Day 18, 4,100 pages read - COMPLETED

As I read the last line in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, a wave of emotions overwhelmed me. I felt as if I had closed the book of my childhood. I would be returning, tonight, to reopen and glance back at what I had closed temporarily; however, watching the film adaptation of the love of my childhood, I know that I have said my last farewell to the boy who lived. Of course Harry will always be in my heart, and I can go back and remind myself just how magical he had made twelve years of my life. At the same time I feel somewhat grounded, as if I've been soaring on a broomstick this whole time, and I've finally won the quidditch cup. I have positioned myself serenely on earth with wonderful memories that I will carry for the rest of my life. I have all of this, thanks to a woman who wanted to share her love for the written word with the world, and she wanted to spread the message that nothing, absolutely nothing, was more important than love. I believe that she is a gift to us all, having touched so many lives, that she has taught us all well, and how to live our lives with as much heart as possible. For this, I thank you Jo, and from every inch of my heart, I mean it.

Day 17, 3,822 pages read

I thought that it would be a good spot to leave off right after Dobby's death for tonight since that is where part one ended. I cried like a hysterical person when I saw him die in the movie, and I just broke down again. There are tear stains all over the page, and it got really hard at times to read it since my eyes were welling up so badly that I couldn't even see. Dobby is definitely one of my favorite characters, and I love him.

When I read this book first time round, I had to do a sneaker and look through the pages I haven't read yet to see when Ron would come back. I know! I'm bad, but I couldn't keep on reading without knowing that he was going to come back. Thankfully he was only gone for sixty-one pages. Is it pathetic that I've got them counted? I don't care. I love Ron. I love all of the good guys! It just goes to show you though how important Ron's dynamic is in the trio. Harry and Hermione don't talk when he's not there. He really holds the group together when he and Hermione haven't fallen out and it's Harry who keeps them in a group.

This may seem super cheesey, but I love what Jo did with Ron and the Deluminator. I can't believe that I never really caught this before, but that ball of light takes Ron to where his heart is leading him! He hears Hermione speak his name from the Deluminator, and then he clicked it, and the ball of light showed up outside the window. He went to it and it went right into his chest to his heart, giving Ron the ability to Apparate where ever his heart wanted to go. He wanted to be back with his friends to help, but the stronger desire, I think, was that he wanted to be with Hermione. That's why he heard her speak his name. It just goes to show you how compassionate Jo is, and that she is so smart in telling us to follow our hearts.

I'll be reading the last 288 pages tomorrow before the premiere, so I'll have an update before the movie, and then one on the movie after I've seen it. I warn you for a long one tomorrow, as I will be going into depth on the unfairness of Colin Creevey's death. What? I just like the kid. I know he's not all that important, but I think Jo made a mistake with that one.

Day 16, 3,341 pages read

I've finished HBP, and I am about to start DH, but I wanted to make this blog all about Dumbledore. I'll keep it short and sweet, as he always did with his start of the term speech.

I was reading the scene where Dumbledore dies, and it occurred to me that the last important thing he said was absolutely astounding. "'No Draco,' said Dumbledore quietly. 'It is my mercy, and not yours, that matters now.'" He is talking of how even though Draco has taken his wand, Dumbledore knows that he will not kill him, and he is trying his hardest to keep it that way, not so that he can live, so that Draco's soul remains pure. It is Dumbledore's mercy that will save Draco from committing murder, and he makes sure of this, by having Snape kill him, ensuring Draco will be left 'whole'.

In the words of Hagrid, "Great man, Dumbledore."

Day 15, 3,243 pages read

I am one hundred pages away from being finished with Half Blood Prince, and I have got to say that it has been a pretty easy read. The majority of it is fluff to be honest. There are those few crucial chapters where Harry revisits memories about Voldemort in the pensieve with Dumbledore, but really that's about it. We get a lot of relationship type things in this book. All three of them seem to be getting relationship experience in this one which is good and interesting, but there wouldn't be much to this book if all of that was involved. That being said, I don't have much to comment on, but I do have a lot analysis so it won't be a waste.

