P.H.P.D. (no spoilers)

I finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows this morning. I know, I know—waiting until August to read the final book in the series automatically disqualifies me as a real Potterphile, but I have my reasons. And let me just say that avoiding all the spoilers that have been around, including in my very hands, has not been an easy task. (It wasn't quite as difficult as, say, finding and destroying Horcruxes, but it was pretty tough. My husband, Big Omi, was kind enough to remove several incriminating pages of Entertainment Weekly, only to hide them in his sock drawer. I know this because I put away his clothes, and promptly found the pages only a few days later.) My main reason for waiting this long was that I wanted to see the fifth movie, then re-read the sixth book and get all caught up before starting book seven. My memory just isn't what it used to be, and J.K. Rowling doesn't spend much time reminding her readers of what happened in the previous books. (Not like in, say, The Bobbsey Twins or Nancy Drew, where you got the same lengthy description of Ned Nickerson in every book.) So now, after all the waiting, all the catching up, and all the great lengths I went to to avoid finding out what happens, I know. I have read the final word in the final chapter of the final book. I am very, very satisfied with the way things ended: with certainty and no ambiguity (cough—I'm looking in your direction, David Chase). Now I have been officially diagnosed with P.H.P.D. (Post-Harry Potter Depression). When I was reading the book, it was at a breakneck pace. Sometimes I would have to make myself slow down or go back and re-read passages just to catch all the details. I just couldn't know fast enough. But now, of course, I am sad to be finished with it. It's like I sat down to a full-course meal, savored each bite through the entire dinner, then swallowed the dessert whole. Ah, well, I'm sure Phizer or Merck are working on a new lifestyle drug to take away the pain of P.H.P.D. Until then, I can always go back and start the whole series over again... I'll probably have forgotten what happens in book 7 soon enough.