Harry Potter Books 1-6: A Memoriam
I must post one last Harry Potter post until I read the book at the release party I'm going to next.
So I started reading the books when I was in 6th grade in 1999. My brother brought home the first this and told me to read it and see if it was good. And since I love reading, I happily obliged. All I remember is being completely blown away by how amazing the book was and declaring it my favorite book. I quickly read the next two books and was equally as impressed. Even moreso with the third book which was and still is my favorite of the Harry Potter books. It features my favorite character (Lupin), has character depth, has the Quidditch Cup win ie the happiest moment ever and is all around funny, smart and entertaining. In 2000, I waited at midnight for the fourth book to come out and read my copy into the night. My cousins were here at the time and when I was almost finished, they wanted me to stop reading and come out and have fun with them but I had to finish. I remember being furious at Fudge but excited for the war to finally begin. One of the things I love about J.K Rowling is how she foreshadows all her twists and endings so that all the clues lead up to the end.
After reading the book, I went online to see if I could find anything about Harry Potter. And boy did I ever. I found fandom. The fic, the art, the ships and most importantly, the community. It was amazing. I hung around Fiction Alley and found an artist I loved who drew beautiful fic like a Marauder picture and discovered all the joys of reading fanfic. I was into Ron/Hermione at the time with all the subtle things pointing towards them in the 4th book. I even wrote up an outline of a story I was going to write. It was fun. After knowing fandom existed, it led me to find many more fandoms for shows I loved so I will always be grateful towards my HP introduction. I didn't really get into the books again until the 5th book came out which I got at midnight of course and read all four books before I read it.
Personally I love the 5th book even though I will concede it is long sometimes and there are aspects about it that are frustrating. But I love Snape's Worst Memory obviously and I had one of the most emotional reactions to it that I've ever had. I was so disgusted and sickened by James and Sirius and what they did that I threw down my book and took a thirty minute break to recover. But the Occulumency lessons and the chapter was a dream come true for me as I got to learn more about Snape and understand why he was the way that he was. I had seen the chapter title early in my reading and been looking forward to it so much. Harry being thrown out of Snape's office was so real to me with Snape's anger and Harry's fear. The other real scene to me was the Death Eater and DA fight which was incredibly freaky because I thought they were all going to die at any second with the Death Eater's vast power and experience. Then there were touching scenes like the Mungo's hospital scene with Neville:
But as they left, Harry was sure he saw Neville slip the wrapper into his pocket.
I know some people hate capslock!Harry and I find it a bit too much sometimes too but I think it works at the very beginning and end. I think J.K Rowling set it up well so that in the beginning when you first are dying to know more about the war, you are denied the information just like Harry. So I feel Harry's frustration in the beginning and can understand his anger. Then at the end, J.K Rowling makes Harry's heartbreak over Sirius's death so real that I can understand his rage at Dumbledore. I think it really shows throughout the book that failure to communicate for love (Dumbledore) or hate (Snape) can bring devastating results. I really liked how the characters grew up in this book with Dumbledore's Army and with Harry not being perfect with his hero complex. And then there were classic moments like Dumbledore's grand exit:
"Well- it's just that you seem to be laboring under the delusion that I am going to- what is the phrase? 'Come quietly.' I am afraid I am not going to come quietly at all, Cornelius. I have absolutely no intention of being sent to Azkaban. I could break out, of course- but what a waste of time, and frankly, I can think of a whole host of things I would rather be doing."
"I seem to remember that you achieved 'Outstanding' in all your N.E.W.T.s but if you attempt to- er - 'bring me in' by force, I will have to hurt you."
That alone is enough for me to forgive Dumbledore for everything he does in the book. He is too awesome for words. And only Fred and George's exit can compare with "Give her hell from us, Peeves." and the great many *presents* they left for Umbridge. Other things I loved was the Order of the Phoenix where it was great to see Lupin again, meet the real Moody ("Better wizards than you have lost buttocks, you know!") and meet new characters like Tonks and Kingsley not to mention learn more about the past war.
Onto the sixth book which I again picked up at midnight and went to a party although I mostly just sat around rereading the fifth book. The 6th book has my favorite main plots of all the books. I love how the book focuses on the relationships of Harry-Dumbledore-Voldemort-Snape especially focusing on the changing relationship between the first two and the pasts and personality of the latter two. What I find most interesting is the similarities between Harry, Voldemort and Snape with their half-blood lineage, bad childhoods and *specialness* focus. Even though Harry is born into being special,he still uses it to be able to break the rules but the difference is he doesn't want to be special for the most part. It's also interesting that all three have aquired a thirst for revenge whether it be Voldemortagainst the orphanage children and his Muggle father, Snape against James, Sirius, Lupin and Peter which carries over to the Trio and Neville, and Harry and Draco and Snape. Dumbledore is the one in all cases who tries to get all of them to forgive and get over their pasts and the injustices in favor of good. I think in the 7th book, that is going to play a big role over whether good succeeds (obviously it will but in the how) if Harry and Snape can put aside the hate between them and their pasts.
