Harry Potter

[Spartan Girl]

Yeah, I think it's time we started a thread for the HP books.

 

I love Harry Potter.  Always have and always will.  JK Rowling is one of my favorite authors, and I really hated how the fans and media completely blew the "Hermione should have ended up with Harry" thing out of proportion.  The shipping fans can get really crazy...

 

Anyhoo, while I will always have a special place in my heart for the first book, I think the last book is one of my favorites.  Perhaps I'm a little too easy to please, but I was satisfied with how the series ended.  Except a lot of my favorite character died of course.  *sob*  I could almost forgive Fred, but Hedwig?!  That was just so sad and pointless.

[GaT]

 

Except a lot of my favorite character died of course.  *sob*  I could almost forgive Fred, but Hedwig?!  That was just so sad and pointless.

Hedwig dying broke my heart.

[Athena]

Some of my fondest book memories are anticipating each sequel and then going to the bookstore the morning of the release day. Then I binged read the book. I experienced four book release days and each more hyped up than the one before especially since for some part of it, I was semi-involved with the HP fandom. I honestly don't think I'll ever feel the same way about the release of another series. I was always excited and I enjoyed each book (though some more than others). I love the characters a lot and I'm easy too, I was satisfied with how it ended. It was a sad day when I finally got the last book because I knew there wouldn't be another release day like it again.

[Chip]

I got on board kind of late, so maybe only bought the last two or three when they came out. Got spoiled on the Dumbledore death by some idiot on the internet a few hours before the book came out. Oh yeah, spoiler.

[halgia]

My family bought two copies of I think book 5 because my brother and I couldn't agree on who would get to read it first.

[benteen]

I miss not having a new Harry Potter book and movie to look forward to.

[Quilt Fairy]

I think I got into the series when the 3rd book was first being published and I got hooked. By the time the last 2 or 3 books came out, I was one of the millions who had Amazon deliver the book ASAP that day. I remember I got spoiled by accidently opening one of the books and seeing a title chapter that gave away someone's death (I think it was Hedwig). After that I carefully put a rubber band around the book to only reveal one chapter at a time. I've never done that with any other book.

 

Even though these were children's books, they were so intelligently written and had so many levels that any adult could enjoy them as well.  I was always amazed that some people would forbid their children from reading them or want them banned. I remember talking to a friend and I mentioned the HP novels and she said she had never read them. I told her how good they were, and she got very uneasy and said "But they're about witchcraft." "No", I replied, "they're about magic. Big difference." She really acted like they were dangerous books to read. It revealed a very different side of her to me.

 

I saw the movies, and they were OK, but sacrificed so much detail from the book for the sake of over-the-top CGI graphics. I always felt that the movies should have had a narrator to explain what the hell was going on at times. For example, the entire first movie we never learn the name of Harry's owl. But at least I could insert the details from my own knowledge of the novels. I have always wondered how someone who had not read the books could enjoy the movies.

[GaT]

Just something that really bugs me. At the beginning of the very first book, Dumbledore uses something called a put-outer to put out the lights. By the very last book, the name of the item has thankfully been changed to deluminator. I don't know why, the "put-outer" has always bugged the shit out of me, even before I knew that they changed what it was called. For a series with so much imagination "put-outer" is a really lame name for something. Are they still printing the first book? I wonder if they changed the name there.

[Mountainair]

I'm turning 30 this year and got into the books after the third one. My grandparents bought my little brother a copy of the first one for Christmas the year it came out and it took me a while to pick it up and give it a shot. After that I was hooked. My husband and I would order the Amazon delivery for the day it came out (I attended one midnight release party). One year, I think it was for the fifth book, we were away on vacation (hour and a half drive away), left our vacation so we could get the mail delivery of our book, drove back to vacation and read Harry Potter the rest of the time.

We always purchased two of every book and would sit on the couch and read and discuss. I'm a faster reader than my husband and it would irritate me that I'd have to wait for him to finish a chapter :)

While the movies weren't great, I did appreciate putting faces to the names and learning how to pronounce Hermione!

