'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 2' recap: War, Death, and Snogging

So, what happens next? I'll tell you what doesn't happen: College. Nobody has any interest in getting a higher education in the Potter-verse. Kids reading Potter learn to graduate from high school, get a job and get married. Done!

So, 19 years later, we see near-middle-aged Potter & Friends. This scene was re-shot after photos from the first attempt at the epilogue leaked online and fans howled about how depressingly old the characters looked. Who can blame them? The real-life horror of a high school reunion isn't anybody's idea of a happy ending. So here, Hermione and Harry still look great. Ron, Ginny, and Malfoy are, eh, a bit less so, with Ron looking as if he discovered muggle affinity for big-screen TVs and laying on the couch. Malfoy is very skeezy, looking like a porn producer.

In addition to quickly settling down with their school sweethearts, several of our characters started having kids just a few years after graduation (are we sure Hogwarts is in Britain and not the Midwest?). Harry named his youngest after Snape and tells the boy the professor was ''the bravest man I ever knew.''

As for Harry and Ginny, don't they look like a happy couple? No? Well, what did I tell you? I still don't understand what Harry...oh no. No, no, no. I just realized who Harry's mom in Snape's flashback looks like. Think back. The actresses playing both young Lily in the field and grown-up Lily by Harry's crib in the film look just like...Yes. To quote another dark lord: Search your feelings, you know it to be true. No wonder Harry was never into Hermione — he defeated Voldemort, but couldn't overcome the most ancient form of dark magic, the Oedipus Complex.

Before I turn this over to you, a few random thoughts: Most of the Potter movies I enjoyed less than the books, yet Hallows Part 2 was an exception. The movies and books are tough to rank, which is a compliment, but I'd put them at 7.2 > 5 > 7.1 > 3 > 4 > 6 > 1 > 2 for the films while ranking the books 4 > 7 > 3 > 5 > 1> 6> 2...can't say enough about the Goblet of Fire novel, Elf rights subplot aside, it's a perfect story. Also, fans were upset John Williams didn't return to score the final Potter film after reports he was in talks, but I enjoyed the darkly gorgeous score by Alexandre Desplat. Follow me on Twitter here and check out Lisa Schwarzbaum's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2 review here.

What do you think? Did HP7.2 live up to your expectations? Do you want more — like Harry Potter: The Next Generation: Episode 1: Revenge of the Malfoys — or are you satisfied? Is Ginny good enough for Harry (and is Hermione too hot for Ron?). Accio comments!