The fascinating plot and character development elevates the book to my third favorite of the series. The big problem is the romance plots are mostly unbearable to me. First you have Ron and Hermione who I like but the petty jealousy and Lavender plot makes me annoyed and bored with both of them. Most ridiculously, there's the Harry/Ginny plotline which comes out of nowhere and isn't explained at all. Suddenly Harry's jealous of Dean, all parts I cringed and skimmed through because it's so juevenille. And then they get together and they're suddenly soulmateswho perfectly understand each other, WTH. Then perhaps worst of all there's the Remus and Tonks plot which reduces Tonks from a cool, great character to a overemotional, lovestruck teenager. Plus it comes completely out of nowhere with no explanation for the why and results in a cliche ridden scene. I really hope it is an awful joke that never really happened. I have concluded that J.K sucks at romance and I will ignore it and concentrate on everything else that is amazing. One of the best surprises was to see less of an evil Sytherin bias with Slughorn being a fun, good character and Draco(!) turning out to not be evil quite yet. The crying(!) and difficulty of killing just made me even happier that their might be a bit of fanon Draco in canon Draco after all.
Favorite Dumbledore quotes from the 6th book:
"I am, yours most sincerely" "I am yours"! Amazing how a usually said romantic line becomes platonic in such a deep and meaningful way.
However, I do not think you need worry about being attacked tonight."
"Why not, sir?"
"You are with me," said Dumbledore simply.
We're nearly there...I can Apparate us both back...Don't worry..."
"I am not worried, Harry," said Dumbledore, his voice a little stronger despite the freezing water. "I am with you."
I teared up a little at each of those because of the emotion encoded in those words. The circular nature of it astounds me with Dumbledore passing on the torch and allowing Harry to be the protector. He shows so much trust and love to Harry, it's incredible.
He accused me of being 'Dumbledore's man through and through.'"
"How very rude of him."
"I told him I was."
Dumbledore opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again. Behind Harry, Fawkes the phoenix let out a low, soft, musical cry. To Harry's intense embarrassment, he suddenly realized that Dumbledore's bright blue eyes looked rather watery, and stared hastily at his own knees. When Dumbledore spoke, however, his voice was quite steady.
"I am very touched, Harry."
God, that makes me cry and cry and that Dumbledore can see the true significance of the statement never fails to get me. If you know me, you'll know that I am Dumbledore's woman through and through. His death destroys me everytime with the horrible drinking and tortures me with his pain to the pleading to the one he trusts. How very fitting for Dumbledore's death however that he is *betrayed* by the one person only he trusted completely. I do think that Dumbledore was pleading with Snape to kill him because he had set it up earlier. The biggest reason is in one of the books Dumbledore points out that Voldemort thinks that the greatest thing is to live and fears death the most even when he shouldn't. Dumbledore knows that Voldemort won't believe that he would have allowed Snape to kill him and that it will give Snape the inside he needs to defeat Voldemort. Like most everyone else I think Snape is going to die in the 7th book but with a noble death in service of defeating Voldemort. And I do think he will finally find redemption. It makes sense in terms of narrative since all of J.K's backstory and moral ambiguity about him doesn't make much sense to show unless he's good again at some point. But I do trust that Snape isn't bad because I don't think he's evil, just suffering from an overwhelm of hate and a bad past although his personality does tend that way at times.
Personally I don't think Harry is going to die even after defeating Voldemort if only because J.K doesn't want to piss off her reader. And I can't see Ron or Hermione dying either. Hagrid, any of the Weasleys, Lupin (god, no) and other teachers and Order members are all vulnerable though. I think Peter will die but hopefully will help Harry in some way for saving his life. I think Neville will kill Bellatrix to get his revenge and will hopefully have a good life. In the end, I think it will be a good book although I'm sure it will be wank producing on all sides. Hopefully it'll at least be satisfying in the end. It truly is the end of an era and I am ready to see what happens. In the end, I'm most looking forward to learning why Dumbledore trusts and Snape and more about him but I look forward to reading about Harry Potter. And I'm thankful to know that no matter how the book ends, Harry Potter will live on in the minds of fans everywhere and I will always be able to read about the world I love so much. I love the communal excitement even in non-fannish terms which is so wonderful to see especially for a book. So I say, To Harry Potter, the boy who lived.
To anyone who hasn't read the books, I really wish you would even if you hate all the popular hype around it. There's a reason for that. If you've read them and don't like them, I'm sorry for all the Pottermania you've had to go through. And a big thank you to my Flist that didn't spoil me!