Edited June 16, 2014 by Mountainair

[Joe]

Just something that really bugs me. At the beginning of the very first book, Dumbledore uses something called a put-outer to put out the lights. By the very last book, the name of the item has thankfully been changed to deluminator. I don't know why, the "put-outer" has always bugged the shit out of me, even before I knew that they changed what it was called. For a series with so much imagination "put-outer" is a really lame name for something. Are they still printing the first book? I wonder if they changed the name there.

As a writer, I can tell you we sometimes run out of ideas and call things what they are. Or it was a placeholder and Rowling forgot to put the proper name in when she came up with it.

[halgia]

For a series with so much imagination "put-outer" is a really lame name for something. Are they still printing the first book? I wonder if they changed the name there.

Just checked that my Kindle copy does call it a "Put-Outer." But, for a kid's book, calling something simple and descriptive is maybe better than a name like "deluminator." The latter is just as straightforward a description of what it does to someone who knows Latin roots, but to a kid who doesn't, it's just some weirdo name. By the end of the series, there'd been a lot more exposure to Latin-based names for things, and also it wasn't trying to be as little-kid-friendly as the first book was.

[scarynikki12]

As I recall, the deluminator got its name during the reading of Dumbledore's will while it was merely being described in the first book.  So, keeping in mind that the real reason is that Jo probably hadn't intended on naming it until she put pen to paper for book 7, the way she structured it does work.  When we first encounter it, we are brand new to the wizarding world, mere pages ahead of Harry, so calling it a Put-Outer and describing its function makes perfect sense.  Dumbledore giving it the proper name in his will, after we'd spent six books immersing ourselves in the world with Harry, also makes perfect sense.  Now, if McGonagall or Dumbledore had referred to it themselves, I'd be annoyed too but Jo made it work once she decided to give it a proper name.

[chelsie]

The more I read the books the more my liking of them diminishes greatly. JKR dropped the ball on a lot of stuff. She has a great imagination and she created an amazing universe, but thats where it ends really.

 

I know he is popular but Ron Weasley irritated me greatly. He was lazy, slow, rude and always jealous. Always.

 

That JKR saddled Hermione with him blows my mind. I'm afraid I never bought into the whole "balancing each other out" and how he "makes her relax and enjoy herself", because he really didn't; she enjoyed reading books and we rarely saw Hermione laughing/having fun with Ron. She also liked to dance, Ron didnt. Victor Krum allowed her to truly let her hair down to the point she forgot all about the house elf slavery, and he made her feel confident.

 

If she needed to be with a Weasley, why not stick her with Fred? He was hard working, creative and funny. Unlike Ron, he wouldn't make her feel bad for her achievements (see Slug Club).

 

We were supposed to feel sorry for Ron but his problems were self-fulfilling; all of the Weasley children had pressures but they all worked hard to be good at something...

 

Book 5 is when the trio went out dating people while training their underground army. Book 6 is when they should have been looking at the dark books to see what they were up against. Hermione was shot in the chest with a purple flame and not once does she express any curiosity about the spell that nearly took her life.

 

. Instead, JKR embarks on a humiliating storyline for her, and makes it clear that she has no girlfriends and has made zero connections with others throught her 6 years. As for Ron, book 1-5 Hermione wouldn't let that ish slide.. he'd be begging for MERCY. I really can't believe JKR would have Ron treat Hermione poorly because of a 2 year old kiss, and not have her try to move on. (Cormac doesn't count). Ron get poisoned but does not apologise for his behaviour, but all is right with the trio again.

 

Harry, well aware of Voldie's resurgence, did nothing in book 6 to improve his magic. Nothing.

 

I also hated the way slytherins= bad and griffendor=good. I mean why not just abolish the slytherin house?

 

I think Slug club was an excellent opportunity for Harry and Hermione to gain some slytherin allies, instead JKR thought it fit to include a scene where Ginny and Harry are chuckling at the idea of Hermione being stuck with Zabini at the slug club.

 

 

[chelsie]

I know it is futile asking for realism in a series where there are evil snake over lords, but there is no way 2 wizards with no viable start up capital is able to turn WW as anything more than a pocket money earner; 1000 galleons is no where near enough to cover even a months premises rent and materials to make the products.