I have an odd confession to make. Don't make fun of me, but immediately as I started reading chapter three, my mind reminded me that Harry was now sixteen, and that he had really grown up. Well, I-er, sort of started crushing on a fictional character.... This is certainly a laughing matter, and even I see the comedy involved, but I find myself imagining Harry differently now. When I read the books before, I still saw Harry as young, and never thought anyone could think of him in a romantic sort of way, but now I find myself eating my words. Harry is attractive, and it just goes to show you that what Hermione says, that he has never been more fanciable as true. I think what it is for me now is that he is no longer a child and he is choosing to face Voldemort because he loves all of his friends. That speaks volumes to me, so I guess I find that highly attractive. The same has been occurring for Neville as well but not as much. I'm sure while reading seven, I will be head over heels for the both of them lol. Hey! At least I'm not ranting on about how beautiful a creepy vampire is.

Now that I have addressed that completely embarrassing truth, I want to mention a few things that stood out to me before going into the Ron and Hermione analysis, which will be very lengthy.
1. I love it when Mr. Weasley asks Molly the security question, and she has to answer that she like to be called 'Mollywobbles' when they are alone together. AWWWWW!!!!!!!
2. The chapter image for chapter 16. I love that. Poor garden gnome lol.
3. When I first read the scene where Ron is poisoned and almost dies, I flipped out! I think I was twelve or thirteen, and I remember crying hysterically because I had this theory that Jo would kill Ron. The best friends always get it! Anyway I was relieved that Ron had escaped death in six, but it on solidified my belief that he would snuff it in seven since he had escaped death once. Let me just say that I am so happy that I was wrong.

Ron and Hermione Analysis (there is a lot, so bear with me!) :
1. When Hermione is naming off the different scents that the love potion gives off, she names what she smells: freshly mowed grass, new parchment, and...she trails off. Jo is implying that she smells Ron, more specifically, his hair (I read that somewhere). Harry has this same experience, only he smells the flowery scent of Ginny.
2. Only a page later, Ron gets jealous of Harry because Harry had told Slughorn that Hermione was the best in their year, and Hermione beams at Harry. "'Well what's so impressive about that?' whispered Ron, who for some reason looked annoyed 'You are the best in the year-I'd've told him so if he'd asked me!'"
3. Where Hermione tells Harry that he's never been more fanciable. "Ron gagged on a large piece of kipper." Jealous again eh? Harry looks confused so Hermione explains why he is so attractive all of a sudden, saying that he stuck to his story when the Ministry was spreading lies about him and specifically bringing up the scars from the writing on the back of his hand. "'You can still see where those brains got a hold of me in the Ministry, look,' said Ron, shaking back his sleeves.
'And it doesn't hurt that you've grown about a foot over the summer either,' Hermione finished, ignoring Ron.
'I'm tall,' said Ron inconsequentially." Now we can start to see where Ron suspects that there may be something more than friendship between Harry and Hermione. Of course it's utter nonsense, since Harry is obviously so attracted to Ginny, but this is Ron we are talking about. He's not the sharpest tool in the box when it comes to understanding girls.
4. Man this scene is very obvious. Hermione and Ron are fighting about the Slug Club because he's sore that he can't go to any of the parties, and he says that her Cormac should hook up so that Slughorn can make them King and Queen Slug.
"'We're allowed to bring guests,' said Hermione, who for some reason had turned a bright, boiling scarlet, 'and I was going to ask you to come, but if you think it's that stupid then I won't bother!'
'You were going to ask me?' asked Ron, in a completely different voice.
'Yes,' said Hermione angrily. 'But obviously if you'd rather I hooked up with McLaggen . . .'
'No, I wouldn't,' said Ron, in a very quiet voice." Once again, not the sharpest tool in the shed.
5. Ron has just been poisoned and is lying in the hospital wing. Hermione finally speaks after being there with the rest. "'Er-my-nee,' croaked Ron unexpectedly from between them." I think it's pretty clear what he was saying there. Either he was dreaming about her, or he heard her voice, and wanted to talk to her. Funny though. He didn't do that for the others....
6. This has got to be the biggest of them all, in my opinion any way. Ron's spell check quill's charm is wearing off, so he has to re-do his D.A.D.A. essay but Hermione pulls it out of his hands and helps him fix the misspelled words. "'It's okay, we can fix it,' said Hermione, pulling the essay toward her and taking out her wand.
'I love you, Hermione,'" -YEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS! TAKE THAT LAV-LAV! "said Ron, sinking back in his chair rubbing his eyes wearily. Hermione turned faintly pink." I don't care under what circumstances in which he said this because all arrows point to him loving her anyway, so of course he means it! He just knows that he can get away with it when he says it that pretext. Hmmm, maybe Ron is a little smarter than I gave him credit for.... Nah.
So I think every reader should realize now that Ron likes Hermione. A LOT! Hermione likes Ron. Take that Dramione shippers! Stop being incessantly stupid!

