Ah, nostalgia. I began reading the Harry Potter series in my senior year of high school, at the insistance of my voice teacher, who was the only adult I knew at the time who felt the series was not evil and contrary to the ways of the Lord. I had wanted to read it for years before, but people kept scaring me out of it, not the least of which was the pastor of the church I attended at the time. (Apparently he couldn't think of any better topics for sermons.)
Lo and behold, I went to babysit for my voice teacher, her brat went to hide in the TV room as was her wont, and the kind lady suggested as she left for the evening "if you want something to do, there's a copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on the shelf over there..."
Thus began an obsession. It was compelling, well written, sparklingly witty and enjoyable, and I couldn't quite find anything that blantantly suggested it was the Anti-Christ. In fact, I couldn't find anything in it any more contrary to the ways of the Lord than say, The Lord of the Rings or The Chronicles of Narnia, a confession that stills shocks many ("but those are Christian books!! How dare you compare them with that, that...witch book!")
I read half of it that night, and borrowed it to read the rest after my next vocal lesson. I spent a lot of time in my room a couple days after that. Told my dad I was reading my psychology textbook (well, I did some of that too, in my defense). I was afraid of how he'd react, you see, but I did tell my mum, who was a little dismayed. I said, "I'm a senior in high school. I think I'm old enough to read a children's book." Good arument, don't you think?
Eventually, I read the entire series, as it stood at the time (up to Goblet of Fire). I left a copy of the film version of Sorcerer's Stone lying about and my dad watched it. He had nothing to say about it afterwards, but when I openly bought a copy of Chamber of Secrets and he watched that, he finally commented: "well, at least he doesn't live under the stairs anymore." I reckoned it would be okay for him to know I had been reading them, after that.
Since then, I have encouraged all my closest friends to read the series, and I am happy to say pretty much all of them have, and they love it. In fact, quite a few of us are downright nerds.
Which brings us up to the present. This Friday at midnight marks the release of the final Harry Potter novel. Final, as in, finito, endo, the end, NO MORE. I can't believe it! I mean, I can, because we all knew it would come eventually, but it still seems so soon. I'm torn between excitement for a new book and the knowledge that I will devour the whole glorious thing in a way only possible on a summer weekend, and the bittersweet sadness that comes with the realization that once I've reached page 786, I will never read another new word in a Harry Potter book.
Sure, years down the road Ms. Rowling has said perhaps she'll pen another book set in that world, but she says there will be no more Harry Potter books. This is one thing she has always stuck to, no matter what.
Hopefully I'll be able to keep myself from ripping through to page 786 in an indecently short amount of time. I plan to take breaks to rest my eyes, shower, eat, and sleep (perhaps). If I could think of something that would keep my mind occupied well enough to stay away from it for a couple hours, I would, but I can't think of a bloody thing.
Who will die? I think it will be Harry, but it's possible it won't be. If not, then I'm sad to say I believe Ron, Hermione or Ginny will bite it. JK Rowling has already proven that she has a heart of steel when it comes to killing off characters, and each death has been a step above the last one. Who is worse that Dumbledore? Well, only one of the trio, really. Even Hagrid isn't worse than Dumbledore.
Is Snape good or evil? I must say evil, primarily because all the people who think that Dumbledore would tell Snape to kill him (to split his soul! The most horrible thing a wizard can do!) are daft. If Snape isn't evil, then I'm sure she'll come up with something brilliant, probably from nowhere that we could possibly know of, and it'll be wonderful. But for now, Snape is evil.
Is Harry a Horcrux? I'm leaning towards no, but I have heard quite a few convincing arguments that he is. If so, I'm sure it will make sense once we learn whatever pieces of the puzzle are still missing.
Lastly, I just have to say I believe Snape was in love with Lily. I hope I'm right!
Here are some Harry Potter reading tips, for the devotees among you:
Pizza is good to eat while you're reading. It doesn't take much concentration to cram it in your mouth.
Get up and stretch every hour, to avoid numb-butt syndrome.
Have kleenex at the ready. A whole box, if possible.
Peppermint tea is goes very well with reading, I've found.
Watch out for nargles.
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