Harry Potter Discussion- Part One

[houseelf]

All of you self-professed HP geeks, answer the following:

1) Which character's personality do you most identify with?

2) Which character is your favorite?

3) Which house would you be in?

4) What predictions do you have for future stories?

5) (hard question) What is your favorite thing about HP?

6) What is the most annoying/least favorite thing about the series?

Kelly

[houseelf]

1) Which character's personality do you most identify with? My immediate response is Dobby: small, literal, loyal, slow witted. All joking aside, I would have to say Ron. I have this illustrious history of being the loyal side kick to some great, well known individuals (best friends include Homecoming Queen in high school, Student Government President in College and Student Bar president in Law school. Now I'm married to a surgeon who is on his way.) I don't have any extraordinary publicly visible talents just like Ron. Further, my mom shares a lot of Mrs. Weasley's traits. Finally, I have some of the socioeconomic status insecurities that he has.

2) Which character is your favorite? I adore Fred and George Weasley.

3) Which house would you be in? Although the sorting hat placed me in Gryfindor, which makes sense with my legacy as loyal sidekick, I see a lot of Hufflepuff in me too.

4) What predictions do you have for future stories? Although the deeply rooted happy-outcome-American in me would love to see and ending which paired Harry and Ginny together and Hermione and Ron together, I just can't foresee this. J.K. knows that life is complex and messy with no simplicistic outcomes.

I've heard that Dumbledore dies (?) but I can't really see Professor McGonagall becoming Head of Hogwarts.

I have no predictions for Snape, but I am FASCINATED to see what happens.

5) (hard question) What is your favorite thing about HP? I love the depth of the characters. There are no easy good heroes or evil wrongdoers. Even HP can infuriate you. There is strength in our weaknesses. Love is stronger than all.

6) What is the most annoying/least favorite thing about the series?
I can't think of anything of the top of my head.

[Vanquisher]

SPOILERS INSIDE



1) Which character's personality do you most identify with?

Hermoine. She is smart and constantly trying to keep Harry and Ron in line, but she'll break the rules if she needs to.

2) Which character is your favorite?

I don't know if I can choose a favorite. I like different things about a lot of the characters. Dumbledore, Harry, Ron, Hermoine, Fred, and George.

3) Which house would you be in? Ravenclaw. I am not brave, and I value intellect.

4) What predictions do you have for future stories?

I don't know. I suppose Harry will set out to destroy the all of the Horcrux. He will have a final showdown with Voldemort and win (I hope!). Hermoine and Ron will end up together. I can think of nothing earth sharttering.

5) (hard question) What is your favorite thing about HP?

The magic. I want to enroll in Hogwarts now! I love all the descriptions. I can almost taste butterbeer when I'm reading about it.

6) What is the most annoying/least favorite thing about the series?

How angry Harry is getting (and rightfully so). I wish he could have some sort of a parental figure that won't die. I was really sad about Dumbledore's death. That scene was my least favortie of the whole series. Here is the greatest wizard whoever lived and he was killed in such an anti-climatic way. I wanted Dumbledore to give Harry some really cool, how to be the greatest wizard ever lessons, but alas all they did was look in the Pensieve.


And now a question of my own...

Is Snape really evil, or will there be a twist in the final book that reveals something about him? Or is he just a death eater who has returned to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?

[Sheherezade]

BOOK 6 SPOILER BELOW





I'm with you, Alison. There was something very suspicious about the Dumbledore death/Snape scene and the battle afterword. I think D and S were communicating (S is a great Legelimens, we've been told again and again.) I also think that Snape would have fought back instead of just blocked Harry's attacks when they were battling. I can't believe that D had no better reason to trust S than the ones mentioned in the series.

[Auspicious]

Re: Harry Potter Discussion- Part One

Thanks for the spoiler warnings. (I am making my way through book 5 now, I swear!)


1) Which character's personality do you most identify with? Honestly, at that age, about 85% Hermione and 15% Neville (unless either of those characters turns into a serial killer in books 5 & 6, in which case, nevermind).

2) Which character is your favorite?Dumbledore. Also Mrs. Weasley (I love Julie Walters as her in the movies, and also Maggie Smith's Prof. McGonagall.)

3) Which house would you be in? Yeah, probably Ravenclaw, when it comes down to it.

4) What predictions do you have for future stories? None! I love letting them unfold and going along for the ride. Faulkner I'll pull apart, but these are just for enjoying.

5) (hard question) What is your favorite thing about HP? Ooh, not so hard--I love the magical world she creates. All the magical elements: floo powder, broomsticks, the Knight Bus, the wands, the marauder's map, platform 9 3/4 etc etc etc. She uses them to great effect. And then the places in the book are just places I really want to go: the Burrow, Honeydukes, Diagon Alley, Gringotts, blah blah blah, and of course Hogwarts. I love Hogwarts. It remimds me of my study-abroad experience here: http://www.rhul.ac.uk/Visitors-Guide/ , which was awesome, despite the lack of wands and quidditch.

