I know Deathly Hallows II doesn’t come out for another four days… but being a pottermaniac like almost everyone else I know (thanks for being a spoil-sport Eli), I have to start a little early. Really, after what I think is about ten years for me, I still can’t believe it’s all going to end. I guess it truly ended in ‘07 when Book 7 was published… but the movies have always been just as much a part of the series as the books (which most movies tend not to be). They have to count. So in four days it all ends… as those posters rightly say. Now I think I’m going to be nostalgic tonight and make all of you uncomfortable (and probably sound extremely self-centered)… or you can stop reading now and save yourselves the pain.
My first memory of Harry Potter? Refusing to read the first book when I got it for what was probably my fifth or sixth birthday. I didn’t read Sorcerer’s Stone for four months… and really the only reason why I ended up reading it was probably because I got Chamber of Secrets for Christmas. Then, when I started… I never looked back. The funniest part of the whole thing (and some of you might know this already), was that I used to get really chapped lips back then. So the thing, first and foremost, that I associate with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is coconut-flavored lip balm. Why would I lie about something like that?
Then came Azkaban, my unconditional favorite… just because it was so different from the rest of the series. Voldemort does not make an appearance. The Marauder’s Map is introduced. And the Dementors are some of the greatest antagonists I’ve ever ‘seen’. Who could forget Lupin either… he’s easily my favorite character in the entire series.
Order of the Phoenix was the first one I had to wait for, and that was the only one I actually bought at midnight. I remember bringing a flashlight in the car so I could read it on the way home… and my dad still remembers it too. Order of the Phoenix stands out for a few reasons. One, it was my least favorite of the series (at least at the first readthrough). Two, it was the only book I ever read ahead in. I was about halfway through and so frustrated about how slow it was that I read the last chapter. Maybe that’s another reason I didn’t like it…
Half-Blood Prince only has one real memory attached to it… that was me sitting in a shopping cart in Home Depot the morning I got it and reading the chapter where Snape makes the vow. Oddly enough, after I finished I not only said Snape was innocent (spoiler alert), but I even called that Dumbeldore had asked him to kill him. See Anthony, I even predicted stuff back then.
Deathly Hallows was the quickest one I finished, clocking in at roughly eight hours. From what I remember, I sat on the living room floor through the entire day reading that book from start to finish. I think I even laughed out loud at the profanity… and as I always say some profanity always makes a book better. It comes in second on the favorites list to Azkaban, in fact it comes in second on every list to Azkaban. It was almost as clever. Almost as witty. Almost as emotional. And it was the best finish to a series I’ve ever read.
SONG OF THE DAY: WHEN WE WERE BEAUTIFUL
Great Bon Jovi song, which I have no time to go into because I have three minutes until the midnight deadline. So adios my friends, thanks for listening to my rambling… and see you tomorrow. Same time. Same place. As always.
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