Anxious for the Next harry Potter Book!

[CyberKitten]

I know I am late getting to this but here it is - the Harry Potter book thread. When I have time - which means not this week, lol - I have been rereading the last few HP books before the new ones comes along. I thought I had recalled most of the details but there are minor issues you forget. While I know JK Rowling has stated that she believes children need to understand death - and I agree with her there (alas, I work wit kids who face their own mortality and do it with adult sized courage and resilience) - I really wander if Snape actually killed Aldus Dombledore. Yes, Snape did use that awful curse and certainly when you know who used it on Cedric Diggery in the TriWizard tournament, he died but Dumdledore is no ordinary wizard! I know the actor died but these are books first and foremost (I mean, if there can be a new "Derwood" (I know, I know I just prefer to use the mil's name) on Bewitched (the TV show in reruns, not the movie) , there can also be a new Dumbledore. Of course, even if he is dead, he is still there to dispense advice since all the Headmasters and Mistresses are there in the office - even if it is in their portraits. (and I think McG would make a wonderful HeadMistress- anyone who turns into a cat has got to be good, right!)

Someone else has pointed out that no body was seen per se at the funeral - Hagrid brought something wrapped up. So whether in the flesh or not, Dumldeore will be back. There is something about Snape and as much as we learn to see him thru Harry's eyes, I really wonder if he and D had some sort
of plan to fool the evildoers?

So, anyone else have any theories? I do think Harry will become an Auror (He really already has proven he can do the job!) but I wish they;d still have Hogwarts to protect them tho I know it wold not be the same without Dumbedore.

btw, did anyone read today's Globe & Mail - I briefly saw the article that claimed the books are sexist! I think that's ridiculous! They may not be pc but I actually believe she does an excellent parody of a class society and even of some of the issues involving our society post 9/11. Good versus evil and all that. The evildoers rise up and the forces for good take them on. Plus, how can she be sexist - sure, the Headmaster was male but there are some very strong women characters in the book - and in Quittich, players are both male AND female. (unlike say our own major sports - tho I know it is more representative of European football or what we in North America call soccer.)

Anyway - I will be interested to hear what others think!!

[Frenchy]

I've only read the first 3 books. Started the fourth one that my sister lend me. Read it for an hour , put it on the coffee table and never touched it again. It's hard to get into a book with 3-4 dogs around me , asking for treats , or to go outside, or to play , or to get petted ....

[Hunter's_owner]

I am going to read over the last book before I get to the new one, so I am hoping to start that within the next week or so. But between my research and work research I find it hard reading anything for fun. I always feel guilty that I should be reading a journal article instead

But I do love reading

Anyways...I find it hard to believe that Dumbledore will really be dead but then again like you said the headmasters portraits remain, so it may not be that big of a deal.

I can't buy into Snape being good in the end. I know that we are getting Harry's feelings, but I just can't buy into it at all. If he do end up turning good, it will take some crazy writing for it to be something that I will enjoy.
I do like the idea of Dumbledore and Snape working out something "behind the scenes" in order to fool Voldemort into thinking that he may have a chance.

I know I am forgetting a lot of things from the last book, so as I reread that one I will probably have more to add

[CyberKitten]

Frenchy, Wikipedia has an overview of all the books and Sparks Notes (sort of today's version of Cole's Notes) has a chapter by chapter synopsis and you do not have to read the entire book if you do not have time.

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/harrypotter/

I am not a fan of Snape either but somehow, I think there may be some deal between him and Dumbledore but who knows! I do not like him for all the mean and nasty things he has done or said to harry, Ron, Hermoine and Neville etal.

I asked one of my patients who this morning complained of being bored- she just had a bone marrow transplant so cannot go anywhere, ie not even leave her room just yet - to think up a Harry Potter quiz and maybe we could post it online. Kids have some great ideas - tho they see it in a much more innocent way than we do. I do too much analysis for my own good, lol I really think Rowling is a good satirist in the way she regards society and there is a meaning behind much of her work. Like Hermoine's campaign for the elves (reminds me of slavery - and I have seen the slave trade in women and young girls alive and well in some countries; one woman I know who works to free young women from a life in a brothel "paid off" one fellow only to discover when she returned there a yr later, the girl (maybe 13-14) had returned because it was what she knew and she was addicted to various drugs, sigh!!. The last time, it was her parents who sold her. Eeeeeek!!! For any teacher, it is a great way to discuss slavery in our own past history. And how Dudley and the Dursley's treat Harry is a way to talk about bullying. There are many themes in these books.

