Harry Potter Readalong, All the Gifs, Book 6, and an Apology

But first, the apology! I've dropped off the face of this readalong's earth, and it's all because of Doctor Who. I started watching the series (starting from 2005) about the same time that we all started reading Book 5, and Doctor Who quickly took over my life. It was (is?) all I do when I get home from work.

I did manage to catch up on Book 6 (and by "catch up on" I mean "read all of") during last weekend's readathon, though, so here I am! I'm SO excited to have made it back to the real world (or the Harry Potter world, depending on how you choose to see it) in time for the last book. And the end of the sixth book. BECAUSE DUMBLEDORE. Even though I knew this was coming, it was still ALL THE FEELS.

Actually, I may have had even more feels this time through than in the re-reads of Books 1-5 because this was the first book I was reading for only the second time (rather than the 4th or 5th or seventy-gabillionth time, I'm looking at you, Sorceror's Stone). So while I knew what was coming, I was still fuzzy on recalling all of the other details surrounding that awful, awful moment. I'd sort of even forgotten the whole Draco-is-supposed-to-do-this bit, at least until I got to about chapter 5. But I digress. Because I had been so keen on simply finding out what was going to happen in my first (and previously only) read of the sixth book, I missed a lot, which mean I had a lot more to rediscover in this book than in the others that I've read over and over again.

I've decided that the Malfoys' storyline, while brought on entirely by their own greed and self-servance (not a word, but it'll do), is also kind of heartbreaking. Narcissa (such an obvious name choice, JK) really just wants what is best for her son, and her son really just wants what any teenage boy wants--to prove he's not a child anymore, and to impress his parents (and everyone else, while he's at it). I still hate the whole lot of them, and Draco is utterly atrocious in this book (illegal curses? Come on, Snape, even you can't turn a blind eye on that one), but at least we get to see some Malfoy heart. Such as it were. 

(Question, though--if the dementors have run off, but Lucius is in jail at Azkaban... who is guarding Azkaban? And is it really as bad as it once was if the dementors aren't there to make it terrible?)

Other things that are brilliant about this book: Luna's Quidditch commentary (though I do rather miss whats-his-face from the earlier books, as he was rather funny); Fleur's undying love for Bill and Mrs. Weasley's eventual acceptance of Fleur through the olive branch that is actually a tiara (perfect!); Harry and Ginny finally getting it on in their awkward teenagery ways. I also really love Harry's continual standing up to the Minister of Magic, proving himself Dumbledore's man through and through. Warms my heart, that does.

So, I'm uber-excited for the last book, which I really, truly did not like the first time I read it, but given all the tings I realized I'd forgotten in the sixth book, I'm going into with an open mind (and lower expectations than the first time, because let's face it, I had set the imaginary bar pretty damn high when I read the seventh book the first time.) 

ONWARD!

---

PS - In honor of my newfound Doctor Who addiction, all gifs above are Doctor Who themed. Sorry I'm not  really all that sorry about that.

HP#4: The Big Reveal, or, Dumbledore is Amazeballs

HPatGoF is inteeeeense, y'all. I did not remember how absolutely suspenseful the last few chapters were; even knowing how the book ends, I stayed up well past my bedtime this week to finish this section. And my, does it tug the heartstrings. There's no gentle lead-in to Diggory's death. It's just, boom, we're noble and heroic and we will share the championship FOR HOGWARTS! and then boom, Portkey and then boom, Avada Kedavra, dead.

Also, I love that we get to see Dumbledore's true badassery in this section, as he immediately figures out the Moody situation and deals with it without delay. Harry says Voldemort is back? Ok, then, let's get real about this and see what we can do to stop it. Oh, and Minerva, while we're sorting things out, go get that black dog from my office and tell him we'll be right in. Moody is really Crouch sipping Polyjuice Potion to make him look like Moody? Truth serum, stat. He also wears his scary face and brooks no nonsense. I like that in a wizard.

