I hope I'm right about this...

[dianora]

*takes the plunge*

Happy birthday, violaswamp! I hope this birthday was just as exciting as the last, even if you didn't get to graduate and go to dances and finally read the long awaited fifth installment of a certain series

Comments

[alisina]

Hello! Haven't spoken to you in quite some time...

In any event, I too finished reading OotP again yesterday (I'd read through the whole series since Memorial Day). All of your assesments I would have to agree with, particuarly that it was less depressing than I'd remembered. While I still hated Umbridge, I found her far more bearable and almost... I don't know, comical, I suppose, pathetic in thinking she had power at Hogwarts... than my two previous readings last summer. It was like I knew that these superficial things she took away from Harry -- Quidditch and his Firebolt, for instance -- were far less important than they had seemed before, and it made me realize how much more growing up Harry has to do. Well, I suppose he's started to now that he's lost Sirius, but as I'm almost certain he will lose many more people he cares about in the next two books, he will come to realize that these things are really unimportant compared to the people he loves, and that Voldemort, and not Professor Umbridge, is the true enemy he should be fighting.

Okay, why did I just blab about all that? Do you really care? Of course not. In any event, it's smashing to see you my dear.

Lataaaaaaa

[dianora]

Oh, I definitely agree. Umbridge was just sort of ridiculous the second time, wasn't she? She was still a very compelling villain, though, and I love that JKR introduced bad guys who aren't exactly pure evil, but who are still manipulative and oppressive and sadistic. It's not just good versus evil, Harry versus Voldemort anymore...there's also ignorance and weakness, which are neither good nor evil but still play into the epic battle. And I actually think that that's a lot of what the fifth book was about, the good people learning to deal with the fact that your average person isn't necessarily going to support or even acknowledge their efforts to fight evil. Now that the Ministry has acknowledged Voldemort's return, I think the focus is going to shift to fighting with the Death Eaters and Voldemort himself. There will still be people like Umbridge and Fudge who don't exactly help the cause, but I think the real struggle with them is over by the end of the fifth book -- and that, like you said, is when we're brutally confronted with the fact that while Umbridge may have been horrible and infuriating, what happened in the Department of Mysteries is what the real fight for the next two books is going to be like.

Okay, why did I just blab about all that? Do you really care? Of course not.

Of course I care. You have to understand that I've hardly talked to anyone about OotP; I had a few online exchanges when it first came out but since then I've been too overwhelmed by the sheer volume of material to join in on any discussions. It's great to hear from you, and if you want to keep talking OotP, I'm all for it. :D Unfortunately I don't have much time now since I'm packing to leave soon, otherwise I'd probably have babbled on at you for several paragraphs. Anyway, I'll talk to you soon, I hope!