 

Also its funny how JKR allow the men to create incredible fanciful things; the twins are inexplicably able to incorperate the patronous charm to a bunch of hats, the marauders create a complicated map, etc.. I can't recall a woman character creating anything.

[scarynikki12]

Wizarding money goes much farther than Muggle money, though.  In Book 2, we get a glimpse of just how poor the Weasleys are when their Gringott's vault is opened and we see only a few coins.  Those coins are enough to pay for second hand school supplies for all the Weasley kids, with the exception of the new DADA books written by Lockhart.  In the WW, there are many items that are very expensive, but it seems that knuts and sickles are enough for basic needs.  Even Ron didn't have a new wand until his family won the Prophet's Galleon Grand Prize, because wands are probably more expensive than the every day items like robes and food.  

 

So, I have no problem with the 1000 galleons being enough start up capital.  Plus, we only know that their shop was very successful from the start, not the details of their finances.  It's very possible that Diagon Alley has reasonably priced rent, or that the general goodwill that witches and wizards were shown to have for Arthur extended to whomever is in charge of the rentals, or that they had other investors (they only mentioned Harry by name but I wouldn't be surprised if Lee Jordan, Angelina, or their parents offered a few galleons as well).  Hell, we know they were selling their products at Hogwarts before they left and seemed to charge a decent amount, so maybe they made enough there that they didn't need any other investors.  Since none of this was mentioned in the books, it may very well be that Harry's investment was all they had but, when we look at it, all they needed was money for the initial rent and supplies and 1000 galleons should be more than enough.  From there they made a shit ton of money and fast, which would take care of their subsequent rent and supply needs.

[GaT]

 

If she needed to be with a Weasley, why not stick her with Fred? He was hard working, creative and funny. Unlike Ron, he wouldn't make her feel bad for her achievements (see Slug Club).

Because Fred dies.

[Helena Dax]

I read somewhere than 1 galleon= 5 pounds.

 

I like the books but I also have some problems with them. There's something about the moral of the books that I find completely fake. By example, when Dumbledore goes to Privet Drive and he starts to berate the Dursleys I think we're supposed to think that they had it coming, but all I could think was "hey, Dumby, do you remember that McG told you that the Dursleys were horrible? Do you remember that you never went to see if they were treating Harry properly?.And now you're saying that they never had a chance, because if they had cared about Harry he would be as awful as Dudley?". The Dursley are the worst, of course, but I think Dumbledore had no right to told them off. He left Harry with them and didn't  give a fuck about him until Harry went to Hogwarts. 

Edited June 25, 2014 by Helena Dax

[ybrik]

Well yeah if you look into the books enough you find obvious flaws or real stretches of logic.

 

It appears that Dumbledore must have known something about how Harry was being raised since the one letter was addressed to Harry in the cupboard. Of course him knowing Harry was being made to sleep in a cupboard isn't much better.

 

Regarding the Twins, weren't they before they got the store running a mail order business so they may have made some monies that way.

 

The only two women who made anything that I can think of were Hermione with the DA coins and also the jinxed DA signup letter. The other was Luna with Gryfindor head piece that roared.

[Athena]

Well yeah if you look into the books enough you find obvious flaws or real stretches of logic.

 

It appears that Dumbledore must have known something about how Harry was being raised since the one letter was addressed to Harry in the cupboard. Of course him knowing Harry was being made to sleep in a cupboard isn't much better.

 

Regarding the Twins, weren't they before they got the store running a mail order business so they may have made some monies that way.

 

The only two women who made anything that I can think of were Hermione with the DA coins and also the jinxed DA signup letter. The other was Luna with Gryfindor head piece that roared.

 

I didn't get the impression those letters were personally written. It was a spell that found the student and kept spamming them if they didn't read the letter. Not to say Dumbledore didn't know about it, but I thought it was automated in the magical way.

 

I think the Twins had some side business, and we're made to believe they were good at marketing and business which I can believe. 1 galleon does equal about 5 quid/UK Pound. Still not comparable to muggle startups, but maybe they also got a side loan.