I forgot to talk about this in my OotP blog, so I'll just do it now. I have always loved the idea of Patronuses and how they are all different for each person. I always wondered what my Patronus would look like, and I have come to the conclusion that I would like mine to look like a woodchuck. Odd choice yes, but they look funny when they run, and I know that my running style is very comedic, so I think it is a very good pick. Boys, what say you on this subject? What do you think your patronus is and what would be mine? In my opinion Josh is a ram. You're very stubborn, and you will charge at someone until they see your side. Very commendable. Zach, I think you resemble a mandrill baboon. Like Rafiki! You're smart and gentle, but can be very funny too.

That's all for now. I am finally caught up with all of my reading, but I think I might just go ahead and finish HBP tonight. I'm almost finished with anyhow. Cheers!

Day 13/14, 2,689 pages read

Had to do a blog for today and yesterday. I had no time to do one last night since I was a day behind and had to catch up and read well into the night. Order of the Phoenix has got to be my second favorite out of the series. It's really the first time we get to glimpse at a wizard duel, and it is the most exciting scene in the book when they are at the ministry.

There wasn't a lot that I remember from the book since I didn't write too many notes on this one because I just wanted to get it done, but I love the whole chapter where Dumbledore explains to Harry how he and Voldemort are connected. It ties a whole bunch of loose ends together, and it gives Harry a better idea of what he is going to have to do, but we see more of that in six.

Ron and Hermione Analysis:

Page 404, Hermione kisses Ron on the cheek, and he "touched the spot on his face where Hermione had kissed him, looking puzzled, as though he was not quite sure what had just happeneed." Well, uh, Ron, Hermione just KISSED you as she wished you good luck before your first quidditch match. She didn't kiss Harry on the cheek, just you. how difficult is that to understand?

RANT WARNING!!!!!!
Cho Chang, you are the epitome of a stupid, flirtatious, teenage girl. You're popular and pretty and you expect that to get you everywhere in life. You couldn't go to the meeting in the Hog's Head on your own, you had to bring a stupid friend along with you because you have to be surrounded by friends to feel good about yourself. I know your kind Cho Chang. Not everything is about you. Your date with Harry was even more annoying than the scenes with Lavender in six.
"I've been meaning to ask you for ages.... Did Cedric-did he m-m-mention me at all before he died?"
What do you think the world is Cho? Because it is not a fairytale. You think Cedric died some valiant death like a knight and yelled out your name as Voldemort killed him? What the hell is wrong with you girl?! You know how things work in the wizarding world. How else would Voldemort had killed him other than the killing curse, which you know kills someone instantly. Cedric didn't have time to even think about you before he died. What probably went through his mind was "Holy shit did that bundle just say to that man to 'kill the spare?'". His spirit that showed up to Harry in the priori incantatem didn't even mention you. He thought about his parents. Go ahead and cry some more. Oh, and Zach, when the book says that Harry got back to the common room half an hour later, he says that Cho kissed him and then cried on him, not that they made out for thirty minutes. Sheesh girl, pull yourself together. It isn't true when they say that women look more beautiful when they cry. YOU ANNOY ME!!!!!!!!

Let me apologize for that now. I understand if you skimmed over that. It was a lot Cho bashing. Onto the goods. Let me just say, FRED AND GEORGE WEASLEY YOU ARE SO AWESOME! I love the whole 'Career Advice' chapter, where the twins hand it to Umbridge. She deserved every last bit of it. It was probably the only time Jo shines a positive light on Peeves. I love imagining Peeves flying beside Umbride and blowing raspberries whenever she talked. Jo was always a brilliant writer, but I love her style of comedic revenge. Also dealing with Umbridge, it makes me smile and laugh heartily whenever I read the chapter where Harry's interview with Rita gets published. Sprout gives twenty points to Gryffindor, Flitwick gives him some candy, and Professor Trelawney, who hates Umbridge and has been subjected to her terrible cruelty, actually predicts that Harry won't in fact die a sudden horrific death, but live to a ripe old age, become Minster of Magic, and have twelve children. I laugh out loud at this every time.

