More Harry Potter

[Fris]

The Harry Potter 5 thread has me curious. Which one's your favorite?

[anonshadow]

Prisoner of Azkaban, although Half-Blood Prince is a close second, and Order of the Phoenix is a close third.

[Popcornbaby]

Prisoner of Azkaban

[Mahatma]

I didn't vote -- I sort of see the series as one long book, so I can't really choose a favorite.

[zeroguy]

I like how there's a "I don't like them as much as the movies" option, and a "I haven't heard of Harry Potter" option, but no "I don't like Harry Potter in general" option.

[peterlocke123]

OotP

[Gravity Defier]

Not Found

The requested post was not found.

[Fris]

I like how there's a "I don't like them as much as the movies" option, and a "I haven't heard of Harry Potter" option, but no "I don't like Harry Potter in general" option.

There was one. It didn't show up.

[Jebus]

I think you need to "add option" after your last one to make it work.

[Hegemon]

Yeah, that seems to be what does it.

[Qing_Jao]

Hmm, in order might be hard.

HBP
PoA
GoF
SS
CoS
OoP

If Professor Gilderoy Lockhart didn't exist, CoS would be much higher. I love the book otherwise, but Lockhart's the kind of character you look at and shudder. He doesn't really make the book like "Toad" Umbridge, who is the main reason I intensely dislike OoP. That whole scene with the detention...
Yuck

[Fris]

I freaking hate Harry Potter!

Just so we're all clear, it was meant to be "freakin'."

[Hegemon]

There? Ya happy?

[Fris]

Quite.

[Craig]

It's hard for me to choose between OotP and PoA, but I went with OotP.

Salaam

[v-girl]

Chamber of Secrets was my favorite, book-wise (but not movie-wise). I felt like it did the best at keeping me guessing the whole time, and I liked the characters as kids, before the whole teen love drama started to kick in.

[Petra456]

Half-Blood Prince is my favorite, closely followed by Goblet of Fire.

[zeroguy]

I freaking hate Harry Potter!

Just so we're all clear, it was meant to be "freakin'."

Well, I don't really hate it.... bah, I'll just stay out of the danged thread.

[LilBee91]

HBP
PoA (but it's so close to HBP...it was a rough decision)
GoF
OotP
SS
CoS

I love them all, and their rank changes with almost every reread.

[Ela]

I love all the books, but I really like Order of the Phoenix.

[Young Val]

my favorites in order:

PoA
HBP
SS
GoF
OotP
CoS


*SERIES SPOILERS*


i think Prisoner of Azkaban was a phenomenal book. i LOVED the double reveal at the end--one of the only books that wasn't totally predictable. don't get me wrong, all of the events in the other books are shocking, but still in many ways foreseeable.

Half-Blood Prince is a wonderful book as well. we finally see Harry begin to become an adult, to think and act like one. the transformation is not complete yet, but the angst is (mostly) gone, and has been replaced with determination. really nice set-up for the final showdown. plus, all of the lovely, lovely Snape stuff (SNAPE IS GOOD!) and the really deep development of Draco as a character. and of course, Dumbledore--break my heart. plus some actual, tangible reason as to why Voldemort is truly a terrifying villian. up until know he's been incredibly powerful, and thus feared. and he has done some abhorant things with that power. but it isn't until HBP that we are finally given some insight as to why Voldemort is much worse than any other heartless murderer. plus the Tom Riddle backstory, fascinating! ...oh, i could gush about this book for days.

Sorcerer's Stone comes next mainly for sentimental reasons. that book was the first, and does such an amazing job of creating this entire, complete, functioning WORLD.

