I talk about so many different things on this blog: movies, shows, fashion. But there is one major thing that I don't really discuss: books!! So I am starting with my favorite ones of all time: Harry Potter. This post literally took me weeks to write so I hope you all enjoy it.
The Harry Potter series consists of 7 books and is written by J.K Rowling. They are about a boy named Harry Potter. He lives a perfectly boring and ordinary life with his horrible and abusive aunt and uncle. On his 11th birthday he discovers that he is a wizard, that his parents were as well and that they murdered by the evil Lord Voldemort. He goes to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where he meets his best friends Ron and Hermione. Together they always stumble upon mysteries which in the end result in having to save their world or their school. When Voldemort returns, Harry must defeat him and save the future of the entire wizarding world.
I am a huge Harry Potter fan. I have been for most of my life. When I was in kindergarten, the books started becoming popular. I would go home on the school bus each day and see all of the older children holding the books and discussing them. I remember the back cover of the Chamber of Secrets used to freak me out a bit for some reason. At the time there were only two books released. I remember them being very controversial when I was that age. Mostly because of the super Christian people being against anything to do with witchcraft and holding book buntings. Book burnings make me sad :(. Oh those poor, misguided, ignorant people.
For Christmas when I was in first grade my parents gave me the first two books, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (called the Philosopher's Stone in the UK) and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. At the time, I detested reading. It just bored me so much! I started reading Sorcerer's Stone and for some reason was bored (BLASPHEMY!). But then I decided to pick up Chamber of Secrets. As I read if, I became hooked. It completely changed my life and soon I became an avid reader. I will forever thank my parents and JK Rowling for giving me the gift of the love of reading. It is one of the best gifts I have ever received. After I went back and read the first book, my obsession started.
The books became a huge sensation with the release of the first four books and soon, the Sorcerer's Stone was released as a movie. I was ecstatic and extremely obsessed. My grandmother brought my cousin and myself to see the movie and I was in awe. There was my beloved Hogwarts and characters that I spent so much of my time with, right there on the screen in front of me.
I owned a lot of memorabilia from the series, most of it from book illustrations rather than the movie because at the time there wasn't a crazy amount of movie memorabilia. I had pretty much anything you could imagine: Harry Potter bed set, pillow, a stuffed Hedwig, a cloth poster with an illustration of Harry, dolls (anyone remember the Hermione dolls they came out with back then? They were like Harry Potter barbies.) I'm pretty sure I had action figures, as well as many different play sets like the potion making game set (where you made various candy "potions"). I even had (and still do) these tins designed to look like the books (opened like a book too). I still have a large number of Harry Potter Christmas ornaments that I still proudly display at Christmas time.
At school during recess in elementary school I would run around the playground with a group of boys, pretending we were flying broomsticks. I remember I used to lecture one kid for saying Voldemort instead of You-Know-Who. I would then come home from school and play with one of my cousins. Though it was freezing cold November/December we would run around outside carrying sticks "dueling" each other. I would pretend to be a Hogwarts student and he pretended he was from Durmstrang. I would often dance around my grandmother's kitchen to the CD of the Sorcerer's Stone soundtrack. I think that everyone in that house became sick of my playing it xD.
For Halloween at least three times I was Harry Potter. My parents threw together a costume for me which included a horrible black wig, these super thick plastic black glasses with tape over the bridge (based on some book illustrations) and a black cape.
As I became older, my love for the books just increased. I often would sit at the kitchen table at my grandparents house with an old typewriter that my grandfather gave me, pretending to be a writer for the Daily Prophet. I would make up many stories that could have happened in the wizarding world. I would interview various family members about nonsensical events for my version of The Daily Prophet. I guess now I see why I nearly became a journalist!
With the release of the fifth book The Order of the Phoenix, I began going out at midnight to get the newly released books. My parents were wonderful for doing that for me, I never even asked. My dad decided it would be fun for me, knowing my obsession. So at 11:30 or so at night, we would venture out to get the book. Every year my local bookstore would open at midnight just for the sale of that book. We would drive by and see the longest line of people, many in costume winding around down town. Seriously, it would wrap around the Main Street! Wisely, my dad decided to go to the local Stop N Shop which was across town and had a decent sized book section. They indeed were open late for the release and the line was short. We went there to buy the remaining books each year, getting in and out within 10 minutes. As we drove home we would laugh when we saw the still huge line of people still waiting downtown for the book.