There is so much set up for Book 5 in the last few chapters of Book 4, it makes me all tingly inside. Not set up like Book 4 loses its way, but Voldemort comes back, we learn who really is a Death Eater (no surprises there, quite), the Weasleys are called upon to be awesome yet again, Snape goes off on some undefined errand for Dumblydorr, the mystery of Crouch is revealed, Sirius shows himself to his fellow Voldermort-haters, and we just know that things are going down. It's like it's impossible to read this scene without hearing dramatic but excited music playing in the background.

I know there are a lot of things that happen that are fascinating that aren't directly related to Voldemort's return to power (Fred & George's money, for one, and the tournament itself, for another), but I am easily distracted by dramatic crescendo-ing conclusions, and now I'm all giddy for the next book. 

Harry Potter #4: Part the Third, or Percy Is a Swine-Nosed Imp

This week, I finally got my act together and took notes while I was reading so that I wouldn't get to the end of the week and suddenly find all the thoughts leaking out of my head. Unfortunately for me (or, actually, for you fellow readalongers), these notes didn't prove all that coherent. Case in point:

"Percy is a swine-nosed imp."

I didn't even reference a page number, so I have no idea what got me all bent out of shape about Percy (this time).

In other news, this week, we learn all about how Rita Skeeter is the absolute worst, and how Albus Dumblydorr is all about second chances: Hagrid (we knew that already), Lupin (who couldn't love Lupin?), and, it turns out, Snape (ugh, Snape).

Snape is still an asshat, Karkaroff is up to no good, and that mermaid scene underwater is actually kind of creepy, because, well, friends and loved ones knocked out and floating under water under threat of death or other imminent demise if not rescued within one hour.

I'm really glad Harry got extra points for honor, because even though they all laugh it off and pretend like of course Hogwarts wouldn't actually let someone die/disappear/be eaten by merpeople if they weren't rescued within an hour... the clue does actually say that that something "black" will happen. So good on you, Harry, for being a hero, because if we've learned anything in the last 3 books, it's that sometimes the wizarding world is more harsh than we might expect.

Other things I thought about:

- How many dots must show up on the Marauder's Map at any one time? This goes back to the maths (I blame the readalong for this obsession with the maths), but really, if it shows everyone, doesn't that make the map a little crowded? And... wouldn't it mean Harry could figure out where the other Houses' common rooms are, because there would be clusters of students there?

- Myrtle complains to Harry that sometimes she gets flushed out into the lake when someone isn't paying attention. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? First of all, gross, Hogwarts, that's pollution, you can't just flush your crap into the lake and then expect students to go diving into it to rescue their loved ones. Second of all, gross, Myrtle, just leave the toilet if someone starts using it. Third of all, I thought ghosts couldn't be affected by material things (they can't eat real food, for instance), so how could the water force her to move against her will? I don't know why I am so hung up on this, but I am.

Things are getting iffy with Crouch and Bagman, Moody is up to something, Sirius is suspicious, Hermy-own-ninny and Skeeter are going to duke it out, and the great maze challenge is upon us. I'm so excited for the rest of this book.

Harry Potter, Book 4: Triwizarding, Awkward Teenage Arguments, and SPEW

Note #1: I really should start taking notes while reading, because I always have all the thoughts and then it comes time to sit down and write my weekly post and *poof!* Thoughts be gone. (Maybe this is the result of too many Memory Charms!?)

Note #2: I'd really, truly forgotten how much I like this book.

When we last left off, Hogwarts had just announced the Triwizard Tournament and everyone was plotting how to get around Dumbledore's Age Line to put their name in the Goblet of Fire. Now, the other competing schools have arrived and SURPRISE! Harry Potter's name has come out of the Goblet of Fire.

I mean, obviously we knew this was coming (even those of us who hadn't read the book, right?), because how could there be anything amazing happening at Hogwarts without Harry being a part of it? (JK also gave it away a little bit by calling the book "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," if you ask me.)

Which, of course, is pretty much Ron's take on things, because he immediately starts snubbing Harry and acting totally immature and jealous, even though I really do feel bad for him because once, just once, he just wants something amazing to happen to him. Hermione sums it up when she says he just feels overshadowed. Again.