Goblet of Fire i also adore; especially for the R/Hr, Rita Skeeter, the Ron/Harry argument (SUCH important character development) the quiditch cup, tri-wizard tournament, and MAD-EYE MOODY!!!! not to mention the first moving and significant death, a real reminder that the books are dealing with, not an easily foiled caricature of a villain, but true evil.

as for Order of the Phoenix, i love the DA, and i love that Ginny FINALLY got a personality, and that Neville came into his own, and of course Luna Lovegood's integration as a major part of the plot. and i love reading about the Order. i love Fred and George. and i LOVED the scene with Dudley and Harry in the opening of the book. very important, and very telling. however Harry Potter and the Capslock of Rage (as i tend to call OotP) and Grumpy!Sirius really got under my skin. all for the good of the plot, but still. nearly that entire book made me want to bash my head against a wall.

i really disliked Chamber of Secrets. i mean, i loved it, because i love all the books, but it was my least favorite by far. ...by FAR.

[anonshadow]

I actually despised Goblet of Fire. So much. One thing that I dislike about the books is that it's always the Harry Potter show. Which sounds stupid, because the books are about him, but it annoys me when he is the one person who can save everyone. In that, I actually somewhat agree with Snape--famous Harry Potter gets under my skin.

Goblet of Fire was the worst of them all. There were all these special exceptions made for him, and, of course, Voldemort took one of the most roundabout ways ever in getting Harry, and... it was just... it was all about Harry being special and doing nothing to deserve it.

I'm not articulating it well.

But something like Prisoner of Azkaban, I liked, because in the end, it had nothing to do with Harry being special. It had nothing to do with his magical abilities. It had to do with an old friend of his father's loving him. And that touched me so much more than Harry throughout all of the Goblet of Fire (up until Cedric, anyway). In PoA, once you've read it once, you know that everything driving the book is about Sirius' love for his friends and his desire to protect their son against Pettigrew.

[Jayelle]

I'm so not surprised that Azkaban is winning.

I read somewhere that JKR wrote it fairly quickly and easily, I think you can really tell. It just flows so well.

[Young Val]

*this strays slightly from the specific topic of ranking books, but is still totally Harry Potter related. i'll move it to a new thread if i must.*

i went on a bit of a day-long Harry Potter binge today, as i didn't much feel like leaving my bed, and didn't exactly have to. so i trolled around online and read both excellent and delusional essays about various theories and interpretations and whatnot, and was having a grand old time, when i stumbled upon this!

it's a master list of all of the known HP Ships! including...


some Canon

Harry/Ginny - Orange Crush
Ron/Hermione - The Good Ship R/H
Tonks/Lupin - Wotcher!Wolvie

some Fanon

Harry/Draco - Guns and Handcuffs
Ginny/Draco - Fire and Ice
Lupin/Sirius - Wolfstar

and some just plain.... well.... yeah.

Harry/Giant Squid - Scar'n'Squid
Tom (as in 'Riddle')/Harry - Ssssssssss



my favorite thus far might be Neville/Luna - SS. The Government Stole My Toad


some of them are actually downright clever titles. no matter how ridiculous the ship.

[peterlocke123]

*SPOILERS*














Dumbledore is NOT dead...

My reasons:

Basic:

Snape replaces the potion in the basin in the cave with a potion to stop death. Dumbledore survives the Avada Kedavra, but is knocked unconscious and then lives.

Indepth:

A sort of step by step thought process i went through...

• Snape tells his first year potions class that he can teach them to “put a stopper to death”
• Snape and Lily were both in Slughorn’s Slug Club
• Lily was beautiful, Snape had secret feelings for her
• Snape was mad that Lily married James
• Snape overheard the prophecy and reported to Voldemort
• Snape pleaded for Lily’s life but didn’t mind if Voldemort killed James, Voldemort didn’t want to kill her, hence the, “step aside, there’s no need for you to die” etc...
• Snape really is on the good side, proof of this is when Snape hesitates to agree to the third clause in HBP, he must finish Draco’s task if Draco is unable to
• Snape tells Dumbledore about the unbreakable vow between him and Malfoy
• Snape is making investigations in Slytherin, finds out when Malfoy is planning on springing his attack
• Snape tells Dumbledore he doesn’t want to “do it any more”, “do it any more” referring to switch the potions in the cave, Voldemort is growing suspicious and attempting to use his Legilimency on him, Snape is growing tired of blocking Voldemort
• Snape finally switches the potions
• Dumbledore and harry go to the cave
• Dumbledore drinks potion and all his strength is stored for the “blocking of the Avada Kedavra”
• Dumbledore sees the Dark Mark when they return and starts releasing his strength to start the “blocking of Avada Kedavra”
• Harry and Dumbledore land and Dumbledore stuns Harry
• Dumbledore pleads with Severus, it sounds as if he’s pleading for his life, but he is actually asking Severus to use the Killing Curse soon, the potion is loosing it’s effect
• Snape finally uses the Killing Curse and the potion protecting Dumbledore absorbs the Curse and blasts Dumbledore back against the railing and then he falls over
• In all other scenes with the Killing Curse, it made people drop dead, not blast backwards, therefore proof that Dumbledore might not be dead
• Snape tells the other Death Eaters to leave quickly in case they find out Dumbledore is still alive
• Hagrid places Dumbledore’s body on the unlit pyre, they light it, Harry thinks he sees a phoenix fly into the sky
• Dumbledore is actually an animagus, he turns into a phoenix and flies away



