The End of Harry Potter

Currently I'm in the middle of two mountainous waves right now - the release of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth movie, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the last book in the series.

I should start by saying that I was a reluctant fan of the Harry Potter series, as especially my friend Amanda can tell you!

Being first and foremost a Lord of the Rings fan, I objected to the untimely release of every Potter movie conflicting with the yearly Christmas release of my beloved Lord of the Rings trilogy. What's more, I considered the Potter series to be much more the stuff that a bored and vaguely illiterate 7th grader might read.

And I can admit I was wrong! While the Harry Potter series may have started out as a children's story, I join the many literary folks who point out that the books are much darker and complicated than your average fairy tale. The books open with a double murder, the themes are complex and touching, and all of it is written very, very well.

Now for the recent bits.

I absolutely loved the Order of the Phoenix movie. I didn't expect to, because I wasn't thrilled with Movie 4, the Goblet of Fire, and the Order of the Phoenix is my least favorite book of the series. Throughout the book, Harry is a whiny little brat, he's romantically involved with a whiny little brat, Dolores Umbridge makes me so frustrated I want to throw the book across the room, and, of course, one of my favorite characters bites the dust.

However, in the movie version, Harry is not so whiny, and though Umbridge is certainly horrible, her scenes are funny to watch. The movie just has a more realistic feel to it, and maybe that's also because the kids are becoming better actors.


Well, all this excitement is certainly gearing me up for the release of Book 7, which I'm attending on Friday at Barnes & Noble Schaumburg. I've been reading up quite a bit on Mugglenet, my favorite source of Harry Potter information. No, not spoilers - those I'm trying to avoid. Rather, speculation and lists of loose ends to be tied up. (Yes, there are so many loose ends that it took numerous people and quite a bit of text to list them all.)

Here are my hopes:

• That Harry lives...but Snape can die!
• That we find out more about Harry's parents.
• That we find out what is up with Aunt Petunia. (There's definitely more to her story.)
• That Padfoot comes back somehow. (I know, I know.)
• That Fred and George have some stage time - I love those guys.
• That Neville's story comes to some satisfying conclusion.

I suppose I will find out in a few short days - aaiiiigghh!