So I started reading the books when I was in 6th grade in 1999. My brother brought home the first this and told me to read it and see if it was good. And since I love reading, I happily obliged. All I remember is being completely blown away by how amazing the book was and declaring it my favorite book. I quickly read the next two books and was equally as impressed. Even moreso with the third book which was and still is my favorite of the Harry Potter books. It features my favorite character (Lupin), has character depth, has the Quidditch Cup win ie the happiest moment ever and is all around funny, smart and entertaining. In 2000, I waited at midnight for the fourth book to come out and read my copy into the night. My cousins were here at the time and when I was almost finished, they wanted me to stop reading and come out and have fun with them but I had to finish. I remember being furious at Fudge but excited for the war to finally begin. One of the things I love about J.K Rowling is how she foreshadows all her twists and endings so that all the clues lead up to the end.
After reading the book, I went online to see if I could find anything about Harry Potter. And boy did I ever. I found fandom. The fic, the art, the ships and most importantly, the community. It was amazing. I hung around Fiction Alley and found an artist I loved who drew beautiful fic like a Marauder picture and discovered all the joys of reading fanfic. I was into Ron/Hermione at the time with all the subtle things pointing towards them in the 4th book. I even wrote up an outline of a story I was going to write. It was fun. After knowing fandom existed, it led me to find many more fandoms for shows I loved so I will always be grateful towards my HP introduction. I didn't really get into the books again until the 5th book came out which I got at midnight of course and read all four books before I read it.
Personally I love the 5th book even though I will concede it is long sometimes and there are aspects about it that are frustrating. But I love Snape's Worst Memory obviously and I had one of the most emotional reactions to it that I've ever had. I was so disgusted and sickened by James and Sirius and what they did that I threw down my book and took a thirty minute break to recover. But the Occulumency lessons and the chapter was a dream come true for me as I got to learn more about Snape and understand why he was the way that he was. I had seen the chapter title early in my reading and been looking forward to it so much. Harry being thrown out of Snape's office was so real to me with Snape's anger and Harry's fear. The other real scene to me was the Death Eater and DA fight which was incredibly freaky because I thought they were all going to die at any second with the Death Eater's vast power and experience. Then there were touching scenes like the Mungo's hospital scene with Neville:
But as they left, Harry was sure he saw Neville slip the wrapper into his pocket.
I know some people hate capslock!Harry and I find it a bit too much sometimes too but I think it works at the very beginning and end. I think J.K Rowling set it up well so that in the beginning when you first are dying to know more about the war, you are denied the information just like Harry. So I feel Harry's frustration in the beginning and can understand his anger. Then at the end, J.K Rowling makes Harry's heartbreak over Sirius's death so real that I can understand his rage at Dumbledore. I think it really shows throughout the book that failure to communicate for love (Dumbledore) or hate (Snape) can bring devastating results. I really liked how the characters grew up in this book with Dumbledore's Army and with Harry not being perfect with his hero complex. And then there were classic moments like Dumbledore's grand exit:
"Well- it's just that you seem to be laboring under the delusion that I am going to- what is the phrase? 'Come quietly.' I am afraid I am not going to come quietly at all, Cornelius. I have absolutely no intention of being sent to Azkaban. I could break out, of course- but what a waste of time, and frankly, I can think of a whole host of things I would rather be doing."
"I seem to remember that you achieved 'Outstanding' in all your N.E.W.T.s but if you attempt to- er - 'bring me in' by force, I will have to hurt you."
That alone is enough for me to forgive Dumbledore for everything he does in the book. He is too awesome for words. And only Fred and George's exit can compare with "Give her hell from us, Peeves." and the great many *presents* they left for Umbridge. Other things I loved was the Order of the Phoenix where it was great to see Lupin again, meet the real Moody ("Better wizards than you have lost buttocks, you know!") and meet new characters like Tonks and Kingsley not to mention learn more about the past war.
Onto the sixth book which I again picked up at midnight and went to a party although I mostly just sat around rereading the fifth book. The 6th book has my favorite main plots of all the books. I love how the book focuses on the relationships of Harry-Dumbledore-Voldemort-Snape especially focusing on the changing relationship between the first two and the pasts and personality of the latter two. What I find most interesting is the similarities between Harry, Voldemort and Snape with their half-blood lineage, bad childhoods and *specialness* focus. Even though Harry is born into being special,he still uses it to be able to break the rules but the difference is he doesn't want to be special for the most part. It's also interesting that all three have aquired a thirst for revenge whether it be Voldemortagainst the orphanage children and his Muggle father, Snape against James, Sirius, Lupin and Peter which carries over to the Trio and Neville, and Harry and Draco and Snape. Dumbledore is the one in all cases who tries to get all of them to forgive and get over their pasts and the injustices in favor of good. I think in the 7th book, that is going to play a big role over whether good succeeds (obviously it will but in the how) if Harry and Snape can put aside the hate between them and their pasts.