Comments?

[Young Val]

i've got to dash to work, so i haven't got time to go in depth with a response now.

i think your ideas and theories are creative, but i admit i disagree with nearly all of them.


more in a bit!

[Young Val]

Dumbledore is NOT dead...

JKR has stated that he is, but even without that statement, I would have to say that all evience points to the contrary.

My reasons:

Basic:

Snape replaces the potion in the basin in the cave with a potion to stop death. Dumbledore survives the Avada Kedavra, but is knocked unconscious and then lives.

While I can see the steps that lead you to this (Snape excells at potions, and was supposedly in Voldemort's employ, thus giving him the opportunity and the means by which to replace the potion). However, I think you're simply working too hard.

Indepth:

A sort of step by step thought process i went through...

• Snape tells his first year potions class that he can teach them to “put a stopper to death”

The correct quote is actually (my bold), "I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death — if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

"Stopper" here means "a device, such as a cork or plug, that is inserted to close an opening." My assumtion is based on the pattern of language before it, "bottle," and "brew." Snape is talking about the ability to teach his students to make a deadly potion, which they could then bottle and seal, if they chose. This is, of course, purely flashy talk (not that he couldn't do it, just that he wouldn't).

• Snape and Lily were both in Slughorn’s Slug Club
• Lily was beautiful, Snape had secret feelings for her
• Snape was mad that Lily married James

I've heard these theories before, and I'm not sure where I weigh in on that issue just yet. I won't write it off. And, given the scenes of Snape and the Marauders in Dumbledore's penseive it seems plausible. Still, it seems to be a separate issue from the one at hand.

• Snape overheard the prophecy and reported to Voldemort

Yes, we know this to be fact.

• Snape pleaded for Lily’s life but didn’t mind if Voldemort killed James, Voldemort didn’t want to kill her, hence the, “step aside, there’s no need for you to die” etc...

The idea of a Death Eater begging Voldemort for anything strikes me as preposterous, and as good as a death sentence. Narcissa won't even beg Voldemort for her son's life. She'll go behind his back and seek help from others, but she doesn't dare make demands or requests of him.

• Snape really is on the good side, proof of this is when Snape hesitates to agree to the third clause in HBP, he must finish Draco’s task if Draco is unable to

I agree, Snape is good, and the Unbreakable Vow scene is one of many things within the text that support that.

• Snape tells Dumbledore about the unbreakable vow between him and Malfoy
• Snape is making investigations in Slytherin, finds out when Malfoy is planning on springing his attack

Again, I agree. These things are either stated or implied in the text.

• Snape tells Dumbledore he doesn’t want to “do it any more”, “do it any more” referring to switch the potions in the cave, Voldemort is growing suspicious and attempting to use his Legilimency on him, Snape is growing tired of blocking Voldemort

I must disagree here. I always interpreted this as meaning one of two related things. That either Snape wanted to stop being a double agent and publically side with the Order. Or that Snape no longer wanted to hold up the Unbreakable Vow.

