Jonn Penney - It's all about Harry Potter this week

Blimey. How time flies. It seems like only five minutes ago that the brains trust at Express & Star and Shropshire Star launched me into the depths of their editorial ocean,

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Since March, I've been submerged amid a sea of exceptional gigs, inventive similes and cultural shenanigans. There have been 15 columns, three photographs, one hate letter – thank you, Mr Angry, but I'm still not persuaded by the merits of Liam Gallagher's Beardy Thigh, or Beady Eye, or. . . does anyone care?

There have been three fan letters, no invitations to a free lunch and no nervous breakdowns. Nope, not even close to one of those.

My Penneyscope has helped me to resurface each week and for your delectation, I've the surveyed the sights on our cultural horizon. But for one week, and one week only, it's time to trip up the rulebook. We're going to change the formula, mix our methaphors and ditch the fancy-Dan-word-play on my surname. As if by magic, my Penneyscope has morphed into a Potterscope.

Now you probably won't need a degree in astrophysics or a working knowledge of JK Rowling to see where I'm going with this. The Boy Wizard is back.

The epic fantasy marks the final instalment of the uber successful Harry Potter film series, which has made stars of Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson and shone a spotlight on Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman, Helena Bonham Carter and Maggie Smith. It was filmed over almost two years.

The week of release will be a time of heady joy for those involved – probably. The film company, cinemas and others involved in the movie will both seek a return on their investment and also hope that it's been a creative success. Although they'll be watching the box office return figures, the reviews and the public reaction like hawks.

And although there'll be much fanfare and hullabaloo, however, it will inevitably subside. Stars will walk along red carpets, and then those carpets will be rolled away ready for the next use. Another big movie will come along. People will look forward to the DVD release.

The question I have is this: What comes next? Harry Potter has been an extraordinary cinematic success for 10 years, ever since the release of his Philosopher's Stone. The departure of JK Rowling's impossibly successful character will create a void that will not easily be filled.

No doubt children's authors are already rushing to create the new 'Potter'. The plagiarists, charlatans, mavericks and others who hope to emulate Rowling are better looking elsewhere. Her creation was one of a kind. New characters, rather than imitations, will be the ones that win favour.

There is a pot of gold at the end of the Potter rainbow, however, as Rowling, Radcliffe and others seek out new projects.

As British indie rock types Editors – and, indeed, as my own editor might say – An End Has A Start.