6) What is the most annoying/least favorite thing about the series? The adult fans who are going to suck the books from the world of pleasant geekdom down into the world of hardcore nerddom by being obsessive and argumentative about it until lots of people roll their eyes at the mention of Harry Potter.

[houseelf]

The adult fans who are going to suck the books from the world of pleasant geekdom down into the world of hardcore nerddom by being obsessive and argumentative about it until lots of people roll their eyes at the mention of Harry Potter.

Egads! Present company excluded right?

Kelly

[Auspicious]

The adult fans who are going to suck the books from the world of pleasant geekdom down into the world of hardcore nerddom by being obsessive and argumentative about it until lots of people roll their eyes at the mention of Harry Potter.

Egads! Present company excluded right?

Kelly

Oh totally! This is definitely the "pleasant geekdom," which is fun! There is a lot to talk about in the books. I'm talking about the people who . . . lose perspective.

People like these (warning, some bad language):

http://www.bookish.dk/wp-trackback.php/553

whom I fear will become more and more vocal and visible until they suck the fun out of it.

[houseelf]

Yes, I do know what you mean. At one of the HP for grown ups sites yesterday, people practically did enough work for a Master's thesis on a single character. Do these people have jobs? (Coming from someone who hangs out at another well known website on a freakishly obsessive basis. )

--now back to the topic at hand: Harry-dom!

Kelly

[Sheherezade]

1) Which character's personality do you most identify with?

Hermione. I was always very concerned with the rules and good academically. I wish I was like Ginny. She is no slouch academically, but also good in sports and pretty cool.

2) Which character is your favorite?

I like Ron. What a sweetheart. He seems to have the best (funny) lines. He also seems so human. I am also enjoying Luna. I think Snape is the most interesting character. I'd like to know more on his back story, but I doubt the last book will have time for it.

3) Which house would you be in?

Ravenclaw. I am smart, but not brave.

4) What predictions do you have for future stories?

Can't tell without it being a spoiler. Everyone has to finish book 6 -- then we can *really* talk. Some of my former theories have come true, but others have not. I love to make predictions.

5) (hard question) What is your favorite thing about HP?

The mystery. I like to try to predict what will happen from book to book. (I also like the magical world, but everyone else said that!) I like to guess at what magic is going on beneath the surface. I also like to compare the outlandish predictions of others to the storyline. I have this web circle that analyzes HP to the extreme. I don't add in much, but I love to read the theories. I also like making predictions with my son.

Sadly, I think the fairy-tale nature of the story is very appealing to me as well. It is fun to think that something amazing and special could happen to old boring me. I love the last line of the first chapter of book one. Something like "The baby slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing had survived, not knowing that crowds far and wide were making toasts 'To Harry Potter! The boy who lived!' " (Except much better....I have to look it up!)

6) What is the most annoying/least favorite thing about the series?

I don't like getting beaten over the head with clues. I know the book is intended for a wide age range, but sometimes I feel like screaming "OK, woman, you've made your point. Move on!!!" I also wish JK would have written all the books first so I wouldn't have to sit waiting for the next few years to see what happens next.

[Flynn]

First, GREAT THREAD!!!!!!


1) Which character's personality do you most identify with?

Ginny -- she's not the best academically but she is smart and works hard. She also is athletic but you might not think so at first. Finally, she isn't noticed as a "beauty" but as she matures she attracts more than a few boys after she's been at school a few years. I can relate to the "late bloomer" thing here.

2) Which character is your favorite?

Ron is a riot and an extremely believable best friend. He is so "natural" on paper I feel like I know him.

3) Which house would you be in?

Gryffindor -- I try and do the right thing no matter how difficult it is and I tend to get so passionate about things sometimes I leap before I look. Sometimes that is brave, sometimes it's just silly!

4) What predictions do you have for future stories?

I think I will most certainly be disappointed "it's over" and read them all again. I don't want to spoil things for other people here!

5) (hard question) What is your favorite thing about HP?

I think the "world of Harry Potter" is so amazing. I can escape into his world so easily and yet if you think of how "unbelievable" it is on a situational basis -- it's so creative and layered from the magic schools to the names of the magical towns and shops.

6) What is the most annoying/least favorite thing about the series?

It will end with the seventh book.

[Rapunzel]

Re: Harry Potter Discussion- Part One

I just finished all six of the books so I can officially participate in this discussion! Yay!
I haven't read anyone else's comments yet - I'll do that after I answer these questions.

1) Which character's personality do you most identify with?

Hermione - She describes me pretty much exactly as I was in school growing up.

2) Which character is your favorite?

Harry - no doubt about it.

3) Which house would you be in?