And, once again, Hermione proves herself the most intelligent witch/wizard around--this time, including the professors--because obviously Harry could not have hoodwinked the Goblet of Fire into thinking there should be four competitors on his own, and even more obviously, he could not have tricked Dumbledore's Age Line without Dumbledore's knowing it. Why is it that only Hermione (well, and Harry) seems to be able to see this? 

There is Moody, of course, who also sees this is highly suspicious, but he sees everything as highly suspicious and is immediately dismissed as a paranoid whack-o. Oh, actually, maybe that's why everyone else dismisses any possible foul-play or danger-intending when Harry's name comes up.

Of course, Harry battles a dragon and pretty much plays Quidditch with it, Golden-Egg-Snitch and all, which is amazing, and Ron forgives him and everything is right as rain again (except for that whole someone-trying-to-do-Harry-in-bit). Which I'm grateful for, because pretty much every scene in the entire series in which HRH aren't speaking is my least favorite scene of them all.

NOW... Golden Eggs! Sirius returns! House elf liberation! Awkward romances!

Harry Potter, Book 4: There Is More to the Wizarding World Than Hogwarts

Well, there is more to the wizarding world than Hogwarts, Diagon Alley (and Knockturn Alley), and Platform 9 3/4, anyway. This is by far my favorite part of book 4 -- Rowling's reveal of other parts of the wizarding world. And this reveal comes long before the Triwizard Tournament sheds light on other wizarding schools; the Quidditch World Cup is teeming with new wizard-y things we didn't know about before this book:

• Professional, post-graduation wizards who are not professors, including Bill and Charlie, Percy's new appointment to the Ministry, Mad-Eye Moody's work as an Auror, etc.
• More about the Ministry of Magic than just the Minister and the occasional ax-man, including a Department of Magical Games and Sports, Aurors (wicked cool profession, no?), the Improper Use of Magic Office, the Department of International Magical Cooperation, the Department of Mysteries, and the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad.
• Other wizard schools, including Durmstrang and Beauxbatons.
• The awesome and wonderful and amazing extent the wizarding world goes to to make sure Muggles don't know about wizards at all. Although I do have to wonder if those Memory Charms do lasting damage... seems to me that messing with memory that often is a dangerous thing.

Don't let the Muggles see you.

Also, aren't the Weasleys just the grandest? I was crying from laughing when they plastered their "normal" letter with postage to get it to the Dursleys, and then Mr. Weasley's attempts to fix the living room, and standing up for Harry when his uncle is (yet again) a total jerk to Harry, and then when they get all mad but secretly love it when Dudley eats the tongue-growing candy, and then when Arthur is so awesome with the big scare at the World Cup.

Which brings me to the darker side of the wizarding world that is revealed here--house-elf slavery, Death Eaters, dark marks, painful scars, extreme mudblood loathing. There's a lot of set up in this first chunk of HPatGoF, but it's all pretty spectacular set up.

Hermione after learning her food is made by house elves.

I'd forgotten how much I love this book! (And, let's face it, what I crush I have on Cedric.)

Harry Potter Readalong: This One Is Still My Favorite

Disclaimer: I fell behind in my reading last week and haven't quite caught up, so some of the thoughts below are based on my skim of the end of the book and/or my memory of the story from my first 47 reads of it. I've got a three-day weekend coming my way, though, so I'll catch up for book 4!

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is still my favorite. Sure, the first half is a little slow, but it's also the first time Rowling dives into really setting up more than an obvious good-guy-bad-guy plot, so we can roll with it, right?

Some thoughts on the good guys and bad guys:

I dig Lupin, and hate that he has to leave Hogwarts, because he really is the best DADA professor they've had to date.

Also, does anyone else find that there are times in this book when we can almost side with Snape? I kind of dig it. He's slimy and despicable but also rather pitiable, and god knows the man must be lonely, and imagine if you were Snape and HP comes along and does whatever the hell he wants and gets away with it... yeah, I'd be irked, too. But then he's all willing to throw Sirius back under the bus (A BUS FULL OF DEMENTORS) because of some petty high school nonsense and suddenly I can't side with him anymore, even though he tries to protect the fearsome trio, so screw you, Snape, for being so damn complicated.