Let me just say that working with children has showed me a lot about myself, and it shows me a lot about the characters of other people. When Umbridge grabs a hold of Marietta and vigorously shakes her, when the girl isn't saying what Umbridge wants her to say, that proved to me right there, that she was in fact a very horrible woman. She had done things before to make herself seem evil and terrible, but behaving violently like that with a teenager, it furthered my hatred for her. She later on tries to punish Fred and George with whips, but they, as I mentioned before, stuck it to her good. Once more she shows how truly vile and evil she is when she is about to use the Cruciatas Curse on Harry so that he will tell her what she wants to know. I wish that Jo made a scene where she dies at the hands of a half-breed, but then again I'd like to think that Kingsley just kicks her out of the ministry all together because she deserves to live a life without privilege.

So Sirius died...and I didn't cry. I really thought that I would this time, but in truth I have never once cried over Sirius, and for those who know me, I am a crybaby. I think seeing that memory of Snape's told me so much about Sirius' character, and I guess I wasn't that fond of him. I know that he says that he wished he hadn't had James do those things because he was bored, but I don't like bullies. Sirius is lovable, and he is just what Harry needed in his life, and I am thankful for him. I do miss his presence in the books, but something about his death never got me emotionally stirred. Not really sure why, but what can you do.

One time where I had a good cry in the book was the scene in St. Mungo's with Neville. I kept thinking about how bitter it must be to have parents, but not be able to tell them anything and get an answer back. Just the fact that he keeps his mother's gum wrappers because she gives them to him makes me tear up. Poor Neville deserves every bit of the heroic scene he gets in seven, and I have decided that Neville is now my favorite character in the books.

That concludes five for me, and now I am off to read almost half way into six tonight. I hope that I reach the bird scene with Ron and Hermione hehe. Cheers!

Day 11/12, 2,169 pages read

Sorry for not posting yesterday. I was with Carola, and she once again allowed me to watch those Koreans most of the day so I only read about 150 pages. We tried kimchi as well, and we didn't really like it. It was not as good as I had hoped, but there are things that are bound to disappoint us in life, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix not being one of them. I absolutely love this book. There is so much going on, but there is never a dull moment. The comedy is always there to make it all better.

Onto funny quotes:
1. When Mrs. Black's portrait is howling at Sirius. "'Yoooou!' she howled, her eyes popping at the sight of the man. 'Blood traitor, abomination, shame of my flesh!'"
2. When the group talks about Kreacher bawling when Sirius won't let him take a Black family crested ring up to his room. "'It was my father's,' said Sirius, throwing the ring into the sack. 'Kreacher wasn't quite as devoted to him as my mother, but I still caught him snogging a pair of my father's old trousers last week.'"
3. This one isn't funny, but it is a total deserved slap in Umbridge's face, and I love it too much to leave it out. When McGonagall is continually interupted by Umbridge in her inspection. "'I wonder, said Professor McGonagall in cold fury, turning on Professor Umbridge, "how you expect to gain an idea of my usual teaching methods if you continue to interrupt me? You see, I do not generally permit people to talk when I am talking.'" BAM!

Ok so in the beginning, I noticed that Aunt Petunia wasn't talking about James when she mentioned that she heard that awful boy telling her about the dementors. She was actually talking about Snape, but we don't know that yet, do we?

A bit of Ron and Hermione analysis here. Percy sends Ron that pompous letter encouraging him to sever ties with Harry. Ron proceeds to rip up the letter furiously and throw it in the fire. "Hermione was looking at Ron with an odd expression on her face. 'Oh give them here,' she said abruptly." She means their homework. She then helps the two of the boys with their work. I believe we have just seen the beginning feelings of love sprouting in Hermione's heart for Ron. She sees his true feelings for Harry, and I believe that speaks volumes to Hermione. The two are also bickering a lot more with each other in this book as well.

So Umbridge hates half-breeds. I wonder what happened in her youth that made her so afraid of them. I hope it was something terrible....

This thoroughly outraged me, and it just goes to show you how far the Ministry is going to try to dampen the name of Albus Dumbledore and anyone who is affiliated with him. " "' Hogwarts is a school, not an outpost  of Cornelius Fudge's office,' said Madam Marchbanks. 'This is a further disgusting attempt to discredit Albus Dumbledore.' (For a full account of Madam Marchbanks' alleged links to subversive goblin groups, turn to page 17)." " Look at how they discredit her name and what she says by saying that she was involved in rebellious goblin groups. This is utter nonsense. This woman is an older witch and has probably been on the Wizengamot for just as long as Dumbledore, and I don't blame her for resigning once that whole High Inquisitor business was put through.

