Along with Horace’s return to Hogwarts, Harry and his pals Hermoine (Watson) and Ron (Grint) must do the same. While their easy, joking camaraderie as friends is still intact—a quality that can’t help but make the audience like these characters—there’s a strong sense that this year at Hogwarts isn’t going to be schooling as usual either, especially since the reappearance of Voldemort and his followers, the Death Eaters, at the end of the last film, 2007’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

With the Death Eaters’ foreboding presence, in the form of a smoky black streak coursing through the surrounding area and causing destruction at every turn, Dumbledore wants Harry, “the chosen one,” to have a better understanding of his enemy. Through a magical viewing pool called a pensieve, Harry is able to access the memories of Voldemort that Dumbledore has collected over the years. Hoping this will provide Harry the key to Voldemort’s weakness when he faces him again, Dumbledore is preparing Harry for what’s sure to be a huge showdown in the series’ last story, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which is split into two films releasing in 2010 and 2011, respectively.

While dealing with the whole Voldemort situation, there’s another, far less threatening, but still powerful force that has overcome the students at Hogwarts—teen romance. Offering a nice bit of comic relief in these otherwise serious times, it seems everyone (including Harry) has been bitten by the love infatuation bug. Not only has Hermoine’s thinly veiled crush on Ron become far more pronounced (a scenario that’s very enjoyable to watch, especially when she’s green with jealousy, given the affection that Lavender [Jessie Cave] lavishes on Ron), but Harry has his eye on Ron’s sister Ginny (Bonnie Wright), a romance that slowly and sweetly develops in the midst of Harry’s focus on far more volatile matters.

Rather than feeling tacked on, a result that could’ve happened without the proper care, the romantic subplot provides a more human glimpse of these teens with a knack for wizardry. No matter how the world may be crashing down around them, Harry and his friends are still ruled by ungovernable forces like hormones and need each other’s friendship and support like never before.

As one of the enduring themes of the Harry Potter series, friendship eventually evolves into self-sacrifice as the story wears on. Without revealing any major plot details, this sacrificial turn is precisely where this beloved children’s series, not to mention the characters themselves, make their way into very adult territory. Feeling the weight of his fate as “the chosen one,” Harry, along with his pals, are heading toward the ultimate battle between good and evil, one replete with religious symbolism and overtones. And more than ever before, the character of Harry is positioned as the Jesus figure, a symbol of hope in a hopeless world, a timely reminder that certainly won’t be lost on any Christians who happen to be watching.