And my big revelation of Book 3: I'm not actually a huge fan of Sirius. I mean, sure, his life sucks and he was totally framed for something he didn't do and has since become the most reviled wizard in the wizarding world, and that's completely unfair, but he also kind of acts like a jerk (Shredding the Fat Lady? C'mon!). I guess he comes around eventually with the whole fill-in-parenting thing (the permission slip for Hogsmeade is a nice touch), but I just don't think he's doing himself any favors here.

Other things that generally rock about this book:

• Patronus Charms (Spells based on happy thoughts? How's that for a good dose of positive thinking therapy?)
• All the Animagi. So many Animagi.
• The Marauder's Map

Harrius Potter Readalong, Book 3, Part 0.63

This week's readalong post is supposed to be the first part of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, but work got the better of me this week so I've only read about 63% of the first half of the book.  I'm also pretty beat from said work this week, have family in town this weekend, and feel a migraine settling in, so apologies in advance for the lateness and brevity of this week's post.

Things I love about HPatPoA and most definitely contribute to it being my favorite:

• The inflatable aunt. 'Nuff said.
• The Knight Bus: First of all, it's the Knight Bus instead of the Night Bus, which, while a touch more obvious than some of Rowling's other wordplays (Diagon Alley and Knocturn Alley, anyone?), I still dig it. Also, it has beds that are apparently not anchored to the ground as they shift around while the bus moves, and the driver doesn't seem all that good that good at actually driving.
• The Book of Monsters that tries to eat its readers. Let's figure out a way to do this on books in our Muggle world, yes? And they say publishing is a dying industry...

I'll be back next week for the end of HPatPoA with more thoughts than my current state allows, and will hopefully be able to articulate, after re-reading this one for the umpteenth time, why, exactly, I've always thought of it as my favorite.

Harry Potter Readalong: All the Gifs, Chamber of Secrets Part Deux

The end of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets! I wish I could say why I've always considered this one my least favorite of the series, but alas, I cannot. I actually rather liked it this time through. Perhaps our tastes change, or perhaps it's been long enough since my last re-read of the series that I've forgotten how they all fit together and upon finishing it will once again revert to my previous opinion of this being my least favorite of the series except the last one. Who's to tell how the mind of a Harry Potter fanatic may work?

Spoilers:

We dove into the second half of this novel with only one Petrification, but it's only a matter of pages before Colin Creevey gets the hairy eyeball. Or snaky eyeball. Then it's Hermione (gasp!), who of course gets hit right after figuring out everything, which leaves Harry and Ron on their own and reminds us how much better the three of them are as a "three of them" instead of the "two of them."

Some questions:

Do all of the students at Hogwarts wear pointy hats? Did I just miss this in the first book when they talked about uniforms, or was this just students of yesteryear? (page 243 of the hardcover: "A boy of about sixteen entered, taking off his pointy hat.") Or is JK just checking to see if we are paying attention? None of these kids have been wearing pointy hats in my imagination. THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING.

When Harry and Ron go to visit poor Petrified Hermione, they find a torn piece of a library book in her poor Petrified hand. Was anyone else astounded to think that Hermione would tear a piece of a library book out? She is so much more of a badass than I sometimes give her credit for.

And lastly, I swear I did not know that this book ended on a conversation about phone conversations, or I wouldn't have been so hung up on the lack of phone conversations at the beginning of the book. I promise. I'd like to retract my previous statements about how Harry needs to get with it and share his phone number and give him 10 points for thinking of it himself. Now I'll be looking through the rest of the books as I re-read to see if they ever actually do call Harry...

So, to sum up Chamber of Secrets: Not sure why I thought this was my least favorite, though verdict is still out until I finish the whole series. Dobby is still awesome, Lockhart is now doubly awful because he can't even remember who he is. Harry does know how to use a phone, and we can all look forward to less back story in the rest of the series... right?

