Friday 18 January 2013

"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that."


The first thing I need to say about this part of the book is that we start at Halloween and then end in like June? Nice pacing there, Rowling. Really nice.
I'd just completely forgotten how quickly things moved once the gang actually get to Hogwarts, which is fine, but it kind of makes the Philosopher's Stone kind of devoid of all the background things that make the whole Harry Potter experience so exciting and juicy and rich and so, yeah. It's notable.

NOW let's talk about fun things! Can I just tell you, straight up, that basically my favourite thing in any book is when they have Christmas. I like to find out about their presents, I like to know what they've eaten, I just enjoy the whole experience. It's probably the main reason I like Little Women so much, and in Harry Potter it is ON STEROIDS. "It had been Harry's best Christmas day ever" and OMG mine too. It literally makes me go like this:
And then there's the mirror of Erised, and UGH JK, why are you trying to make me cry when it's Christmas? Why? I have to say, at every other reading of Harry Potter, I haven't actually cried until the sixth book (YOU KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT) but this time? I nearly cried at the mirror, and at this:
"It was the unicorn all right, and it was dead. Harry had never seen anything so beautiful and sad."
Because DEAD UNICORNS? I think not. (Also, I am twelve).
But, for the first time ever, JK got me in the very first book.
"Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing that Voldemort doesn't understand, it is love. He didn't realise 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. It is in your very skin."
It's going to be a rough few months, is what I'm saying. And by rough I mean AWESOME but with some cries. *sniiiiiiiff*

Let's see, what else? Time for some more bullet points? Yes.

  • I am SO happy that Hermione is their friend now. And also that she's awesome. Like, the bit where she tells Harry he's a great wizard, and he's all like 'naaah, you're SO smart!' and she's like PAH these are not the most important things? It's wondrous. 
  • I love Neville. I don't remember loving Neville this much! But I do. He stands up to Malfoy and to Harry and Ron and Hermoine and he basically never wins but he always TRIES and it's the best. LOVE him.


  • Dumbledore is SO wise. I mean, DUH, obviously, but like this: "You know, the Stone was really not such a wonderful thing. As much money and life as you could want! The two things that human beings would choose above all- the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things which are worst for them." That we do, Dumbledore, that we do.
  • On another Dumbledore note, can we please guess what Dumbledore saw in the Mirror of Erised? (Do we find out later and I've just forgotten? Perhaps.) I'm choosing to believe that its him and Grindelwald living harmoniously together in a little cottage somewhere. Cause awwwww.
Aaaaand I'm kind of done. There is clearly a lot more to say (have I even mentioned the Trolls? Or how interesting I find Quirrell and his Struggle? I have not.) but I have to tell you, I saw Les Mis (for the first time) on Wednesday (I'm writing this Thursday night) and it has genuinely made thinking about other things really difficult. So, I'm off to listen to I Dreamed A Dream for the thousandth time and to seek (seek? Like Harry is the seeker? Yes? Yes.) out the Chamber of Secrets. Which, at the very least, is a book we can all agree on the name of. So that's a bonus already.

35 comments:

  1. We do find out about what Dumbledore saw in the mirror - or at least, there's a point in book 7 when Harry assumes that what Dumbledore saw was his family. And i'll leave it there to avoid spoilers.

    Christmas is the best! Although Hermione bought the boys presents, but they totally didn't buy her anything! And the crackers - I want wizard crackers so bad!!

    I was hunting for more gifs on Tumblr the other day and I came across a post where someone was like "Neville wasn't brave for trying to stop the others, he nearly let Voldemort come back to life" and I was like, "no you idiot - first, he had no idea *where* they were going and they weren't about to explain, and second, it absolutely IS brave to stand up to your friends!" And yes, Neville is amazing, and I love him and I can't wait for more confident Neville to come out and play!

    CRY BABY!

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    1. I DON'T CARE WHAT HARRY ASSUMES, I AM CORRECT! Or... Yeah, ok, whatevs haha.

      Awwww, it really didn't register that they didn't get Hermione presents! Maybe they sent theirs to her by owl or something? Or... You know, they're boys and stuff? Boys are bad at those kinds of things, I feel.

      Neville was way brave! That tumblr person is crazy! (like 99% of tumblr. Basically.) Aw, he's just such a good secondary character. Little Neville. *sigh*

      CRY BABY FOREVER.

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    2. I absolutely like your erised better- not nearly so sadtastic. I would love a spin off series chronicling the Dumbles/Grindizzle friendship and friend explosion. JK if you ever read this I AM NOT ALONE- DOOOOO THIS!

