Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Wed
18
Jul
2007

Thursday Thirteen 102/28 - HP Edition

Also, 3 Days Until HP and the Deathly Hallows

3 Days Until Harry Potter and the Deathly HallowsI stopped by Mike and Nina's after work today to leave my car in their parking lot so that Marcus and I can retrieve it once he gets home from work. While there, Nina gave me the Chocolate Frog that she picked up for me at Borders the other day. Guess who my wizard card was? Yep, Severus Snape! w00t! Nina got an Albus Dumbledore one. How cool is that? At least we didn't end up with unheard of wizards or witches, y'know? So, thanks again, Nina and Mike! It was very thoughtful and very much appreciated.

It's getting increasingly hard to concentrate at work. It seems my every waking thought is on this book and the desire I have to see how Jo ends it all. I thought it would be interesting to get all my thoughts, hopes and predictions down here in writing for my TT this week and we'll see how close or far off the mark I am on Saturday.

Thirteen Predictions About Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

  1. Voldemort will die. Hopefully that one is a duh, no-brainer prediciton.
  2. Snape is one of the good guys. I know there are two sharply divided camps over this one. I believe that Dumbledore made Snape kill him for one of two reasons. Either the piece of Voldemort's soul that was in Marvolo's ring transferred to Dumbledore (making him a Horcrux) and therefore Dumbledore had to die to destroy the fragment or else it was necessary for my next prediction to happen.
  3. Dumbledore is a Phoenix Animagus and was reborn. The absence of Dumbledore in the former headmaster painting speaks volumes. Also, are we to believe the greatest wizard of all time isn't an animagus? If Gandalf can come back in LOTR, then so can Dumbledore...that's all I'm saying!
  4. Lucious Malfoy will die. Hopefully he is one among many Death Eaters that will bite the dust. Although I find the actor that plays him in the movies incredibly sexy, the character is an ass.
  5. Draco will redeem himself. I think he will end up on the side of good in the end.
  6. Crookshanks will be a major player. I'm pretty sure we haven't seen what Crookshank's purpose in this story is yet. True, he played a big role ferreting out Peter Pettigrew/Scabbers, but that cat will have a part in how things turn out in book 7.
  7. Wormtail/Peter will help defeat The Dark Lord. I don't think he'll do it intentionally, though. He's a bumbling idiot and a coward. Since he is also indebted to Harry for keeping Sirius and Lupin from killing him, that will have to be a factor.
  8. Ron and Hermione will not be a couple in the end. One, how many school romances last into adulthood? Not many. I think Ron is too much of a dunderhead for someone as smart and talented as Hermione. Not to say that they can't remain good friends, though (providing neither of them is killed in the final battles).
  9. Harry and Ginny will not be a couple in the end. There are many reasons other than the school romance thing why I don't think this one will continue. First, I think there is a strong possibility that Ginny will die. It could be the final straw that pushes Harry over the edge for revenge. Also, is Harry survives the final battle, he's going to be one messed up dude. I don't believe that Harry will be with anyone
  10. Aunt Petunia must have some part to play in the final book. Since Harry's protection ends when he turns 17, I doubt that Jo would just have the Dursley's drop out of Harry's life for good. On a separate but kind of related note, what happened to Harry's grandparents (i.e., Lily and Petunia's parents)? I always wondered why they weren't in the picture.
  11. Percy Weasley will fall under control of Voldemort. I don't know if he'll be under an Imperius curse or if he goes of his own free will, but Percy has always bothered me and I could totally see him ending up on the wrong side.
  12. Harry will be a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. I believe there will be a little epilogue like LOTR. What a fitting end for Harry to live out his days at the one place that felt like home to him in the position that Voldemort cursed because Dumbledore wouldn't hire him for the position. Harry is already good at teaching Defense as shown by the DA lessons in Order of the Phoenix.
  13. Neville will ultimately defeat Voldemort. I think all along that old Voldy has had his attention (as well as everyone else) on the wrong boy wizard.

So, there we are. Will I be right? Only J.K. Rowling, those involved in the production of the book and those putting up leaks all over the Internet know for sure. It will be fun to see if my thoughts play out or if Jo throws us all for a big loop. We'll find out on Saturday.

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Monday, July 16, 2007

Mon
16
Jul
2007

5 Days Until HP and the Deathly Hallows

5 Days Until Harry Potter and the Deathly HallowsWow, just as many days left as fingers on my one hand. I almost can't believe it is so close. I've been waiting for this day for so long...I just hope I'm not majorly disappointed in how J.K. Rowling ends the series.

I've been really trying to avoid surfing the 'net for Potter related stories. I don't want to accidentally stumble on something that is really a spoiler, y'know?

Marcus made fun of my statement that as soon as I have the book in hand, I'll park myself on the couch and not move until I'm finished. I'm sure I'll take a small break to eat dinner and bathroom breaks to give my eyes a break, but I'm pretty much reading until I'm done.

I saw on the Amazon site that people who preordered Deathly Hallows will receive a $5 give cert to use in August. If so, that is very cool of them.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Sun
15
Jul
2007

6 Days Until HP and the Deathly Hallows

6 Days Until Harry Potter and the Deathly HallowsToday I watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (I borrowed it from Nina since I don't yet own it). It's funny trying to watch or read HP stuff with Marcus around. He's been exposed to just enough of it to kind of get what's going on, but he won't outright actually get into it. Cracks me up.

I'm mulling over some possible scenarios of what might come in my head. If I can come up with thirteen predictions, I'll use that for this week's Thursday Thirteen list.

I decided I may skip over Order of the Phoenix and just reread Half Blood Prince. It was my least favorite book out of them all. I think it is because of that Umbridge character. Reminded me a lot of the bureaucratic bull crap I dealt with back as a teacher.

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Sat
14
Jul
2007

7 Days Until HP and the Deathly Hallows

7 Days Until Harry Potter and the Deathly HallowsSo it occurred to me that at this time next week, I will probably already have finished reading (or be darned close to having finished reading) the final Harry Potter book. Weird.

I also got a text from Nina that she got me a chocolate frog. Man, I can't wait to get that and see what a Muggle version of a chocolate frog is. LOL

Friday, July 13, 2007

Fri
13
Jul
2007

8 Days Until HP and the Deathly Hallows

8 Days Until Harry Potter and the Deathly HallowsMy friend Nina gave me a Harry Potter goodie bag today that she put together. It's the cutest little gift bag with the Hogwart's crest and she put pens, a couple of note pads and some sticky notes in it. Very thoughtful. Thank you, Nina!

I've got a week to read 2½ books. Probably not going to make it, but that's ok. I hope this next week goes fast!

Nina and I were on Border's Media site today. There is a Snape action figure that I would love to have. Snape better be a good guy in the end, dang it! They also have Chocolate Frogs with collectible cards for sale. How cool it would be if the cards had little mini flash drives that played mini movies to replicate the moving wizard pictures, eh?