anger and hurt are palpable on the pages.

And there is a man who spends his whole life protecting the child of woman he had loved from his childhood even though she had loved another. Many hearts are broken as blood is spilled and lives are lost and still those who believe in good persevere.

It is that way for us muggles (humans) — to believe in love and to try to do the right things in life can be a battle but it is the battle that inspires us.

There are things that test our love and beliefs and make us question ourselves and others. And there are no magic wands to help in the struggle. There are great hurts and great joys in life but ultimately they are what make it worthwhile to battle on.

Christina Hall writes a weekly column for The Natchez Democrat. She can be reached at christina.hall@natchezdemocrat.com.