[scarynikki12]

McGonagall warned Dumbledore about the Dursleys, but they were the only blood relatives and therefore the only ones who could be used to protect Harry from Voldemort and the Death Eaters.  We don't have confirmation that Dumbledore invented the spell that utilized Lily's sacrifice as protection so he may have been unable to make alterations on the fly and he implied that time was of the essence for that spell.  I honestly don't know if he would have done anything if he'd been able to adjust the spell, but it's possible.  I do think that a small part of Dumbledore genuinely believed that there was a chance they would embrace their nephew, as Petunia and Lily once had a good relationship, but he was ultimately focusing on the bigger picture and Harry living with the Dursleys was a significant part of that.

 

I'm actually the opposite when I reread the books as I always find something new to enjoy.  

[Helena Dax]

I'm sure Dumbledore thought it was the best choice but I think he should have visited Harry  to confirm he was being well treated. 

[Anna Yolei]

I got on board kind of late, so maybe only bought the last two or three when they came out. Got spoiled on the Dumbledore death by some idiot on the internet a few hours before the book came out. Oh yeah, spoiler.

You think that's bad, a British friend of mine avoided the 'Net for a week before the book came out, just to get spoiled by two schoolgirls on the subway that were talking too loud. :p

[Lovecat]

I was not spoiled about Dumbledore's death, and finished Half-Blood Prince at about 3AM after returning from a business trip, a mere 4 months after my own mother's death.  There's a line that I return to again and again, because it was the first time I was able to apply words to how I felt about losing her:  "There was no waking from this nightmare, no comforting whisper in the dark that he was safe really, that it was all in his imagination; the last and greatest of his protectors had died, and he was more alone than he had ever been.”  Oh, how I cried and cried that night.

 

So Half-Blood Prince will always have a special place in my heart, but I'd have to say my favorite of the books is Goblet of Fire.

[GaT]

I kept expecting Dumbledore to come back, until the end of the series I really thought something would happen & he would come back.

[Joe]

I realised he was doomed some years before. But then, the death of the mentor is one of the few tropes I'd managed to observe on my own. So I knew not to get attached.

[Spartan Girl]

JKR's official update on the gang via Rita Skeeter and Pottermore

 

This...is...awesome.  Auror Harry sounds hot.

[Athena]

JKR's official update on the gang via Rita Skeeter and Pottermore

 

This...is...awesome.  Auror Harry sounds hot.

 

Thanks for that! Hilarious. You can't take Skeeter seriously at all. What a pill.

 

Harry has been hot to me since the moment in Half-Blood Prince when he said he was Dumbledore's man. It was an odd feeling because I'd been reading Harry Potter books for almost a decade by that point and "grew up" with them. To see Harry become a man was satisfying. It's great character writing or at least pathos.

[Spartan Girl]

Oh no, don't get me wrong, I always thought Harry was a hottie.  It's just that description of him with the cut on his cheek...woof.

[GaT]

So glad to read a new Harry Potter story, & I love how Rita Skeeter keeps throwing in all sorts of insinuations (especially the one about Harry & Viktor Krum in the maze LOL) . I wish she would write more books, at least from the Harry Potter universe. I hated Casual Vacancy so much, that I don't think I would ever read another non Harry Potter book of hers again, but I love all the Harry Potter books.

[benteen]

I enjoyed that short story a great deal.  Reading through Skeeter's snark and insinuations was hilarious. 

 

I had completely forgotten about Pottermore.  I hear we get such details in there as to what the Wizarding government is in America.

 

I didn't like Casual Vacancy either.  Some parts of it were well-written but by the end of the book, I had no idea why she chose to write it.  It was that pointless.

 

I liked her detective story, The Cuckoo's Calling.  I'm currently reading the follow-up, The Silkworm, and I'm enjoying that even more.

[GaT]

I enjoyed that short story a great deal.  Reading through Skeeter's snark and insinuations was hilarious. 

 

I had completely forgotten about Pottermore.  I hear we get such details in there as to what the Wizarding government is in America.

 

I didn't like Casual Vacancy either.  Some parts of it were well-written but by the end of the book, I had no idea why she chose to write it.  It was that pointless.

 

I liked her detective story, The Cuckoo's Calling.  I'm currently reading the follow-up, The Silkworm, and I'm enjoying that even more.

