The End

Goodness gracious wow. I finished.

Can I go back and reread it now?

Two Free Days

I have not read Harry Potter for the last 48 hours. Some time after midnight, that streak will end. After reading all six books again, I have definitely been in the wizarding world too much lately. It has been great. I am going to post my thoughts on "The Deathly Hallows", so there is a record of my poor prognostic ability.

• I don't think Harry is a horcrux.
• Neville Longbottom will be a part of the final fight with Voldemort and Luna Lovegood will end up with Neville.
• Ron will become head boy.
• I hope Bellatrix Lestrange does not fair well in this book because she is such a dark character.
• I don't know what will happen to Draco Malfoy, but my opinion of him changed when I reread his conversation with Dumbledore at the end of "Half-Blood Prince". Though Draco has been painted as a bad guy, or Harry's foil, he came off as misguided and pushed by circumstance into bad decisions. It is hard to believe that he would be committed to serving "The Dark Lord" after what has happened to him.
• If Voldemort is killed, I wonder what will happen to the Dark Mark on the Death Eater's arms. Is it linked to him somehow?
• I want to think a horcrux is hidden at the orphanage, but I am sure Dumbledore would have found it there. One could be hidden at Godric's Hollow, but I think it would have been moved after Voldemort came back to life. Though he was "defeated" there, it also shows he cannot be defeated finally.
• I think Ginny is perfect for Harry, but I have a feeling Ginny, Ron, Hermoine, or Harry will be killed. I really don't want that to happen, though.
• Ron and Hermoine will be a proper couple this book, right?
• I wish JK would tell us more of the back story between Severus and James, but I don't think she will.
• In many of these books, Harry's parental figures die or are shunted to the side. Does that mean something will happen to Remus, Molly, or Arthur?

Well, I think that is enough ramblings for one night. We will see if there are any real insights after this weekend.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Updated)

We saw the new Harry Potter movie this evening with Sara, Todd and my coworker, Brooke. It is fun to go to the movies. (This stems from the fact that we rarely see movies on the big screen.) I was able to finish book 5 before we left, though Mary had to wait for me to finish the last three pages. My thoughts on the Order of the Phoenix:

• Of course the movie is different from the book, so get over it. A movie has a different set of constraints and possibilities than a book does. That's okay. Accept each as different artistic creations.
• The screen writers did a great job focusing on the key conflict. The movie revolves around the ministry/Umbridge versus Harry and I really liked how it was done. You cannot tell the whole story from the books, but they chose the right story line for the movie.
• The acting was pretty good, but it is a shame that there are so many great actors in the movie and you never get enough screen time of each one.
• Luna Lovegood is excellent.
• How Sirius died in the Department of Mysteries was brilliantly filmed.
• I enjoyed the score to this movie more than the others. The music added to the story without be obtrusive.
• The final fight scene was cool. Our friends told us they were going to see the movie tomorrow on an IMAX screen with the last half-hour in 3-D. That should make the end eye-popping.
• Many of the great lines from the book are in the movie but they are moved around or even said by different characters. I thought that was funny.
• It would have been fun to see the movie version of Willy Widdershins and his muggle-baiting, regurgitating toilets. It would not have added to the story, but it would have been interesting to watch the movie version of that scene.
• I wish they had developed the Order of the Phoenix story just a little bit more. They hit it quickly without real detail.
• My biggest complaint is that it was too episodic. They focused down on the story in the middle, but the beginning jumped around. Many of the transitions throughout the movie were too abrupt.

Final Recommendation: Go and see this movie in the theater. You will enjoy it unless you cannot imagine seeing a Harry Potter movie that is not absolutely true to the book.

Two more thoughts:

1. There were two things about Sirius Black that I noticed in the movie. The first is at a climatic point he spoke to Harry and called him James. It was a superb touch and in line with his character. But at a different point he spoke of Lord Voldemort as the Dark Lord. This did not fit since that is the name the Death Eaters use. I could not imagine Sirius calling him the Dark Lord.
2. In an interview for one of the earlier movies, JK Rowling said she had to make sure certain parts of the story were included in the movies so all the movies would make sense. Scenes that I thought could be in this category: the scene with the picture of the Order, Grawp's scene, the barman and the goat in the Hog's Head, and learning about Neville's parents. There may have been others, but these ones struck me as if they could not be left out.

Happy Belated 4th of July

Everyone keeps asking if I am going to post again, so I thought I should put up a picture. I have a lot to post about and I am sure some of them will appear here. I have been busy with visitors, vacations, and rereading the Harry Potter books. (You can check my schedule. I have not watched the movies along the way, just read the books.)

Grace and Caleb have on Old Navy t-shirts, Mary has a Life Is Good flag t-shirt, and Joshua's onesie says "Mom's Little Firecracker". Hope you enjoyed the holiday!
One more note: I don't know if you watched the hot dog eating contest. We never have watched it before on the 4th. The announcers were too funny. As an example, an announcer had this to say about Joey Chestnut winning the contest, "This could be one of the greatest moments in American sports history."

I am glad that announcers never engage in hyperbole.