February 2012
1 post
Romantic Love in HP
We all know that love plays probably the most central role of any concept in the series, but as I’ve previously noted, much of that love centers around the devotion of a mother to her child or that found between friends. Today, however, I want to talk about the vast array of romantic love that is exemplified by JK throughout the books, even if it does take a backseat to other types of care. ...
January 2012
1 post
An Imperfect Plot, A Perfect Story
There are a fair number of people who complain about what they perceive as flaws in the Harry Potter series, many of which revolve around J.K.’s missed chances to wrap the plot up with a nice little bow on top. To those readers I feel obligated to ask, “Did you completely miss the point of it all?” The thing that sets HP apart from most other books is that, despite being part of the fantasy...
December 2011
2 posts
Least Favorite Professor
Ay, damn Trelawney and her damn Divination. We all know I hate Umbridge, so I’m not going to talk further about the fact that she’s the Worst Person Ever. Instead, I’m choosing to speak a bit about Professor Sybil Trelawney, possibly the most infuriating professor in all of Hogwarts history. There’s no doubt that having Snape harass you throughout Potions class every day would be frustrating...
November 2011
3 posts
Favorite Villain
Okay, now it’s time to discuss my favorite villain. My immediate thoughts go to Bellatrix Lestrange, because she is so unabashedly, wickedly, deliciously awful and cruel. In part, I think this is thanks to Helena Bonham Carter’s genius performance in the films. Her unrequited love for Voldemort is such an interesting little sub-plot. And yet… I still think my Favorite Villain Award goes...
How Mothers' Love Saved the World
I intended to discuss my favorite HP villain today, which got me thinking about the Malfoys, which then led me to contemplate Narcissa’s role in the books, which in turn made me realize that I instead would like to talk about something quite different: a mother’s love. JK has always made it very clear that there is a centrality in the series around the devotion of mothers to their children (much...
The Harry Potter Drinking Game
I already realize that this may be entirely inappropriate since this blog is dedicated to the serious and earnest discussion of all things HP, but… I think the time has come for an official Harry Potter Drinking Game to be established. I’ve seen a variety of options online, but they are either quite lame (“take a drink if someone casts a spell!”) or would result in alcohol poisoning (“chug your...
August 2011
1 post
Deathly Hallows, Part 2: Deleted Scenes
A list of Deathly Hallows Part 2 deleted scenes was just released, which means… it’s time to analyze them! (Summaries of scenes taken from thehpsecrets on Twitter.)
“A longer scene with Aberforth, where he does explain what happened in the past.” I happen to personally think that this would have been a great nod to book fans, since Dumbledore’s history was such a huge part of the...
July 2011
2 posts
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2:...
So. Deathly Hallows Part 2. What do I even say to the end of it all? No more waiting anxiously for the books to come out, no more eagerly standing outside the theater for hours proudly wearing my Hogwarts uniform, no more childhood… as a quote from another review put it : “Yeah, I’m fine. I’ve just got something in my eye. Like my entire childhood.” Oh, god. Stop me before I start...
It's Time For a New 30-Day HP Challenge, Folks
…beginning with a review of HP7P2, which is forthcoming. GET READY.
April 2011
10 posts
Day 29: A Very Potter Musical
A Very Potter Musical (AVPM, for those in the know) was possibly one of the best things I have ever discovered on the Internet. Seriously, I am so in love. Unfortunately, the sequel (A Very Potter Sequel… how creative!) wasn’t nearly as good, but still worth experiencing. I will never look at Draco Malfoy the same way again after seeing Lauren Lopez’s amazing performance. Plus, I have a sudden...
Day 28: Wizard Rock (Wrock)
On occasion, I listen to Wrock. It makes me realize that HP will never be over, and that there are some people out there who get it. Sigh.
A few top choices: Accio Love//Ministry of Magic; End of an Era//Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls; Open at the Close//Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls; The Boy Who Lived//Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls (pretty much anything by him, actually, since the singer...
Day 27: Choice of Hallows
Oh damn. Now this is a good question, since it’s one that even the trio contemplates and argues over in Deathly Hallows. Ron said “Elder Wand”; Hermione said “Invisibility Cloak”; Harry said “Resurrection Stone.”
I say: invisibility cloak. Not just because I’m Hermione, but because the other two choices have some serious drawbacks. I don’t want to surround myself with shadowy half-dead people,...
Day 26: My Choice of Wandless Spell
Okay, so why would I not want a wand to perform these spells? Like… is the point to be super sneaky or something? I guess I don’t understand this question.
How about this: if I didn’t have a wand, I’d want to be able to perform Expelliarmus sans wand. That way I’d win a wand and have the ability to cast all those other spells that require a wand. Ha.