I was astounded a few summers ago when a former babysitter of mine came to visit and while I really like her - and she'd had a bit of a tough life herself until she was adopted by friends of my parents - they were her foster parents when she was 15 but they adopted her the next year - she and her new husband have become involved in a fundamentalist religion and she talked of Harry Potter as teaching children about the devil.

I do not agree with that at all but these are her values and I did not want the short visit I had with her to be a debate so I changed the subject. It's sad to see that though - knowing her own children won't have the chance to read the books, unless they sneak around to do it. (Actually, she may be encouraging them to read them all the more!) I have had a few patients who come from that milieu as well so I am just cautious what I say in that instance. But I think the HP books teach valuable lessons to kids and are not that much different that our watching Star Trek and Bewitched or going to magic shows and Halloween - though some of those religions also do not participate in that either. Prob a little darker than Bewitched for sure but you know what I mean!

[rainbow]

Originally Posted by Frenchy

I've only read the first 3 books. Started the fourth one that my sister lend me. Read it for an hour , put it on the coffee table and never touched it again. It's hard to get into a book with 3-4 dogs around me , asking for treats , or to go outside, or to play , or to get petted ....

I agree with that. One of my neighbours lent me "Marley and Me" to read a couple of weeks ago. I've read maybe three chapters so far.

[jesse's mommy]

I can't wait for the next book. I've had it on order for months now. 13 days and counting!!!!!

[dtbmnec]

I can't see Snape being totally evil though....I also believe that Snape killed Dumbledore to have the "Unbreakable Vow" come to pass (ie. its no longer in effect?). I think Snape and Dumbledore do have something going on in the background (along with everyone else it seems ).

I think that maybe Snape's heart is in the right place (on the good side) however his methods are much more abrasive because of the life he has had. He was constantly teased as a kid at Hogwarts by James Potter and from the sounds of it since James was popular chances are he wasn't well liked with the rest of the school. I think he does what he has to to survive, and in the case of Dumbledore's death it would be used as leverage to be more trusted within the Death Eaters (especially since he's been "in Dumbledore's pocket" for 15 years).

I think Dumbledore is dead. The freezing charm put on Harry would only be released by Dumbledore saying as much or his death. Dumbledore would NOT have invested in Horcruxes and unless there is another way to keep yourself alive without splitting your soul....what I WOULD like to know is what happens to Fawkes, Dumbledore's Phoenix. He DID come to Harry's aid in the second book so will he make yet another appearance now that Dumbledore's gone?


mugglenet.com has a list of things Rowling should be revealing in the last book and some bits and pieces that Rowling's mentioned will happen. Has a bunch of other things on there too.

Megan

[CyberKitten]

I know, I've been trying to stay away from the sites that have spoilers tho they are really guessing - unless they have info from a publisher but I doubt it. I too wonder about Fawkes - he has to have some role in the next book - and I do think whether it is through his presence in a picture in what is now McG's office or or some other deal between him and Snape (and yes, Snape had little choice but to agree to that spell but there may be a counter spell to that that we do not know of. After all, Rowling is rather famous for characters not being who they said they are. Like Lockhart's body being used in Book 2 and then Mad Eye Moody spending all that time locked up in HP and the Goblet of Fire. So, is it possible - and I am just thinking and typing out loud here, lol - that the person killed was not really Dumbledore. I also think tho, so many of us do not want him dead that we are trying to find ways to make him come back. It may well be up to Harry to find the horcruxes - and I think he will somehow return to that place Tom Riddle was at when the orphanage took him and others and he had that fake horcrux there - and who has the real one? It seems as tho one is in Ireland and will Seamus help with that? But where are the others?

I too preordered several copies (I want some for the oncology unit as well as for my office.) And I will prob read it as soon as it arrived. (Make no appts- I HAVE to read this book, lol)

[Rick C]

Originally Posted by CyberKitten

I know I am late getting to this but here it is - the Harry Potter book thread.

What's it about!!!???

Seriously, haven't touched the books, haven't seen the movies.

I did have a 69 year-old client tell me he's fascinated by the books though.

Rick C
www.goldentales.ca

[dtbmnec]

Alright so how many of us crazy pet people went on opening night to the movie?