Good question! I think I'd be in Slytherin as much as I hate to admit it. The truth is I AM very ambitious and always have been. Although I like to think that I would also be happy in Gryffindor being brave and courageous and all - because I definitely DO have balls, that's for sure. But, if I was going to be honest I suspect Slytherin. Maybe somewhere in the middle of the two houses?

4) What predictions do you have for future stories?

Welllllll, I was wondering if a person could be a horcrux seeing as an animal can be (ie the snake). Could Harry Potter be a horcrux for Voldemort? Would that fit in with the prophecy? Hermione and Ron are obviously going to fall in love, Harry will die, and Hermione will have a baby which they name "Harry". Whadya wanna bet?

5) (hard question) What is your favorite thing about HP?

About the books or the person? The books: That there is a certain logic to events - nothing is left flapping in the wind in the end. The plots all make sense in regard to one another with few inconsistencies. I also like that Dumbledore's character changes through Harry's eyes as Harry grows. Dumbledore starts out as iconic and, by the last book, is all too human in his mistakes (however understandable) and frailties.

The person: His character definitely grows from being a lonely, mistreated little boy who manages to maintain his identity in an abusive environment to a confident, ballsy young man who really does love deeply (and, that really is the source of his courage).

6) What is the most annoying/least favorite thing about the series?

Not much to annoy me at the moment - I really like most of the series right now. I was annoyed at the end of the sixth book with the entire Tonks/Lupin romance popping up. I think she should've saved that bit of information for the seventh book. Also - I'm annoyed at being left to hang on what Snape is/isn't/might be for the end of this last book. For heaven's sake! Rowling doesn't have to give us answers for another four or five years - that is just annoying to the extreme for me! But, then again, I'm not a very patient person.

Jennifer

[Rapunzel]

Yes, I do know what you mean. At one of the HP for grown ups sites yesterday, people practically did enough work for a Master's thesis on a single character. Do these people have jobs? (Coming from someone who hangs out at another well known website on a freakishly obsessive basis. )

--now back to the topic at hand: Harry-dom!

Kelly

Oh my! Unfortunately this would be the job of my sister who is currently getting her masters degree in British Lit. and is shopping around for an agent to represent her (has been writing children's books since she was a teen and hopes to be published).

Jennifer

1) Which character's personality do you most identify with?

I'd have to say Tonks and / or Luna. Kind of goofy, but with talent, and caring above all else.

2) Which character is your favorite?

I love Hermione.

3) Which house would you be in?

I think I'd be in Gryffindor. I know you have to be brave (which I am when it's necessary), and I hold loyalty as one of the most important characteristics of a person.

4) What predictions do you have for future stories?

I don't know. I'm not good at that. I'd entirely expected Sirius to come back as a ghost to "guide" Harry, but was wrong there. I think Rapunzel's idea of Harry being a Horcrux is interesting ... but I don't know if JK would go THAT dark. I was sure Snape was evil, but now Alison / Angie's idea about a twist is intriguing me. I guess I'm along for the ride.

5) (hard question) What is your favorite thing about HP?

As with others, the magical world. AND the perception that the magical world has of the muggles. From postage stamps, to electricity, etc. I think it's funny to see how Mr. Weasly is intrigued with it all.

6) What is the most annoying/least favorite thing about the series?

The new, angry Harry. He chilled out a bit in book 6 - he was downright irritating in book 5. Also, as Angie said, the way everything is restated to keep the littler ones up to date. The books are pretty dark these days, so people that need that much reminding are probably too little to be reading them.

[spotty_dog]

"I was sure Snape was evil, but now Alison / Angie's idea about a twist is intriguing me. I guess I'm along for the ride."

Heh. For the record, on my second reading () of book 6, I renounced that theory. I think Snape is a bad, bad man.

But I'll happily eat my words when book 7 comes out!

[spotty_dog]

I'm on my second reading. WHat changed your mind about Snape? I want to believe that he's good!

I had forgotten about the unbreakable bond that he made with Narcissa until I reread it. JK did a good job of leaving it ambigious.

There's just something about the *depth* of deception. He has *so* thoroughly double crossed *somebody*. It kind of comes down to who you think is more likely to get the wool pulled over their eyes and trust someone they shouldn't: Voldemort or Dumbledore. Voldemort doesn't trust anyone; Dumbledore trusts everyone. I just think the good guy is more likely to be snowed by the double crosser. Snape is in so very deep with such very bad people that I find it harder to believe he's got a heart of gold he's hiding from them all!

Of course, Dumbledore doesn't think that death is that bad; he associates closely with a phoenix who rises from the ashes regularly; and his portrait is still around. So the possibility that JK formulated the whole scene to make us TOTALLY THOROUGHLY detest the guy who did the WORST possible thing to our beloved character is still pretty darned plausible!

She does the suspense thing well, doesn't she!