Day 25: Opinions on the Epilogue
The Epilogue does not exist in my world.
…okay, I wish I could just leave it with that simple, succinct statement, but I can’t; the Epilogue makes me too queasy not to rant about a little.
Firstly, why was it written like a bad fanfiction? This is not the JK that I know and shower with adoration 24/7 – this is a pale imitation of her. Rumor has it that she wrote it at the same time as she...
Day 24: Scenes Missing From the Films
Oh, how many scenes fall into this category! I feel like the best way to approach this would be to re-read every book and subsequently watch every movie and then rant and rave about everything missing in the films, but to be honest, I simply don’t have the time for that. So these are just a couple things off the top of my head that I remember feeling disappointed at due to their absence in the...
Day 23: Scenes That Make Me Cry
Oh, my. Of course there are those watery-eyed moments, I doubt any true fan made it through Deathly Hallows (the book) without shedding a few tears. To tell you the truth, I’m not a big crier, though, and I wasn’t found weeping when the series ended; instead I slowly stood up and just kind of staggered around like a zombie, dazed facial expression, proclaiming aloud, “It’s over. It’s all...
Day 22: Harry Potter vs. Twilight
What. What. WHAT.
This question is only about a trillion times worse than the books-movies one. This question is the equivalent of a thousand puppies being run over with a steamroller driven by Attila the Hun. I am repulsed. In addition to the endless stream of reasons that I could provide you with, allow me to suggest that you check out the following blog for some good, solid evidence on...
Day 21: Who I Would Bring Back From the Dead
It’s amazing to think about how many characters met their deaths (almost all untimely if you ask me), especially if you consider how innocent the series started out. Ooh, magic! Wizards, owls, cauldrons, how wonderful! I never expected it all to get so dark, but it did, and as it did, characters started being offed left and right. So who would I wish back to life if I could (spoilers ahead,...
Day 20: Cast Member I'd Most Like to Meet
Advance warning: this is going to be a fan-girl post.
I have been quite in love with Rupert Grint for about ten years now, ever since I first saw his abashed facial expression on the Hogwarts Express when he and Harry met. In sixth grade (okay, maybe seventh and eighth grade, too), my locker was plastered with pictures of him – to be fair, Tom Felton was in there as well. I have absolutely no...
March 2011
19 posts
Day 19: Books or Movies?
Seriously? Another one of these questions? I am officially opting not to even dignify this with a response. UGH, I am absolutely disgusted.
Day 18: Least Favorite Book
Ohhh, my stomach is squirming with guilt right now even contemplating this question – I feel like JK is going to appear at my shoulder any moment and start accusing me of being a horrible fan. But I have to be honest: I think it’s Chamber of Secrets. I never really look forward to reading Sorcerer’s Stone when I re-read the series because there’s so much background information given (I just want...
Day 17: Deathly Hallows, Part 2 - Scared or...
Another rather foolish question, because naturally the answer is: a bit of both. Well, more like a whole lot of both. As I’ve previously mentioned, Part 1 of Deathly Hallows is my favorite film thus far, and therefore I’m ridiculously stoked (and terrified and devastatingly sad) about Part 2. I guess I’ll just make a list. Be warned, it’ll be chockfull of spoilers.
Things I’m OMGSOEXCITED...
Day 16: Favorite Professor
Oh man, this is getting SO annoying. I’ve already answered this in my whole McGonagall-is-the-best-character-ever-and-Flitwick-teaches-the-best-class-ever posts. So there you have it – McGonagall would be my favorite teacher because I know she’d be a mentor and her class would be a bitch, but it would be worth it in the end. But just for the sake of making this post slightly more interesting,...
Day 15: Best Friends at Hogwarts
Oh, I know this one! First of all, Fred and George: I always somehow manage to make friends with people who are widely recognized as being the funniest ones around (which I am endlessly thankful for), and they would be an absolute blast to be friends with. Think about it: food stolen from the kitchens at all hours of the night, sneaking to Hogsmeade whenever I wanted to, endless laughter, a huge...
Day 14: Team Harry vs. Team Voldemort
This is a remarkably stupid question. There has never been a “Team Voldemort” unless you’re a Nazi and like that sort of thing (no, really… I mean, Voldemort’s reign of terror is an approximate equivalent to Nazi rule in Germany during WWII). I have nothing more to say on this subject.
Day 13: Least Favorite Film
Hmm, I’ve actually never really thought about this too much before; I normally contemplate which film is my favorite and then just kind of lump together the rest of them in a “not favorite” category.