      I would assume they didn't because Harry seems so shocked by the idea of gifts I feel like it didn't even register to Harry that it was a thing. But he makes up for it nectar year - you know, until he ties them into his death quest against evil. Nice gift Harry!

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  2. Christmas at Hogwarts is the SHIT! Like I love my family and everything, but they Harry & Ron such an awesome day - presents, giant feast they don't have to cook, wizard chess, more delicious food, and pass out. It sounds so wonderfully stress-free!

    Dude, Neville goes through the biggest transformation in these books. He's always so brave and kind of bumbling along, and by the end he's - well, you know.

    I don't remember Harry's thoughts later on what Dumbledore really saw, but I always think it's family or a lost love or something.

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    1. It is completely stress free! But then, Christmas is when you're a kid, isn't it? *siiiiigh*

      NEVILLE. He's the best. I love him.

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  3. WE PICKED THE SAME QUOTE. Great minds/great quote.

    Previously you didn't cry until the 6th book?? Are you made of STONE? (Not so much because of this scene but the other books)

    Neville doesn't win HERE because he was apparently saving up all those wins to beat puberty. Also no one can hate Neville. He's so sweet.

    We do find out later about what Dumbledore saw in the mirror, right? I'm like 98% sure.

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    1. I am also 98% sure of this. And it is The Sad.

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    2. Alleeeeey, we are so awesome. Obviously. But this is just an EXTRA reason :)

      Ok, so I know what you're thinking about and I cried neither at the fourth or fifth books, no. Because... I guess I didn't really care about those characters so much/I totally didn't cry about things in the olden days, so... Yeah.

      Neville is totally saving up his wins! Yes. This is clearly what's happening. Awwwww, Neville...

      I maaay have looked up the mirror thing and YES we find out, or at least we find out what HARRY thinks it is. BUT I CHOOSE TO BELIEVE DIFFERENTLY.

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  4. Omg when Neville stands up to them and says he'll fight them even though they're his friends. And when he tells Malfoy he's worth ten of him. Omg Neville. NEVILLE FEELIIIIIIIIINGS.

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    1. I LOVE when he tells Malfoy that he's worth ten of him, because OMG so so so true! Weeeeeeeeep!

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  5. I like your idea of the Erised = Dumbly + Grindelwald. Which could be part and parcel of what we learn later. If Dumbly's sister is alive in the mirror, then perhaps your version would be there, too.

    God, I love Neville too.

    I love the Christmas scenes, too. And then when the twins drag Percy off to sit together because "Christmas is the time for family" I choked a little bit because we all know what happens on future Christmases.

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    1. Ooooh. Oooooh! This is true. Let's just believe it's true anyway :)

      NEVILLE! It seems like he's the least controversial character to love, really. HE IS SO LOVEABLE!

      OMG yes. I hate Percy so much, but *sniiiiiiiff* the Weasleys! They're the best.

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  6. Quirrell's story would be interesting - how did he go from being idealistic to having Voldemort sticking out of the back of his head? I think that Dumbledore probably sees family too, though it's never explicitly stated. He too came from a hard, broken background.

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    1. I feel like Quirrell's story wold involve a lot of childhood bullying for his stutter, and still trying to believe in the good in people, and then one day going 'fuck it, I want some POWER'.

      I think it's eventually like assumed that he saw his family reunited or something? But I WANT HIM TO BE WITH HIS LOVERRRRR, ok?!

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    2. Hmmm, I thought the stutter was something he affected so that nobody would suspect him? I could be wrong. Also, lol to Dumbly. I will discuss my Feelings about Rowling being all "this is how it was" after the fact without including the details in the books. For now, I'll say that it drives me crazy and WHY couldn't she just make Dumby gay in the books?? That would have been so good on so many levels (mostly societal).

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    3. I thought this too, about Quirrell's stutter. When he goes into his villain monologue at the end, he doesn't stutter at all.

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  7. Your thoughts on what Dumbledore would have seen in the mirror reminds me of something that I meant to mention in my post but sadly forgot. When Harry reads the back of the chocolate frog card and gets to the part that says ..."With his partner, Nicholas Flamel", my immediate thought was about Dumbledore/Flamel being in love. I guess maybe the connotations of "partner" have changed since JKR wrote this in the early 90s? And then there's that pesky mention of Flamel's really old wife, too. BUT I would seriously support a Dumbledore/Flamel tragic love story. That's all I'm saying.

    Actually, no, that's not all I'm saying. GRINDELWALD WAS A GIANT ASSHOLE AND DUMBLEDORE DESERVES BETTER FOR HIS MIRROR FANTASIES.