Harrius Potter, Book 2 Part 1 (I think?)

So apparently I am not so good at readalongs, because last week I plum (plumb?)  forgot to read the end of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and then I also forgot to write about how I forgot to read it and THEN I had a crazy day at work on Friday and went to NYC for the weekend so I never even visited other people's posts. Sorry, guys.

(Also, while I am confessing my Harry Potter sins, I am just going to go ahead and admit that I *always* spell "sorcerer's" wrong the first time and then spellcheck goes all squiggly on me until I fix it.)

But here I am, ready to talk about the first part of Chamber of Secrets (which I spell correctly on the first try)! I've always thought of this one as my least favorite of the series (besides the last one, which we will come to in due course), but I rather like it this time around. Maybe it's because it's my so-called least favorite and therefore also my least re-read (again besides the last one).

Anyway, this is where we first meet Dobby, and I seem to be in the minority of readalongers because I actually like the poor guy! Or if I'm being really honest and admitting that I only like him because of later books, I can at least honestly say that I don't dislike him. I feel bad for the poor guy! Shutting his fingers in the oven and ironing his ears and generally self-mutilating and unable to use his awesome magic for himself?

Besides dear ol' Dobby, other thoughts on these chapters:

Why don't wizards have phones and email like Muggles? I get that they can Apparate, and send mail via owls who somehow seem to know where everyone in the wizarding world is at any given moment, but even with all that fancy magic, sometimes a quick call or email would come in hella handy. Like, you know, when Harry is locked in his room and can't unlock Hedwig to send a letter. Couldn't he just call Hermione who also lives in the muggle world?

I spent a good part of the mandrake-repotting herbology class trying to remember if I should remember Justin Finch-Fletchley's name with no luck. Also, Lockhart is the worst. Colin Creevey isn't so much better, come to think of it. Onwards to petrification!

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.

Harry Potter Readalong: An Illustrated Introduction

Harry Potter, I am re-reading you. In toto. All of you. In order. For the first time. And I am excited! (NOTE: This is not my first read of the series. Or my first re-read of any individual book. Just my first re-read of the whole series in order start to finish.)

There will be a lot more like this as we progress, I promise you that.

I'll be participating in Reading Rambo's Harry Potter All the Gifs Readalong, which basically means there will be a lot of gifs and a lot of my looking for clues of horcruxes and Dumbledore's awesomeness and generally oohing over how adorbs Dobby is and a lot of remembering how I spent most of my adolescence waiting for an owl of my own (I read the first book when I was ten so my eleventh birthday was simultaneously the most stressful and disappointing birthday ever, because, spoiler alert, I never did get an owl).

Introduction-y bits: I am Kerry, from Maryland, and my Instagram account is pretty much all pictures of books I am reading, books I think are pretty, bookstores I like, and/or my dog wearing silly sweaters.

Other things of relative import that sort of qualify as introduction-y:

I once read Harrius Potter et Philosophi Lapis, which is Harry Potter in Latin. Now I can only read the first sentence (and by "read", I mean "have memorized in English and can therefore sort of translate.")

I read the first book when it first came out, which meant I waited for each and every single solitary book to follow, which meant I went to a lot of midnight book releases. I even worked at a local bookstore for one of them, and wore a homemade glitter-y Harry Potter tank top to work that night while decorating the store in all HP everything (including a snitch and a broom hanging from the ceiling).

Notice that we made the drink cooler into Hogwarts Cafe.
No corner of the store escaped undecorated.

Also, when the sixth book came out, my then-boyfriend-now-husband and I were too broke to buy two copies, so we bought one and read it out loud to each other since we didn't want to wait for the other to finish it before starting. #truelove

When my then-boyfriend-now-husband and I talk like our dog (that's a normal dog-owner thing, right?), we speak in Dobby's voice, because Indy and Dobby have the same crazy expressive ears. 

Indy will be going as Dobby for Halloween next year.

So, full nerd-dom confessed, I am setting out to re-read the whole series which I conveniently own in a boxed set with what promise to be some very fun fellow readalongers. Read on!