I guess… well, I guess I’d have to say Prisoner of Azkaban. I know that it was a turning point in the movies, where they became less about OOOOH MAGIC and more about the characters growing up in dark...
Day 12: Favorite "Ship"
Ron and Hermione, no questions asked. I don’t know whether it’s because I identify so much with this pairing, or if it’s just due to the fact that I endlessly love both characters individually as well as the interactions between them – either way, their relationship is easily the best in the books (it was especially far better than the weak Ginny-Harry connection).
Ron never quite measures up to...
Day 11: Character Most Like Me
I would love to reference some obscure character and name him or her as my literary doppelganger, but the rather boring truth of the matter is that I am largely a reflection of Hermione Granger (…or should I say that she is a reflection of me? Isn’t it sad that I think of HP as the foundation, and me as an offshoot of it?) Why, you may ask? Boy, oh boy, this is going to be complicated.
Hermione...
Day 10: Hallows or Horcruxes?
Horcruxes or Hallows? Hallows or Horcruxes? Harry’s standing in Shell Cottage, and it’s time to make the decision – for me it would be a far easier one than it was for the Chosen One.
Obviously Horcruxes are the way to go. I mean, not only did Dumbledore explicitly tell the trio to, you know, hunt down the Horcruxes (although by that point in Hallows I think I’d be so furious with Dumbledore...
Day 9: Least Favorite Male Character
Oooh let’s see here, I guess I’m going to have to follow the same path that I did when choosing my least favorite female character – i.e., I’m going to choose the character that I hate the most, not the one whose characterization I dislike.
To be honest, there are no male characters that immediately pop into mind as being quite so despicable as, say Umbridge, but there is one who consistently made...
Day 8: Lesson of Choice
Hmm, I’m torn between choosing the class that I would most enjoy on principle or the class that I wish I was in the most in the context of HP. Actually, what really makes it difficult is that I would sit in Professor Binns’ for twelve hours a day without complaint if it just meant that I could be part of the wizarding world. Pleeeease let me go to Hogwarts – I’m only three years overage now! ...
Day 7: Favorite Female Character
Ah, yes, one of my favorite questions because I have such a simple answer: Minerva McGonagall. While there are other intricate and intriguing females in HP (Luna and Hermione pop into mind, naturally), McGonagall just stands out as being consistently kick ass at all times, from the opening pages of Sorcerer’s Stone to the final battle in Deathly Hallows.
Think about it: she’s the very first...
Day 6: House of Choice
Okay, I have written essays on my personal theories of which houses each of my friends would be in (as well as myself), so I have quite a lot to say about the topic. However, just being required to spell out which house I want to be in is way easy… and not nearly so interesting.
Let’s be honest really quickly: nearly everyone wants to be in Gryffindor (I among those people), and nobody really...
Day 5: Favorite Male Character
Woo boy. Favorite male character… could these questions get any harder?! I’m being entirely serious here. I am so devoted to so many of them that it seems awful to make this decision, but I’ll give it a whirl.
Look, Harry just ain’t my favorite – in fact, I doubt he’s anybody’s favorite, as sad as that may seem. And as much as I adore Ron, especially in the movies, I don’t think he qualifies...
Day 4: Least Favorite Female Character
Well, there are two ways to approach this question: am I supposed to think of the female character that I hate the most, or the characterization that I was least impressed by? I guess I’ll go with the former, it seems more fun. Plus, let’s be honest, I’m pretty soundly impressed by everything JK has written about any character.
Okay, so obviously my hatred for Dolores Jane Umbridge extends...
Day 3: Flaws in the Films
Look, every film adaptation is going to have major flaws. There are acting fails, plot holes, etc., etc. But the things that really annoy me in the movies are those little details that are ignored, which could so easily have been slipped in and which serve to make Harry Potter come alive in the books. The movie versions of HP tend to play out like a giant adventure story that is relatively...
Day 2: Favorite Movie
It’s probably inappropriate to say that my favorite Harry Potter film is the most recent one, Deathly Hallows, Part 1. I mean, I’ve only seen it four or five times, as opposed to the dozens and dozens of viewings that I’ve enjoyed for all of the others. But, but, but… it’s as close to perfect (although it definitely has distinct flaws) as a movie has come yet.
Hallows 1, more than any of the...
Time for the 30-Day Harry Potter Challenge... Day...
This question makes my tummy feel all jittery, and I think just the thought causes my heart to beat irregularly… it just, well, it makes me uncomfortable. When you are so fully and entirely invested in something, it’s almost sacrilegious to select a “favorite.” When people ask me who my favorite author is, my mind doesn’t immediately jump to JK because she’s so far out of everyone else’s league...
September 2010
1 post
