Childhood really is quantifiable: eight films, ten years, and three actors became the defining symbols of a generation. This past July, Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part II broke box offices records and hearts in a bittersweet conclusion to everyone’s favourite series.

The film starts with an eerie Enya-style crooning and Snape (Alan Rickman, finally given a real story to prove just how good he is at portraying this character) staring out at dementor-infested Hogwarts grounds, looking more moody than ever. It’s a fitting opening image, for the film is darker than the sordid history of the Elder Wand Voldemort secured at the end of Part I. In the final battle for Harry’s life and essentially, freedom in the wizarding world, lives aren’t spared. Bodies of some of our favorite witches and wizards cram the corridors of the castle with the camera, following Harry’s point of view, only giving us a fleeting glance.

Harry doesn’t have time to process the death and neither do we. The film flies faster than the Gringott’s dragon that carries the trio to the castle. At 130 minutes, Part II is the shortest in the series, but director David Yates makes time count. Beloved book characters, who only got a minute of screen time before, are allowed their own heroic moments. Molly Weasley’s catchphrase-making statement is uttered by the ferocious Julie Walters and Matthew Lewis’ pudgy antihero, Neville Longbottom, has grown some good looks and courage.

At 3am though, the battle is between Harry and Voldemort and credit must be given to Daniel Radcliffe and Ralph Fiennes. Once an over-actor, Radcliffe brings pathos and subtlety to the crucial forest march and the wonderfully postmodern train station scene. Fiennes continues to be a  surprisingly complex villain for a wizard that is pure evil,  with some vulnerability frighteningly thrown in for the last film.

We may never see another golden snitch zooming across the screen, but Part II is a solid conclusion that checks off all of the plot boxes and leaves us with the right amount of emotional wallop. Just skip the dreaded epilogue where Hermione and Ginny are wearing scarves as the only indicator they are in their 30s and Ron sports a beer belly.