I hate Dolores Umbridge. I'm sure every other Harry Potter reader does too, but I have so much rage pent up in me over this character that I'm pretty sure that I hate her a lot more than the boys do. Just look at this quote. She says this to Harry when only she and him can hear, thus showing her true colors, and I'm sure her polyjuice essence would be the color of dark putrid green. "'Oh no,' said Umbridge, smiling so widely that she liked as though she had just swallowed a particularly juicy fly. 'Oh no, no, no. This is your punishment for spreading evil, nasty, attention-seeking stories, Mr. Potter, and punishments can certainly not be adjusted to suit the guilty one's convenience...'" That bitch.

Mistake in the book! It says on page 338 in the U.S. hardcover edition that Colin and Dennis Creevey attend the first D.A. meeting in the Hog's Head, but Dennis is only a second year. What is he doing in Hogsmeade? Either it is a mistake, or Dennis is a lot smarter and more gifted than he seems. I choose to believe the latter, just because he is a Creevey brother.

That's all for now. I've got a day of catching up to do, but I have all day to read, so I might be finishing Order of the Phoenix tomorrow. We'll see! Cheers.

Day 10, 1,819 pages read

I haven't finished with my set 272 pages today, but I just finished Goblet of Fire, and I had too many thoughts in my head, so I decided to write my blog entry today just on GoF and start Order of the Phoenix after I'm done with this.

Book 4:

The last two chapters of this book really had me silently sobbing. I'm not talking about the cute little trickling tears you get when something touches you, I mean the tears that just won't stop and fill your eyes so rapidly that you can hardly see. It was so odd for me because I had never cried over Cedric before. His death is sad, yes, but we didn't really get to know him that well. I wasn't even mainly crying for Cedric either. Just the whole situation made me angry and full of grief. I guess it really finally hit me that Harry can't be a kid anymore. First he has no parents, there's an evil less than human thing after him, and now he can't even enjoy the simple things because of all of the haunting memories he has. He watched someone die. When Dudley says, "Who's Cedric? Your boyfriend?", I am going to have to walk away from the book and rage in my bathroom or something. Everything just changed so quick, and it's all going to shit. Cornelius Fudge is the stupidest, popularity hungry, fat pig that ever comes into these books. God I am not looking forward to Umbridge because she is even worse. Friends, if I get moody over the next three days, blame it on that woman. It all just makes me want to cry for a long time and skip ahead to book seven where everything is fine, but alas that would be cheating, and then that victory would taste as sweet as it would if I read the next two.

That being said, I would like to address something that I have been thinking about ever since I was younger. The first time I read Goblet of Fire, I remember being thoroughly confused about Barty Crouch Jr. I had no idea that he was indeed pretending to be Moody at the time, so I recall my first impression of Barty Crouch Jr., or as I would like to call him Barty from now on, a lot different from the one we meet later on in GoF. Barty is nineteen, so possibly a year out of Hogwarts. He is brought into a trial where he is convicted of torturing Frank and Alice Longbottom into insanity. What struck me is how differently he acted in the trial compared to the other Death Eaters that were being convicted along with him. He was screaming to his father that he was innocent, that he didn't do it, he didn't know. What didn't he know? That line stumped me. I read on. Later after Dumbledore pulls Harry out of the pensieve, Dumbledore admits that because the crime was committed after Voldemort fell, the Ministry was hard-pressed to find the ones who did it, and because of the state of the Longbottoms, their evidence was not too reliable. Harry even asks Dumbledore if that means Barty might not have been involved, and he admits to not being able to answer. After I read this I thought, well he was wrongly convicted. I just couldn't believe that that young boy would be working with those evil people. Later when I read that he had actually been a Death Eater and feigned his own death, I was shocked! How could the boy we saw from the court room turn into this bloodthirsty, evil man? The shift in character was too much, but me being only ten at the time, I chose not to worry about it. As I older now and more keen to try and figure out what exactly happened to Barty, I read his scenes carefully, making note of everything he said. What I have deducted from my character research on Barty is that he was just too young to know what he was really doing the first time round. He didn't really know that he was going to torture them into insanity. It clearly scared him, but I think it was his time spent in Azkaban that really made him into the madman that he was. He was so innocent in the beginning, but then we see such a broad character shift in him. He is a minor character in the series, but he is one with the most depth.

Question: How did Voldemort get his old wand back? It should still be at Godric's Hollow where his soul split.

Ok, I have to go read OotP now. I get a nice long break from work, so I'll be able to read a lot more during the day.