"We're a year older than our characters, so I feel like the film was about what I was experiencing a year ago, which was this kind of awkward playoff between girls and boys and the miscommunications that happen and the different way they think about things," says Watson.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final installment of the series, starts shooting in February and will be released in two parts.

"And then I'll be done," she says. "It's so much a part of my life, and it's going to be so strange when it's over. It's strange being 18 and thinking about the fact that probably I will never be part of something this big again in my lifetime."

At home in London, Watson takes the subway, plays tennis and field hockey, and goes shopping with her friends. She can't fathom living a life so removed from reality that she ends up like Princess Pea.

"I can't imagine anything more lonely, just not being able to be part of the real world and being trapped and locked in hotel rooms and cars," says Watson. "I get stopped by people, but that's fine. I'd never want to be so famous that I couldn't live a normal life to a certain extent."