When the last movie was released, I was excited yet devastated. It was released the summer after I graduated from high school. Of course, the ending of Harry Potter felt like more of an ending to my childhood than my actual graduation did. I luckily had a few movie passes, so I brought some of my close friends with me to see it opening night. We were all dressed up in our favorite Harry Potter gear (I owned a few shirts that I wore quite a bit throughout high school).
We all also made our own wands to bring with us. This was before Pinterest and its "hot glue over a stick/chopsticks" tutorial. I made mine by carving a stick from my yard, coloring it with a brown crayon, covering in cheap clear nail polish and adding some duct tape on the bottom to make a handle. At the end of the movie, we all stood up with our wands in the air and yelled "Mischief managed!". Surprisingly, quite a few others did the same thing. I remember crying so hard at the ending. Partly because of how beautiful the movie turned out and partly because I was sad that it was all over! The very last scene killed me because it played the same song that was played at the end of the first movie.
When Pottermore came out (I don't remember exactly when that was), I signed up right away. I was so excited about all of the extra information we would be learning from it. But I was mostly excited that I finally would be able to be sorted into my Hogwarts house. I proudly am a Gryffindor! I thought for sure I would end up a Hufflepuff.
If you want to add me, my username is: FeatherJinx4398 . I don't go on there so much anymore, since Pottermore doesn't have an app.
I have always dreamed of going to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park. Sadly I have never been so lucky. My mom has mentioned for a few years that she wants to save up for us to go, she knows that it would be a dream come true to go there and see Hogwarts. I would probably cry too! One of my relatives (my mom's cousin's husband) actually worked on building some of the rides in the theme park.
I have read every single book probably about 20 times. I still cry whenever I read about Dumbledore, Dobby and Sirius dying. I have even read them in reverse order, which actually in doing so you pick up on some additional things like foreshadowing. I have had to repurchase certain volumes and I have them all on my kindle. I can't bear to be without my beloved books!
They aren't just books to me. They're like a friend. I have spent so much of my life with these books. They have always been there for me when I needed someone. Every single time I needed an escape or I was having a difficult time I always had them to turn to. They are the absolute best books I have ever read and I am still in awe at their greatness whenever I read them. I constantly have new questions whenever I read the books.
These books have taught me a lot of things growing up like how important friendship is. Do what is right over what is easy, stand up for yourself and never give up. I love the important bonds that these books create. They allow families to bond as well as new friendships to form.
I could always count on Albus Dumbledore to instill some sort of wisdom. Sometimes the things he says in the books are things that I have needed to hear. During my recent reread of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's stone, Dumbledore had me in tears. When he is having a conversation with Harry at the end of the book, he says (referring to Voldemort):
"He didn't realize that love as powerful as your mother's for you leaves its own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign...to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever."
So here are some pretty inspiring quotes by the very wise wizard:
- "It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live" - Sorcerer's Stone
- "It's our choices that show us who we truly are, far more than our abilities" - Chamber of Secrets
- "Of course it is happening inside your head Harry, but why on earth should that mean it is not real" - Deathly Hallows
- "Dark times lie ahead of us and there will be a time when we must choose between what is easy and what is right" - Goblet of Fire
- "Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the light" - Prisoner of Azkaban.
I love the movies nearly as much as I love the books. I say nearly because the books are SO much better. There are many things left out and changed in the movies. The first movie is the most accurate and I feel like they gave up when they got to the fifth movie.
It does make me sad about some of the things that were changed. It makes me sad that they left Peeves the Poltergeist out. In the books he was always pranking people and being a hilarious nuisance. They left out the ghosts for the most part after Chamber of Secrets.