I signed up for Pottermore as soon as it opened, but stopped going there soon after. While I understand that it's supposed to be for kids & is therefore set up that way, they should really allow older people to have a way to look at the site the way they want to instead of following the route that they have to. The fact that I can't just look at what I want, but have to look at things in a specific order & I have to look at all of it, completely turned me off of the site.

 

I've heard The Cuckoo's Calling is good, but after the nightmare of A Casual Vacancy, I just can't get myself to read it. I really hated ACV so much that I just don't think I'll ever be able to read any of her non HP books.

[Spartan Girl]

There's a line that I return to again and again, because it was the first time I was able to apply words to how I felt about losing her:  "There was no waking from this nightmare, no comforting whisper in the dark that he was safe really, that it was all in his imagination; the last and greatest of his protectors had died, and he was more alone than he had ever been.”  Oh, how I cried and cried that night.

 

 

Beautiful line.  But the one that broke me was in book 7 when Harry uses the resurrection stone to see his parents and Sirius and Remus: "His eyes feasted on (his mother) and he thought if he could just stand there and look at her forever, it would be enough." 

Edited July 14, 2014 by Spartan Girl

[omgsowicked]

I enjoyed that short story a great deal.  Reading through Skeeter's snark and insinuations was hilarious. 

 

I had completely forgotten about Pottermore.  I hear we get such details in there as to what the Wizarding government is in America.

 

I didn't like Casual Vacancy either.  Some parts of it were well-written but by the end of the book, I had no idea why she chose to write it.  It was that pointless.

 

I liked her detective story, The Cuckoo's Calling.  I'm currently reading the follow-up, The Silkworm, and I'm enjoying that even more.

 

I finished the first book on Pottermore and never returned. Couldn't even be bothered for this Rita/Ginny story. I don't know if I maxed out on Potter or if Pottermore just isn't doing it for me but meh to all of that.

 

I didn't bother with Casual Vacancy but I did read The Cuckoo's Calling and just finished The Silkworm not more than five minutes ago. Since this isn't the place, I won't spoil anything but I preferred Cuckoo. The mystery was good in both but the romance and the constant commentary on Strike's amputated leg in Silkworm... honestly, it made me finally see that JKR isn't the most amazing writer ever. Brilliant with the mystery/story but... I mean, come on, how many effing times to I have to hear about Strike's amputated leg and how inconvenient and painful it is? She mentioned it every chapter and it was so damn frustrating and repetitive. Like, my god, lady, I know.

 

Now that I've come to this conclusion, I'm curious to go back and read the Potter series and see if I see her books any differently now (haven't read the series since Deathly Hallows came out, shame on me).

[benteen]

I'm hoping to finish The Silkworm this weekend.  I'm still enjoying it more than The Cuckoo's Calling.  I do agree that she dwells a lot on Strike's leg a lot.

 

If there's one thing I find off-putting about Rowling's writing is that outside of the two main characters (Strike and Robin) she goes out of her way to make absolutely EVERY other character in the books as unlikeable and unpleasant.  I mean, every one of them.  Not to mention Strike and Robin constantly seem to be annoyed and judgmental about everyone they encounter and deal with.  It's a character trait I've noticed with Harry at times too and makes me wonder if that's how JK Rowling views many of the people she comes in contact with.  Annoying people who are often bitchy.

[GaT]

 

 

 

I finished the first book on Pottermore and never returned. Couldn't even be bothered for this Rita/Ginny story. I don't know if I maxed out on Potter or if Pottermore just isn't doing it for me but meh to all of that.

 

I didn't bother with Casual Vacancy but I did read The Cuckoo's Calling and just finished The Silkworm not more than five minutes ago. Since this isn't the place, I won't spoil anything but I preferred Cuckoo. The mystery was good in both but the romance and the constant commentary on Strike's amputated leg in Silkworm... honestly, it made me finally see that JKR isn't the most amazing writer ever. Brilliant with the mystery/story but... I mean, come on, how many effing times to I have to hear about Strike's amputated leg and how inconvenient and painful it is? She mentioned it every chapter and it was so damn frustrating and repetitive. Like, my god, lady, I know.