    Okay, now I'm done.

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    1. DUDE, when I read that I was kind of like 'ohhhh, is Flamel Dumbledore's lover..?' but then he was all wifed up and stuff so I was like naaaaah (I was thinking of Grindelwald, obvs). I would support a Flamel and Dumbledore love story too though!

      Well, it doesn't HAVE to be Grindelwald. But just Dumbledore all happily settled with his best dude. That would be nice. (Do none of the teachers at Hogwarts have spouses? Are they just married to the school? This is a thought...)

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    2. His partner... IN SCIENCE! Or in this case, magic.

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    3. Laura, I was wondering that too - so do they all live at school? Do they commute by floo? I always wanted to know what their domestic lives were like...

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    4. I mean, I think they all live at the school because they're always there to catch them out of bed at night! But maybe, say, the heads of house are all like unmarried and live there and then everyone commutes by Floo? That could work.

      I would LOVE some HP spin offs, like 'Professor McGonagall's summer holiday', 'Snape's Christmas' or something. That would be AMAZING.

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    5. Yessssssssssss *puts on writing cap*

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  8. I LOVE how each book is really descriptive of Halloween and Christmas! The more descriptions, the better. And I'm a sucker for food details, so this is just the best.

    "mother's sacrifice" just killed me, Dumbledore. Ughhh right in the heart...

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    1. Yesssss, I love food in books! Even if it does make me totally hungry. Mmmmmm, food...

      That entire bit! I just couldn't even deal! Hence the crying! Hopefully these posts won't just turn into 'and then I cried at this bit. And also this bit', but I FEAR THEY MIGHT. I don't know if I can cope! (I definitely can)

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  9. Dumbledore straight up sees himself and a pile of lemon sherbets. I'm convinced of it.

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    1. Hahahaha, yes! This is accurate.

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    2. Bahaha, yes, probably. I'm just starting at the BEGINNING of Book The First, and basically the entire McGonagall/Dumbledore scene on Privet Drive is McGonagall going 'ZOMG DID THIS HAPPEN' and flinching at the Harsh Details while Dumbledore inspects a bag of sherbert lemons and pulls the sticky ones apart. WHICH IS WHY I LOVE HIM BECAUSE I TOTALLY DO THAT.

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  10. Yes, yes, and YES, and a pumpkin pasty with a cherry on top.

    DID YOU KNOW that I ALMOST wrote a post before Christmas called 'Why I want a Harry Potter Christmas'? Not, like, a marathon of books and movies and maybe a wand to play with (though that would be awesome and... it's been a while *snorts*) but, a Christmas LIKE HARRY. Only without wizard chess. Basically, all the elements of a really wonderful old-fashioned Christmas are there! Games and food and a roaring fire - and I LOVE the fact that nobody has a giant pile of presents to open. Everybody gets everybody else a sweet gift, and THAT'S IT. Like, Ron might get something quidditch-related from Harry and some sweets from Hermione and a box of mince pies and a jumper from his parents, and then they spend the rest of the day playing games together in the Great Hall while eating those mince pies and sweets and wearing their new jumpers. LOVE IT.

    Also, I totally start crying at book FOUR, you heartless wench. FOUR. And then I cry through, like, the entire second half of book six and pretty much ALL of book seven. I'm a crier, don't judge me.

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  11. Quote twins! :D

    You're right, there was SO MUCH to talk about this second half of the book. It was hard to compile my thoughts and not write a billion words on it.

    I love that they're all friends now too, and I'm glad that it didn't take very long! It was like a switch - one paragraph I can't stand Hermione, and then the next paragraph, I pretty much love her.

    "Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing that Voldemort doesn't understand, it is love. He didn't realise 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. It is in your very skin." - YES. Love this quote.

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  12. I'm enjoying your Harry Potter posts :D Yay!

    Are you going to write something about Les Mis? I was so full of feels when I left the cinema, but I saw it in December (it was released here (Japan) before it was released in America and the UK, which is.. weird) when nobody else had and the lack of reviews etc was driving me mad, haha :D

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  13. Aww that you almost cried for the unicorn! You are a gentle spirit.

    Hogwarts Christmases are so, so amazing. So amazing.

    Bullet point one: Hurrah for Hermione's character development! Go, girl.

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  14. I really wanted to know what Dumbledore saw in the mirror too! And, I was also sad at the unicorn, and shocked at how quickly the second half of the books go. It might be because the movie is pretty much all about Hogwarts, I think? There is so much Dursley in the book though.

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