Hogwarts Reunion
I found out last week that Harry's in town. He's actually staying with his family at his old home. Taking advantage of this, Luna and I managed to arrange a meeting of sorts with him on Tuesday after work.
It's interesting to observe which facets of life change as the years pass and which withstand the sands of time. Much has changed. In appearance, he's not quite as shockingly different as he was last time we saw him (must have been about a year ago...) His hair is back to its original color, and with the exception of sideburns that reminded me of Scooby Doo, it's in the same style as before as well. His clothing is a blend of distant and recent past. I'm not sure if he still has that tongue ring on...>.>
Harry was always one of the quieter ones in our quartet--usually it's Luna and/or Ron who keeps the conversation going. This was especially noticeable on this occasion. He spent long stretches with his eyes averted, fussing over his finger which had been recently bashed by a heavy piece of metal, though toward the end, he did seem more animated.
Still, some things do endure, giving us the opportunity to find ourselves sitting once again in the back patio enjoying hawaiian and pepperoni & sausage "pikza" while brushing the figurative dust off "Harry Potter and the Book of Souls." We spent at least three hours pouring over the text, most of which hadn't been touched in at least three years. Feelings of nostalgia filled me with fondness as I recalled what it was like the first time we went through those chapters. Some parts of the writing were so bad it was funny (with "emerald orbs" too liberally inserted into every available opening), and some of the grammar was atrocious (commas before becauses and even a "you're" in the place of "your"). Yet there were some parts which were a genuine delight to read. I had forgotten some of the secret nuggets that we had inserted into the text, such as the snitch that Sirius had released, so it was really fun to read that section over once again.
It's interesting to observe which facets of life change as the years pass and which withstand the sands of time. Much has changed. In appearance, he's not quite as shockingly different as he was last time we saw him (must have been about a year ago...) His hair is back to its original color, and with the exception of sideburns that reminded me of Scooby Doo, it's in the same style as before as well. His clothing is a blend of distant and recent past. I'm not sure if he still has that tongue ring on...>.>
Harry was always one of the quieter ones in our quartet--usually it's Luna and/or Ron who keeps the conversation going. This was especially noticeable on this occasion. He spent long stretches with his eyes averted, fussing over his finger which had been recently bashed by a heavy piece of metal, though toward the end, he did seem more animated.
Still, some things do endure, giving us the opportunity to find ourselves sitting once again in the back patio enjoying hawaiian and pepperoni & sausage "pikza" while brushing the figurative dust off "Harry Potter and the Book of Souls." We spent at least three hours pouring over the text, most of which hadn't been touched in at least three years. Feelings of nostalgia filled me with fondness as I recalled what it was like the first time we went through those chapters. Some parts of the writing were so bad it was funny (with "emerald orbs" too liberally inserted into every available opening), and some of the grammar was atrocious (commas before becauses and even a "you're" in the place of "your"). Yet there were some parts which were a genuine delight to read. I had forgotten some of the secret nuggets that we had inserted into the text, such as the snitch that Sirius had released, so it was really fun to read that section over once again.