• Snape finally switches the potions

You don't have any real evidence for this. Yes, you make a list of things that happen within the text, and fill in the blanks to make it possible for you to reach your conclusion, but there's really no textual evidence for this.

• Dumbledore and harry go to the cave

Yes.

• Dumbledore drinks potion and all his strength is stored for the “blocking of the Avada Kedavra”
• Dumbledore sees the Dark Mark when they return and starts releasing his strength to start the “blocking of Avada Kedavra”
• Harry and Dumbledore land and Dumbledore stuns Harry
• Dumbledore pleads with Severus, it sounds as if he’s pleading for his life, but he is actually asking Severus to use the Killing Curse soon, the potion is loosing it’s effect
• Snape finally uses the Killing Curse and the potion protecting Dumbledore absorbs the Curse and blasts Dumbledore back against the railing and then he falls over

There is simply no textual evidence for this. It's a very creative interpretation, but you have not pulled anything from the text that supports this interpretation.

• In all other scenes with the Killing Curse, it made people drop dead, not blast backwards, therefore proof that Dumbledore might not be dead

I wish I had my copies of the books with me, because I'm not certain that this is accurate. We've only witnessed a few Avada Kedavra deaths so far. Cedric was one. Sirius didn't get hit with Avada Kedavra, but he was still killed by a powerful curse and I know that it blasted him backwards into the veil. Dumbledore was also leaning against the wall for support, if he was leaning anyway, it wouldn't take much force to knock him backwards over the rail. Regardless, I don't see this as being evidence that he's not actually dead.

• Snape tells the other Death Eaters to leave quickly in case they find out Dumbledore is still alive

Or so that the Order doesn't capture them...

• Hagrid places Dumbledore’s body on the unlit pyre, they light it, Harry thinks he sees a phoenix fly into the sky

Again, I wish I had my book with me so I could read this passage directly. All I can say is that it's most likely Fawkes that Harry sees.

• Dumbledore is actually an animagus, he turns into a phoenix and flies away

While there is much about Dumbledore that we don't know, and therefore, it is quite possible that he IS an animagus, we've had nothing to suggest that in the books so far. And JKR is meticulous about placing all of the clues within the text well before they're needed. I think this is simply wishful thinking.

Dumbledore is dead.

Taken from the transcript of JKR's reading in New York City, http://www.hpana.com/news.19542.html

Question: I absolutely love your books. I'm not a big reader, but your books make me want to read, and that makes my mom happy. She loves your books too. In your recent interview, you hinted at two main characters dying, and possibly Harry Potter too. Would Dumbledore be considered one of the main characters, or do we have the chance to see him in action once again. Since he is the most powerful wizard of all time, and Harry Potter is so loyal to him, how could he really be dead?

[JK sighs... audience cheers]

Rowling: [laughs] I feel terrible! The British writer Graham Greene once said that every writer had to have a chip of ice in their heart. Oh no... I think you may just have [ruined?] my career. I really can't answer that question, because the answer is in book 7. But... you shouldn't expect Dumbledore to do a Gandalf. Let me just put it that way. I'm sorry.

Author Salman Rushdie introduces himself and son. JK applauds with audience and says: "I'm not sure this is fair. I think you might be better at guessing plots than most. But off you go."

Rushdie: Until the events of volume six, it was always made plain that Snape might be an unlikable fellow [JK: uh huh], but he was essentially one of the good guys [JK: uh-huh] [audience: 'yes!' and cheers]. [JK: I can see this is the question you all really want answered.] Dumbledore himself had always vouched for him [JK: yes]. Now we are suddenly told that Snape is in fact a villain and Dumbledore's killer [JK: uh-huh]. We cannot, or don't, want to believe this [JK laughs]. Our theory is that Snape is in fact still a good guy [JK: right], from which it follows that Dumbledore can't really be dead, and that the death is a ruse, cooked up between Dumbledore and Snape, to put Voldemort off his guard, so that when Harry and Voldemort come face-to-face [audience and JK laughs], Harry might have more allies than he or Voldemort suspects. So: is Snape good or bad? [JK laughs and audience cheers] In our opinion, everything follows from it.

