Harry Potter Readalong... and so it begins!

This is the second of who-knows-how many posts in the Harry Potter Readalong, hosted by Alice at Reading Rambo. See other readalongers' posts here.

So. The great re-read of Harry Potter has begun! We're exactly nine chapters in, and my first observation is that I forgot that only half of the first book actually takes place in Hogwarts. Rowling takes her time setting this all up! But not in a bad way, just in a way that makes us love Diagon Alley and Gringotts and all the wizarding world by the time we finally get to it!

Really, though, I do love the beginning of this book:

The Boy Who Lived (how dramatic!)

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that there were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.

Right from the bat, we do not like these people! So snotty! So "thank you very much" and pinky out while drinking tea! And, of course, we know to expect something strange and mysterious, in part because we know they'll hate it, and in part because there is a picture of a boy flying a broomstick and catching a golden ball with wings on the front cover. Obviously, there will be lots of this:

The first few chapters of this first book are really some of my favorite, because we get to be on Harry's side and hate the Dursleys but also laugh at them, because they are downright hysterical caricatures of people when you get to know them, blustering along in their blustery ways. But! Then Harry (and us readers!) get to go to Diagon Alley, and Gringotts, and Platform 9 3/4, and Hogwarts! And it's pretty fun to snub the Dursleys like that.

Also, I forgot how Hermione really isn't a main character this early in the book. Like, at all. She's around about as much as Neville, and even then, she's not particularly likeable. Luckily we all know she gets to be super-important and super-attractive and featuring in Burberry ads by the time they are done making the movies.

Next Friday... the end of the first book! My, time flies.