These are some other things that purely movie only people will miss:
- Dudley's last words to Harry before he left Privet Drive
- Nearly Headless Nick's Death Day party
- Hermione's SPEW obsession
- The entire story of Voldemort's mother
- Harry becoming Teddy Lupin (Remus and Tonks' son)'s god father
- Animaguses
- Who Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are
- Veelas
- Weasley is our king
- Neville's parents in St. Mungos
- Harry is a huge sarcastic smart ass in the books compared to the movies
There are SO many more things left out, but I'll just leave it at that.
There were also scenes where characters were changed. For example, in the movie Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Neville gives Harry the gillyweed for the 2nd task in the Triwizard Tournament. In the book, Dobby gives it to him.
Another such scene happened in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. In the book after Malfoy beat Harry and threw the invisibility cloak on him, Tonks found him. In the movie it was Luna. I know these things don't seem to really matter, but they matter to those of us that love the books.
When Richard Harris (RIP) died it was extremely devastating. Not only because of his loss but he was the perfect Dumbledore! I feel like if he could have lived longer, the movies would have been so much better. Although he did a good job for the most part as Dumbledore, for me Michael Gambon is not the true Dumbledore. He lacked the demeanor of Dumbledore that Richard Harris had and he played a harsher, colder version. I recall in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Dumbledore CALMLY asked Harry if he put his name into the goblet. Sir Gambon took a much angrier approach to this scene.
One giant knit pick I have with the movies is Harry's eye color. It is a HUGE detail in the books that his eyes are green...Daniel Radcliffe's are blue. They did try contacts in the first movie, but he had a bad reaction to them. They could have digitally altered his eyes instead! It is a big deal because Harry's mom Lily had green eyes. J.K Rowling did say that it would be alright as long as Harry and Lily had the same eye color. So what do they do? Give little girl Lily in the last movie brown eyes. UGHHHH!
Alright, I'm done ranting! But seriously, you movie only people miss out!
Since they are doing a "Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them" movie (starring the gorgeous Eddie Redmayne. He was also Marius in Les Mis), I really hope they can make a "Quidditch Through The Ages" movie. I would LOVE to watch some more quidditch. I feel like they left a good chunk of it out of the movies. "Hogwarts, A History" would also be a pretty awesome movie.
J.K Rowling is my hero. She is a huge inspiration and a wonderful woman. Her twitter account and responses to people are the best, especially when responding to people that hate on Dumbledore being gay. Yes, for those that don't know, Dumbledore is gay which makes SO much sense when reading the last book.
J.K Rowling has gone through so much. She lost her mother at a young age to Multiple Sclerosis. She survived an abusive marriage. She overcame poverty while being a single mother.
One day, she was on a train and had the miraculous idea of Harry Potter. From there she wrote the books and planned everything. By the time the first book was finished, she had already had the very last chapter of the seventh book written.
She would write Harry Potter in cafes with her infant daughter, Jessica. She didn't have a job and couldn't afford child care. She was rejected by many publishers, I think 12. Seriously...people rejected Harry Potter!! She kept going and never gave up, eventually her books became published and she became richer than even the Queen of England.
She has also donated a huge chunk if not most of her fortune to charities. J.K Rowling gives me so much hope and when I'm feeling down about my own career goals, I remember her story.
J.K Rowling stands for Joanne Kathleen Rowling. She was told that boys will not read a novel written by a woman so she had to abbreviate her name and create a pen name a la R.L Stine style. Ms. Rowling wasn't born with a middle name, so she took her grandmother's name, Kathleen as her middle initial.
I just admire the woman so much. Even with all of the books written she still has so much knowledge of her world, it's truly amazing. If I didn't have such problems with writers block, she would inspire me to write my own novel.
I find a lot of the parallels, symbols and metaphors in the book pretty clever (though some took me a while to understand). Voldemort is basically wizard Hitler. There is a huge parallel between the holocaust and Voldemort's take over and his wanting to round up/kill the muggle borns.
The dementors also are a metaphor for depression. They over come you, sucking away all of your life and happiness making it feel as if you'll never be cheerful again.
Anyway, it is time to wrap up this huge post (I did promise a gigantic one after all). I hope you all enjoyed reading about my Potter love and my rambling thoughts. If you're a fellow Harry Potter fan, which book or movie is your favorite? Comment and let me know!
Until next time (whenever that will be)
Xoxo
Mischief Managed