 

Now that I've come to this conclusion, I'm curious to go back and read the Potter series and see if I see her books any differently now (haven't read the series since Deathly Hallows came out, shame on me).

 

 

I'm hoping to finish The Silkworm this weekend.  I'm still enjoying it more than The Cuckoo's Calling.  I do agree that she dwells a lot on Strike's leg a lot.

 

If there's one thing I find off-putting about Rowling's writing is that outside of the two main characters (Strike and Robin) she goes out of her way to make absolutely EVERY other character in the books as unlikeable and unpleasant.  I mean, every one of them.  Not to mention Strike and Robin constantly seem to be annoyed and judgmental about everyone they encounter and deal with.  It's a character trait I've noticed with Harry at times too and makes me wonder if that's how JK Rowling views many of the people she comes in contact with.  Annoying people who are often bitchy.

 

Well, this pretty much guarantees that I won't be reading these books. One of the things that drove me crazy about A Casual Vacancy was that there wasn't a single likeable character in the book. 

[Spartan Girl]

 

One of the things that drove me crazy about A Casual Vacancy was that there wasn't a single likeable character in the book.

 

I guess I'm in the minority that didn't hate A Casual Vacancy but I totally agree about the unlikable characters.  But you got to hand it to JKR for not being too squeamish to kill off characters.  

That poor little boy

[GaT]

I guess I'm in the minority that didn't hate A Casual Vacancy but I totally agree about the unlikable characters.  But you got to hand it to JKR for not being too squeamish to kill off characters.  

That poor little boy

Exactly. In addition to your spolier 

His sister kills herself after the boy dies. The two victims end up dead, and all the assholes are still around.

The book is described as a dark comedy, I didn't even smile once.

[Spartan Girl]

Maybe it was supposed to be more of a satire.

 

Anyway, back to Harry Potter, one of the things that really impressed me about the final book was the semi-redemption of Dudley as a result of Harry saving him in OOP.  JKR definitely went for the unexpected route there, but it was a good way of showing that it is possible to overcome parental abuse -- because as Dumbledore said in HBP, the Dursleys spoiling Dudley was just as damaging as abusing Harry.  And I liked that while he and Harry would never be truly friendly, they at least parted on civil terms. 

 

But I'm not gonna lie: I was disappointed that Harry or Mrs. Weasley didn't turn Vernon into a dung beetle.  Would have loved that.

Edited July 17, 2014 by Spartan Girl

[benteen]

Sorry to get a touch off-topic before...

 

Dudley thanking Harry for saving his life was an unexpected but pleasant surprise.  It showed a lot for the Dudley character to do that.

[Athena]

I thought it was inevitable that we'd talk about the other JKR books. You're more than free to create a topic on her other works and even use a spoiler tag for it too so you don't have to feel restricted.

 

Yes, I really liked the Dudley moment as well. I thought that's the kind of stuff JKR can be good at. She actually writes some interesting character moments in the book. The whole Dumbledore arc was interesting too. Harry and the reader got to deconstruct the mysterious and enigmatic character. He was imperfect, but in the end, Harry was Dumbledore's man through and through.

[kathyk24]

Narcissa Malfoy choosing her son over Voldemort was great too. Bellatrix would have thrown a fit if she knew about it. I hate most Harry Potter fanfics but I love any story where the Dursleys get punished for abusing Harry.

[wingster55]

From the movie thread

thought he made a deeper connection with Luna Lovegood than with either Ginny or Hermione, since she is the only girl he talks to who knows what it's like to lose a parent.

 

I never thought of it like that..I did like their connection..especially when she gave him some optimism near the end of the seventh book. 

[Sharpie66]

I was working at Waldenbooks when we first got our copies of any Harry Potter books in stock. It was the summer after PoA came out in the US, and that was when the entire series went through the roof. By December, we could not keep any of the three books in stock, and the only time we had a stack of any of them available was if we received a shipment of HP books in that day. You could tell what had come that morning by how tall (or even existent) the stack of books was for each of the three--we would have a tall stack of #1, a few of #2, and a medium stack of #3, and then the next day, the size of each would change depending on which titles had arrived in the delivery truck.

