Harry Potter Is 20 Years Old & These 21 Quotes Still Make Us Cry Every Time

I think, at this point, it's safe to say that the Harry Potter books have defined a generation. No matter how you feel about the Fantastic Beasts movies, or the Cursed Child play, or J.K. Rowling's personal Twitter feed, those original books will always be there for those of us who grew up with Harry. We can always return to Hogwarts when we need a hasty injection of magic or love or anti-fascist resistance. And, no matter how many times we read the series from start to finish, we can always find at least one quote that gets us all choked up, just like the first time. Here are a few of the most heartbreaking lines from Harry Potter, because those books still have power after all this time (one might even say, "Always").

After all, Harry Potter is an intensely tragic series of books. I mean, yes, the ending is fairly happy (if you ignore Harry and Ginny's unfortunate choice in baby names). But the crux of the series is about a boy who knowingly goes to his own death in order to save his friends. That's... heavy. Really heavy, for a kid's book. Part of what makes the series so resonant with so many readers is that Rowling understands the gravity of love and loss, even for very young people. Here are some of the heart-wrenching moments that will stay with us forever:

1. "To have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever."

— Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

2. "I'm sorry too, that I will never know him ... but he will know why I died and I hope he will understand. I was trying to make a world in which he could live a happier life."

— Remus Lupin, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

3. "It's cruel that I got to spend so much time with James and Lily, and you so little. But know this; the ones that love us never really leave us."

— Sirius Black, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

4. “Hogwarts was the first and best home he had known. He and Voldemort and Snape, the abandoned boys, had all found home here. ”

― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

5. “‘I DON'T CARE!’ Harry yelled at them, snatching up a lunascope and throwing it into the fireplace. ‘I'VE HAD ENOUGH, I'VE SEEN ENOUGH, I WANT OUT, I WANT IT TO END, I DON'T CARE ANYMORE!’

‘You do care,’ said Dumbledore. He had not flinched or made a single move to stop Harry demolishing his office. His expression was calm, almost detached. ‘You care so much you feel as though you will bleed to death with the pain of it.’”

― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

6. "Here lies Dobby, a free elf."

— J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

7. "An invisible barrier separated him from the rest of the world. He was — he had always been — a marked man."

— J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

8. “He must have known I'd want to leave you."

"No, he must have known you would always want to come back.”

― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

9. “Hermione was screaming again: the sound went through Harry like physical pain.”

― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

10. "You think the dead we loved ever truly leave us? You think that we don’t recall them more clearly than ever in times of great trouble? Your father is alive in you, Harry, and shows himself plainly when you have need of him."

— Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

11. "Is Draco alive? Is he in the castle?" The whisper was barely audible; her lips were an inch from his ear, her head bent so low that her long hair shielded his face from the onlookers.

"Yes," he breathed back. He felt the hand on his chest contract; her nails pierced him. Then it was withdrawn. She had sat up.

"He is dead!" Narcissa Malfoy called to the watchers.

—J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

12. Hagrid’s miserable face broke into a wide, watery smile.“Tha’s my boy… you show ‘em, Harry, you show ‘em. Beat ‘em all.”

— Rubeus Hagrid, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

13. “The letter was an incredible treasure, proof that Lily Potter had lived, really lived, that her warm hand had once moved across this parchment, tracing ink into these letters, these words, words about him, Harry, her son.”

― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

14. "I am not worried, Harry," said Dumbledore, his voice a little stronger despite the freezing water. "I am with you.”

― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

15. "Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it."

— Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

16. “'No - no - no!' someone was shouting. 'No! Fred! No!' And Percy was shaking his brother, and Ron was kneeling beside them, and Fred's eyes stared without seeing, the ghost of his last laugh still etched upon his face.”

― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

17. “‘Hedwig — Hedwig —’ But the owl lay motionless and pathetic as a toy on the floor of her cage.”

― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

18. “Finally, the truth. Lying with his face pressed into the dusty carpet of the office where he had once thought he was learning the secrets of victory, Harry understood at last that he was not supposed to survive.”

― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

19. “Dumbledore watched her fly away, and as her silvery glow faded he turned back to Snape, and his eyes were full of tears. "After all this time?"

"Always," said Snape.”

― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

20. “‘Go on, have a pasty,’ said Harry, who had never had anything to share before or, indeed, anyone to share it with.”

― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

21. “'You'll stay with me?'

'Until the very end,' said James.”

― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows