Recapping Harry

Now that all the hype and hysteria are over, now that THE BOOK has been devoured by the hordes, now that we all know what happens with Harry and the gang...

Let's dish. I want to hear what everyone thinks.

Did the book live up to the hype? Did J.K. Rowling do right by her readers? Was it worth the wait? Can we shut the door on the Hogwarts crew with the majority of our questions answered? Are we happy now?

In my opinion - yes. To all of the above. With a few small quibbles I think she delivered the total package. When I shut that book after an all day marathon I had tears in my eyes and goosebumps on my arms. The only regret I had was that there was no "next book" to look forward to. Given what I had just read I could live with that.


As far as the storyline, I was right with some of my predictions and not so right with others. I'm grateful that I was right on the important ones. When I realized that Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny all survived I really did cry. You have no idea how hard it is to make me cry. Trust me. For a while there it looked like Harry wasn't going to come out alive and it was all I could do to not turn to the end of the book and peek. When I saw that Arthur and Molly Weasley made it through I cried harder. Molly Weasley is my favorite of the non-kid characters and always has been. And in my opinion the very best line of the entire book was on page 736...

"NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!"

screamed in parental rage and anguish before Molly, the overlooked mother figure who folded laundry and waved her wand over the dinner table - Molly, who we had never really gotten to see in action, Molly...

kicked Bellatrix Lestrange's butt in front of the entire school and Voldemort. Single-handedly cursed her into oblivion. If I hadn't known Rowling was a mom before I sure would've known it then. It was brilliant. And I never saw it coming. I was so sure Neville would be the one to take down Bellatrix.

Then there's Snape. He didn't die the way I imagined, but he did turn out to be a good guy. A foul tempered, complicated good guy, but still. It wasn't until I had read his death scene a few times that I understood the significance of him asking Harry to look in his eyes as he died. [insert sobbing sounds here]. I liked the arc with the Malfoys and how, even though they were a "dark" wizarding family, the love his parents had for Draco changed their allegiance and ultimately their actions. I liked the epilogue and the way it tied everything up, although I don't understand the significance of it being nineteen years later. Why nineteen? I'm enough of a softy to be glad that the happy couples ended up together. [insert sobbing sounds yet again].

I didn't like it when Fred died. I really didn't like it when Lupin died. I don't understand why Tonks had to die, except for the symbolism of their orphaned son and his godfather Harry. There were times where you felt like you were reading for quite a while with no action and then there was a lot of stuff happening all at once. As Sasquatch said there were long stretches where the main action was the characters whining about how uncomfortable they were while they were searching for the Horcruxes. I thought Neville would have a much larger role. I thought Ginny would be more active as well. I was positive she had one really well timed bat bogey hex in her.
I wished we had found out what happened with some of the other characters in the future. But then I saw this and got over it. It was enough.

It isn't a perfect book. It didn't have to be. But it's awfully close.

Sort Yourself Out

Okay, I obviously have too much time on my hands - not- but I stumbled across this and had to do it. It's a computerized Sorting Hat that asks you a whole slew of questions and then tells you which house you'd be in. The questions go really fast, so don't worry that it takes up a lot of time. (My computer is on good behavior mode at the moment, on the subject of worry. It will wait until my husband goes out of town next week to die completely).




This quiz is an eye opener. I have been convinced, along with most of the world I think, that I would be in Gryffindoor. Of course. If I had to pick a second choice it would have been Ravenclaw. So when I took the test the first time I didn't believe it and took it again. Nope. Same result. Who knew?

The sorting hat says that I belong in Hufflepuff!

Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot, and treat them just the same."

Hufflepuff students are friendly, fair-minded, modest, and hard-working. A well-known member was Cedric Digory, who represented Hogwarts in the most recent Triwizard Tournament.

Take the most scientific Harry Potter Quiz ever created.

Get Sorted Now!

Anyone else want to give it a shot and see what they come up with? (This is their blurb above, by the way). I'm working today, but would love to see other matches when I get home tonight. I thought it was very funny at the Harry Potter party July 20th when we all drew houses out of the bookstore's Sorting Hat. It was heavily stacked in Gryffindoor's favor and that was the house that we all got. All except Surfer Dude. Slytherin for him, sayeth the hat.

That's one smart Sorting Hat.

all done...

Disclaimer: No Harry Potter fans will be "Spoiled" in the reading of this blog.

Okay, so I read it in one fell swoop yesterday. Half of my ass still has no blood flow, but I'm done. So is Sasquatch. It's a funny thing. You think you are losing your connections with your teenager, but all day long we were within pages of each other. He reads like me. (I like that). The two younger ones ate noodles in a cup and entertained themselves and all was well. They read the books later for some reason and have never gotten into the whole marathon read thing. Oh well, only two copies I have to buy.

Discussion will have to wait, however, because I know that not everyone is a freak like me. So, in comments indicate when you have finished and when we have a group that is done - LET'S GO!! I am so ready!

This is going to be a quick one today anyway. My mom gets here from LA this afternoon. I have to work and my husband is in the final throes of film pre-production chaos. It's a little hectic around here.

But I finished the book... (uh, mom? Could you try to overlook the state of my house? Please?)

P Day post?

Riiiight....

deathly hallows predictions

I've been looking forward to midnight tonight for so long, and now it's almost here. Harry Potter. At last. I don't remember anything media related that I've dreaded and anticipated in such equal measure. Anticipated because I am head over heels in love with this series and have been for years. Because I want these characters to have a happy, well deserved ending. Some of them anyway. Dreaded because...well, lots of reasons. First is that it's the end. This is the last time we'll have this to look forward to. Also because I'm afraid of what's going to happen. I think J.K. Rowling is perfectly capable of killing off any of these characters I have come to feel I know so well and I don't want her to. For better or worse, we'll find out in less than 24 hours.

It's going to be something else.

During my recent re-reading of the series I thought a lot about what might happen in this last book. And because I want to give you all the chance to say "What were you thinking??" after you read the book, I humbly submit ( very abbreviated and underpontificated)

My Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Predictions

I believe that...

Dumbledore and Sirius really are dead and not faking it. I do think that in their own way they will each help Harry along this journey. I believe that somehow that two way mirror will survive being shattered by a foul tempered teen.

Snape is a good guy and will prove it by dying to save Harry. Or at least try. You don't have to be nice to be good. I think he killed Dumbledore because that was the deal the two of them made, not because he wanted to. Now that he will be Voldemort's go-to guy, he can help the cause a lot. I've also heard theories about him being in love with Lily Potter, which would explain a lot.

The R.A.B. in the fake Horcrux is Regulus Black, brother of Sirius, and that the real locket is somewhere in 12 Grimmauld Place. Maybe hidden in a filthy cupboard by Kreatcher. Speaking of Kreacher, I think that he could be an enormous source of information if Harry would just ask him.

The fact that Voldemort has even a drop of Harry's blood in him will be his downfall.

Aunt Petunia knows more than she's letting on. Her fear isn't just of looking odd to the neighbors.

The seventh Horcrux isn't Harry. Wouldn't it be bizarre if it had been Dumbledore? Or Snape?

Somehow, some way, Ginny is going to save the day with a bat bogey hex. And Neville and Luna will be very valuable players. I think Neville is going to be a major revelation here.

Who of the good guys will die? Ah yes, the nausea inducing question. Alright, let's hit hard first. Arthur and Molly Weasely are pretty vulnerable in my opinion. (And I will cry buckets). Hagrid. Lupin. (gulp) Every parental figure Harry has ever had. Maybe Draco? I'm not entirely convinced that Draco is going to follow in his father's footsteps.

And who will live? Well, I believe that The Boy Who Lived will live up to his name. With his best friends Ron and Hermione together (finally) and at his side. That he'll get the bat bogey hex girl in the end. And that after a showdown of epic proportions Lord Voldemort will get his wizard ass kicked and finally die a human death. Because this is a moral tale and good is supposed to beat evil. And live happily ever after. And because if Harry dies four people in my house will need therapy. Inpatient.

Just once could I be right?

Anyone else care to look the fool the morning after? Step on up.

Me? OCD?

I got (gently) accused yesterday of being OCD in my re-reading of the Harry Potter books pre Deathly Hallows. Now I am the first to admit that I can put the A in anal, but I didn't think this particular accusation was quite fair. It came from my friend Stacey, in her melodic Baltimore brogue, as she said that she herself was re-reading the last two only in DH prep. (On a completely unrelated note, why is it that so many of my dearest friends are East Coast types? Must investigate further. Stay tuned for upcoming blog analysis).

My indignant answer to Stacey is that I am clue searching. Like the rest of the universe I'm formulating theories about what will happen to these characters that have become so real to me. And I think there are tons of clues buried all the way back from the first book on because this whole series was planned so well from the start. I've got a slew of ideas, and I'm sure I'll be sharing them soon enough. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

The more I read the more in awe I am at J.K. Rowling and her forethought. To have plotted out seven books in such detail before even writing one absolutely floors me. I can't write a paragraph without changing course four times. The problem with so many book series is that the main characters change so much because they have to in order to become series material. For example, I love the Patricia Cornwell Kay Scarpetta series. (Or at least I did until the last three, which were just bizarre). The first book, Post Mortem, won every single British and American mystery award imaginable and is absolutely brilliant. (If you haven't read it and feel the urge take my advice and don't read it alone in the house. Seriously. I lent it to a friend when her husband was out of town and she didn't speak to me for a month). But the problem is that the main character, Scarpetta, was totally different in this book than she was in later books. She did so many things in the first book that were completely out of character in the later books. In order to make her able to carry a series, Cornwell had to change her drastically. I got over it eventually, but it was really jarring for a while.

The beauty of Harry Potter is that the characters have remained so consistent over six books. People may not behave the way you expect them to, but you believe that there's a reason for it other than sloppiness. And I trust - completely - that this series will end the way Rowling wants it to and not just as a way to write herself out of a corner she's backed herself into.

I can't wait.