I can't go till next week when my parents are willing to shell out the money (well ok to be fair, mom is still away and dad hasn't got the money so we have to wait for her )

Gah I almost went to see it without the 'rents but I figure if its a free ten bucks....lol

Can't wait for the book still.....ooooooh re read the HBP a few weeks ago and I was so disappointed to find out that the next book isn't out till the middle/end of July....I was surprised there was a copy LEFT in the library

Megan

[Hunter's_owner]

I wouldn't go to opening night. Too many people and line ups for me. I am hoping to go next week, depending on the crowds again
I am really looking forward to it though

[CyberKitten]

I am admittedly much more interested in the books than the movies - I downloaded the first one and have yet to see the others tho I did dl them and have them. I just think the books are so much better than the movies- you never get it all from a movie! (and this thread is about the book, )

One of my patients had those comments by JK Rowling dtbmnec so I have heard those rumours - hard to say - I have been rereading the books and I think the one about the Order of the Phoenix holds more clues than the most recent one - except for the info about the Horcruxes. The part about the Prophecy is essential of course - I suspect these first 6 books have been anti climatic to the ending one (I hope, lol) since it will be all out war in the last one. Those dementors are the spookiest things I have read about in a long time (Not sure I want to see them on screen to be honest!) but it will be interesting to put it mildly - am intrigued to see what role petunia will have now that we know she is not a squib???

Anyway - back to work!

[SableCollie]

I was going to see the movie this weekend...unfortunately I only have $1 in cash. Yeah, 1 dollar. I can't get to the bank until next week....I'm hoping I can convince my friend to buy me a ticket, so I can still see it this weekend.

With the 6th book, my local bookstore ordered tons of copies, and there were plenty left when I got there, I don't know why I'm so worried this time! There is going to be a midnight party at the bookstore I think, but I don't think I could stay up that late.

[pamha]

We actually went to see the movie the first day. Didn`t plan to, but happened to be in the area & there wasn`t much of a line. Empty seats too in the theater we were in. What they left in was done pretty well, but there was so much left out and many scenes just felt too rushed. I guess as a book person I`m never going to be completely happy with a movie adaptation. We are anxiously awaiting the new book here too!

[Hunter's_owner]

Originally Posted by CyberKitten

I am admittedly much more interested in the books than the movies - I downloaded the first one and have yet to see the others tho I did dl them and have them. I just think the books are so much better than the movies- you never get it all from a movie! (and this thread is about the book, )

I agree the books have always been so much better than the movie. I guess it was brought up because it is all happening at the same time

[CyberKitten]

I am providing chapter one of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows (which I managed to obtain a copy of - the manuscript is available in the publishing world after all and Rainforest books people have shared it!.) and I simply could not wait until Satursday so I began reading it as soon as I arrived home.

So if you do not want surprises and want to wait until Saturday, here is chapter one:


I have it in pdf, doc and txt (no .lit for those of you like me who like MS Reader on your Blackberry or Pocket PC)


So be forewarned.....
Major Spoilers Ahead!!!


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[ChancesMom]

Hi!

Would you mind putting a spoiler alert when revealing plots of previous books?

I have not yet read book 6 and just found out something that I did not want to know...

Thanks!

[CyberKitten]

I most certainly placed a spoiler alert!! I would not have written this otherwise!!
And yeah, Snape does come out better than I thought actually. I cried when one of the characters died tho - actually sat that and sobbed!! Gawd!

[ChancesMom]

Originally Posted by CyberKitten

I most certainly placed a spoiler alert!! I would not have written this otherwise!!
And yeah, Snape does come out better than I thought actually. I cried when one of the characters died tho - actually sat that and sobbed!! Gawd!

Maybe I missed it...

I did not know that Dumbledore died...

This is what I read...

I know I am late getting to this but here it is - the Harry Potter book thread. When I have time - which means not this week, lol - I have been rereading the last few HP books before the new ones comes along. I thought I had recalled most of the details but there are minor issues you forget. While I know JK Rowling has stated that she believes children need to understand death - and I agree with her there (alas, I work wit kids who face their own mortality and do it with adult sized courage and resilience) - I really wander if Snape actually killed Aldus Dombledore.

But... it was really my fault because I am way behind.... and I really should have known better!

[CyberKitten]

I did want to add I LOVED the book - think it is the best of the lot! (and that is saying something, lol)

I also have been sitting here thinking I;d love to give my patients a wand and teach them curses against cancer. Or spells at least - zap it away, no chemo, no horrid bone marrow aspirations, no port o caths tho they trump IV's, anyway - you know what I mean!! And I could have zapped my own cancer as well but I believe we need one for kids first!

Anyhow - it's nice to fantasize now and then, lol

[jesse's mommy]

I completely agree CK. This is by far the best book of the series.