The fascinating plot and character development elevates the book to my third favorite of the series. The big problem is the romance plots are mostly unbearable to me. First you have Ron and Hermione who I like but the petty jealousy and Lavender plot makes me annoyed and bored with both of them. Most ridiculously, there's the Harry/Ginny plotline which comes out of nowhere and isn't explained at all. Suddenly Harry's jealous of Dean, all parts I cringed and skimmed through because it's so juevenille. And then they get together and they're suddenly soulmateswho perfectly understand each other, WTH. Then perhaps worst of all there's the Remus and Tonks plot which reduces Tonks from a cool, great character to a overemotional, lovestruck teenager. Plus it comes completely out of nowhere with no explanation for the why and results in a cliche ridden scene. I really hope it is an awful joke that never really happened. I have concluded that J.K sucks at romance and I will ignore it and concentrate on everything else that is amazing. One of the best surprises was to see less of an evil Sytherin bias with Slughorn being a fun, good character and Draco(!) turning out to not be evil quite yet. The crying(!) and difficulty of killing just made me even happier that their might be a bit of fanon Draco in canon Draco after all.
Favorite Dumbledore quotes from the 6th book:
"I am, yours most sincerely" "I am yours"! Amazing how a usually said romantic line becomes platonic in such a deep and meaningful way.
However, I do not think you need worry about being attacked tonight."
"Why not, sir?"
"You are with me," said Dumbledore simply.
We're nearly there...I can Apparate us both back...Don't worry..."
"I am not worried, Harry," said Dumbledore, his voice a little stronger despite the freezing water. "I am with you."
I teared up a little at each of those because of the emotion encoded in those words. The circular nature of it astounds me with Dumbledore passing on the torch and allowing Harry to be the protector. He shows so much trust and love to Harry, it's incredible.
He accused me of being 'Dumbledore's man through and through.'"
"How very rude of him."
"I told him I was."
Dumbledore opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again. Behind Harry, Fawkes the phoenix let out a low, soft, musical cry. To Harry's intense embarrassment, he suddenly realized that Dumbledore's bright blue eyes looked rather watery, and stared hastily at his own knees. When Dumbledore spoke, however, his voice was quite steady.
"I am very touched, Harry."
God, that makes me cry and cry and that Dumbledore can see the true significance of the statement never fails to get me. If you know me, you'll know that I am Dumbledore's woman through and through. His death destroys me everytime with the horrible drinking and tortures me with his pain to the pleading to the one he trusts. How very fitting for Dumbledore's death however that he is *betrayed* by the one person only he trusted completely. I do think that Dumbledore was pleading with Snape to kill him because he had set it up earlier. The biggest reason is in one of the books Dumbledore points out that Voldemort thinks that the greatest thing is to live and fears death the most even when he shouldn't. Dumbledore knows that Voldemort won't believe that he would have allowed Snape to kill him and that it will give Snape the inside he needs to defeat Voldemort. Like most everyone else I think Snape is going to die in the 7th book but with a noble death in service of defeating Voldemort. And I do think he will finally find redemption. It makes sense in terms of narrative since all of J.K's backstory and moral ambiguity about him doesn't make much sense to show unless he's good again at some point. But I do trust that Snape isn't bad because I don't think he's evil, just suffering from an overwhelm of hate and a bad past although his personality does tend that way at times.
Personally I don't think Harry is going to die even after defeating Voldemort if only because J.K doesn't want to piss off her reader. And I can't see Ron or Hermione dying either. Hagrid, any of the Weasleys, Lupin (god, no) and other teachers and Order members are all vulnerable though. I think Peter will die but hopefully will help Harry in some way for saving his life. I think Neville will kill Bellatrix to get his revenge and will hopefully have a good life. In the end, I think it will be a good book although I'm sure it will be wank producing on all sides. Hopefully it'll at least be satisfying in the end. It truly is the end of an era and I am ready to see what happens. In the end, I'm most looking forward to learning why Dumbledore trusts and Snape and more about him but I look forward to reading about Harry Potter. And I'm thankful to know that no matter how the book ends, Harry Potter will live on in the minds of fans everywhere and I will always be able to read about the world I love so much. I love the communal excitement even in non-fannish terms which is so wonderful to see especially for a book. So I say, To Harry Potter, the boy who lived.
To anyone who hasn't read the books, I really wish you would even if you hate all the popular hype around it. There's a reason for that. If you've read them and don't like them, I'm sorry for all the Pottermania you've had to go through. And a big thank you to my Flist that didn't spoil me!