 

I bought a set of all three for my 7-year-old nephew, thought "Hey, those sound interesting," and bought a set for myself, when the store had an employee discount day the weekend before Thanksgiving. Then, I realized I should probably read the first book, at least, before deciding to keep my own set. After I zipped through book 1 in about 2 1/2 hours and then went back and re-read the Quidditch chapter out loud just to hear how Lee Jordan's commentary sounded, I was hooked.

 

I bought Book 4 after I got back from vacation (I wore my freebie "HP4" hat that I got at a book convention that spring all over Disneyworld, and got some envious looks for it), got #5 at Borders at midnight (didn't dress up, but had fun looking at all of the fans!), got #6 from Amazon the morning it was released, and then started working at Barnes & Noble three weeks before Deathly Hallows was released, so I was working that night (dressed up as a Firebolt!), bought the book, took it home after we finally got off work at 2:30 am, and started reading it the next morning when I woke up.

 

Was blown away by Hedwig's death, and then started crying as soon as Harry was walking into the forest, and didn't stop until the end of the chapter.

 

I accept JKR's original pairings (and discount her "maybe Harry shouldn't have hooked up with Ginny" statement), and have really gotten to enjoy several fanfic authors who have put out some fantastic canon-based stories. My favorite standalone is "Desk Duty" by Mosylu, which for someone who is going to library school for my MLS, is a brilliant HP take on library issues such as weeding, storage, the care and feeding of the collection (literally!), and a wonderful take on the Patriot Act, all told from Madame Pince's perspective and featuring a showdown between her and Umbridge.

 

For a cohesive extension of the JKR canon, I cannot recommend Northumbrian enough. He is an Englishman from, surprisingly enough, Northumbria, who has developed a fantastic collection of stories that span from pre-history to the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts, use canon characters that are barely mentioned in the books and creates fascinating, interesting personalities for each (I love his Terry Boot, who looks like an NFL lineman in size, is extremely soft-spoken due to a stutter, and is talked into becoming an Auror by a conversation with Luna after the Battle, and his Susan Bones is just wonderful as well), as well as gives us fantastic original characters that interact with the canon characters (he has a Muggle policewoman who gets tangled up with a case that Harry and Ron are working early in their Auror careers, and then gets recruited by Harry to become a Muggle Liaison with the Auror office, yet another one of Harry's "crazy notions" in the Northumbrian stories).

 

In his stories, he has George trying to keep the joke shop running after the war, but failing due to the fact that, what worked during the war was all of their anti-Dark Magic products, not the joke stuff that the twins delighted in. Ron steps in to help George out and uses his strategic cunning (as displayed by his love of chess) and loyalty to his family to help George steer the store into becoming a government contractor for the Ministry (they develop a security system for the Ministry of Magic building that replaces the flushing technique we see in DH which is based on the Marauder's Map to make sure that people don't get into the building who aren't who they say they are, as well as Portkey Handcuffs for the Aurors to slap onto their suspects which automatically take them to a holding cell).

 

I love this guy's writing, and to be quite honest, read those stories more than I re-read JKR!

[AntiBeeSpray]

Sorry to get a touch off-topic before...

 

Dudley thanking Harry for saving his life was an unexpected but pleasant surprise.  It showed a lot for the Dudley character to do that.

Definitely. It caught me off guard and showed that he was able (at least to a point) to be different than his parents.

[Mrsjumbo]

I started reading the series when book 2 came out. I was on semi bed rest, pregnant with my twin boys, so I look back on the books fondly. There had been an article in Time magazine about the HP phenomenon that got me interested. Once I started, I was hooked! And having boy twins, of course I loved Fred & George.

I think book 7 is my favorite. I read it so quickly (picked it up at the midnight arrival) that I was disappointed in it. But after rereading it a few times I see how clever the plot is, & I like how she killed off Voldemort.

I tend to favor the classics & anytime I read a modern book I end up thinking "meh" & it is quickly forgotten. The HP series was first in a long time to get me excited and impatient for the next book.

I bought them all in hardback & they sit next to my old classics as a new classic.

Edited August 30, 2014 by Mrsjumbo

[GreekGeek]

But I'm not gonna lie: I was disappointed that Harry or Mrs. Weasley didn't turn Vernon into a dung beetle.  Would have loved that.