Rowling: Well, Salman... your opinion, I would say, is right. But I see that I need to be a little more explicit... and say that Dumbledore is definitely dead. And I do know there's an entire website that's name is DumbledoreIsNotDead.com, so I imagine they're not happy right now. But I think I need.... You need... All of you need to move through the five stages of grief [audience and JK laughs] and I'm just helping you get past denial. So, I can't remember what's next, it may be anger, so I think we should stop it here. Thank you.

[peterlocke123]

awwww, pooooo, oh well, it was fun thinking it through!

[the HiveQueen]

*this strays slightly from the specific topic of ranking books, but is still totally Harry Potter related. i'll move it to a new thread if i must.*

i went on a bit of a day-long Harry Potter binge today, as i didn't much feel like leaving my bed, and didn't exactly have to. so i trolled around online and read both excellent and delusional essays about various theories and interpretations and whatnot, and was having a grand old time, when i stumbled upon this!

it's a master list of all of the known HP Ships! including...


some Canon

Harry/Ginny - Orange Crush
Ron/Hermione - The Good Ship R/H
Tonks/Lupin - Wotcher!Wolvie

some Fanon

Harry/Draco - Guns and Handcuffs
Ginny/Draco - Fire and Ice
Lupin/Sirius - Wolfstar

and some just plain.... well.... yeah.

Harry/Giant Squid - Scar'n'Squid
Tom (as in 'Riddle')/Harry - Ssssssssss



my favorite thus far might be Neville/Luna - SS. The Government Stole My Toad


some of them are actually downright clever titles. no matter how ridiculous the ship.

Guess which one this is: SS Leather and Libraries (My favorite).



**SPOILERS** (though It's kinda pointless by now because no one else has bothered to do this)




I'd have to say Dumbledore is definitely dead, not only because of JKR's interviews, but because it's just not her style. Sirius was dead. Cedric is still dead. Harry's parents are remaining dead. Ms. Rowling just doesn't like bringing back dead people. Accept it, and your life will be much happier.


**END SPOILER**


Am I the only person who thinks it's really weird that the fifth movie is coming out now? It seems like the book came out just yesterday!

Anyways, back on topic: my favorite is definitely the Prisoner of Azkaban because you learn so much about Harry's parents' past and his whole situation - someone said before, very eloquently, that it wasn't all about him saving everyone for once, which really was a nice change. That being said, Half-Blood Prince was probably my next favorite because it's another "learning" book. The fifth one she might as well have skipped, which an ironic thought because it's the longest one in the series...

the HiveQueen

[peterlocke123]

when's it coming out???

[anonshadow]

She hasn't told us yet, but probably next summer.

[locke]

the fifth movie is coming out a week after the july fourth holiday, July 13, 2007, we'll probably get a teaser trailer with flushed away or happy feet.

the seventh book is rumored to come out 7-7-07 not for any logical reason other than that date would be pure awesome for the seventh harry potter book.

Supposedly though, Scholastic and Warners have agreed not to 'compete' with each other by releasing on top of each other.

Clearly they don't have a clue about Harry Potter fans, both casual and hardcore.

It doesn't matter if they're a week apart, everyone will still buy the book and still go to the movie.

Logistically the book would have to be completed, proofed and fully edited by January 31 to make an early July publication date, it MIGHT (emphasis on a big might) be possible if she finished before FEbruary 28th. But publishers need a six month lead time, five might be possible but it'd be hard on the American publishers.

But from her recent comments, I don't think she's within three or four months of finishing. I imagine she'll have finished it by next summer though, which would mean a release just in time for the holidays.

[Mahatma]

foiejofiejfejofeejfoie.... *goes crazy*

I do not think I can wait another year for the last book.

[Craig]

Yeah, that's kind of a bummer, I thought she was further along in the book. Oh well, I can't wait for the next movie.

Salaam

[peterlocke123]

If you did a non-verbal spell, would it be more powerful or less powerful than if you said it verbally?

Also, do you think it would be possible to say one spell out loud but do a different spell at the same time non-verbally?