Harry Potter cast his final spell on fans worldwide, shattering box office records over the weekend, earning $168.5 million and setting a new all-time record for the highest-grossing opening weekend in North America, one previously held by "The Dark Knight."

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, the eighth and final film of the J.K. Rowling fantasy, earned more than $475 million worldwide and also set new highs for biggest midnight screening, $43.5 million, and biggest IMAX film, $15.5 million.

This installment marks a fitting farewell to a series about a teen wizard and his friends battling evil that has become the highest-grossing franchise of all time.

The eight films in the series have sold about $7 billion in tickets at the worldwide box office.{

The most inspiring result of the Potter magic is how it got kids reading. They lined up at midnight to buy a book with 700 pages and went home to read it – again and again. The 7-book series not only made J.K. Rowling the first billionaire publisher, it gave kids a reason to love reading again.