 

I've always thought that Vernon got kind of a bad rap. Don't get me wrong; his and Petunia's treatment of Harry was inexcusable. But consider his situation--here is a man who gets suspicious of anything out of the ordinary (he's upset by too many postage stamps on a letter, for heaven's sake), but he's expected to be totally accepting of a magical child that no one prepared him for. His only connection to the Wizarding World is through his wife, who's bitter that she never got to go to Hogwarts. 

 

Anyway--I got into the series about five years after the first book appeared, and was hooked. As a Latin teacher, I loved the Latin and fake-Latin spells and the names from classical myth and history. Snape was my favorite character, although looking back I see his mysteriousness was kind of contrived, because it was based on JKR withholding his whole story until the end. I well remember the endless debates on whether he was a good guy with a snarky personality or an out-and-out bad guy. You could take the same information and come up with two completely opposite but equally plausible scenarios. 

 

To me, the most hissable villain was not Voldemort but Umbridge. Voldemort was an obvious creation of fantasy (apart from a few monstrosities of history like Hitler), but Umbridge is all too commonplace if you're in the education field--the non-teacher who barges into your classroom and tells you how to do your job.

 

I actually thought the best-matched Weasley for Hermione was Percy.

 

Sorry to hear that people disliked much of JKR's post-Potter fiction. I was hoping for a really good social satire from her, the sort of stuff she wrote when describing people like the Dursleys.

[Sharpie66]

To me, the most hissable villain was not Voldemort but Umbridge...Umbridge is all too commonplace if you're in the education field--the non-teacher who barges into your classroom and tells you how to do your job.

 

 

Oh, my, yes!!  I mentioned it upthread, but the fanfic story "Desk Duty" deals with this very subject, only from the perspective of the Hogwarts librarian, Madam Pince. It's wonderfully written (and since I'm a librarian, I love it even more--you can telll the writer is also a librarian!).

 

Also, if you haven't read the Mark Reads Harry Potter recaps of the books, I highly recommend them. Mark actually is triggered by Umbridge, due to his own history of dealing with really bad education professionals as a student (not just teachers, but also counselors) http://markreadsharrypotter.buzznet.com/user/journal/7439161/mark-reads-harry-potter-archive/

Edited September 8, 2014 by Sharpie66

[turbogirlnyc]

From the movie thread

I never thought of it like that..I did like their connection..especially when she gave him some optimism near the end of the seventh book. 

 

I was a Harry & Luna "shipper". Both lost their mothers, both were optimistic, etc. I really think Luna was a better match for Harry than Ginny ever was. I just can't with those two. Especially after seeing the movies. 0 chemistry.

[Sharpie66]

I haven't reread the books in a while. Actually, my opinions on the characters has been really influenced by my favorite HP fanfic writer, Northumbrian, who writes canon-rooted stories that fill in all the holes (how did Dennis Creevey show up at the first DA meeting in the Hog's Head when he was only a second year? https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9112658/1/Hogsmeade ), all while putting together a really cohesive story of his own. All of his 77 stories (well, except for one parody) are all part of the same story that all tie together.

His Harry/Ginny relationship really makes sense, Hermione and Ron work because Ron isn't an idiot, and he makes secondary and teetiary characters fascinating (his Theodore Nott is the truest Slytherin of the lot). My favorite is the little hints he gives us of what happened with everyone else during the last book, both in Hogwarts and outside--Colin Creevey turns out to be a brilliant forger due to his camera skills, Justin uses his family's money to hide people in the Muggle world, and Fred and George are working with the resistance, with Hannah Abbot being the point person since she's been a barmaid at the Leaky Cauldron ever since her mother was killed by Deatheaters in book 6.

ETA: And I just realized I have already recommended him upthread. Sorry about that! I just got on a fic-reading kick after catching the last movie on tv today...

Edited October 20, 2014 by Sharpie66

[ApathyMonger]

The story of Dolores Jane Umbridge, on Today.com: http://www.today.com/books/j-k-rowling-writes-harry-potter-halloween-tale-profiling-malicious-1D80248516

 

No surprises, really. Rowling's thoughts on her at the end are interesting though.