30 Day Harry Potter Challenge day 2

Day 2 is my favorite movie

I had a hard time with this one, and I think I have to settle on the 6th move, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. After Prisoner of Azkaban, Half-Blood Prince is my second favorite book, and I really enjoyed the movie. I thought it was well done, and I just love the back story of Tom Riddle. Of course the ending is heartbreaking, but the whole thing is just so well done, that I left satisfied, rather than frustrated as I sometimes did after the other movies.

What is your favorite Harry Potter movie?

Day 1: Your fave book.

Day 2: Your fave movie.Day 3: Is there any of the films adaptations that have made you angry because they’ve ignored important parts of the book.
Day 4: Least fave female character and why.
Day 5: Fave male character and why.
Day 6: What house would you want to be in.
Day 7: Fave female character and why.
Day 8: What do you think would be your fave lesson.
Day 9: Least fave male character.
Day 10: Horcruxes or Hallows.
Day 11: What character would you say you are most like.
Day 12: Fave ship.
Day 13: Least fave movie.
Day 14: Team Voldermort or Team harry.
Day 15: Who would be your best friends at hogwarts. (three only)
Day 16: Fave professor
Day 17: Are you excited about The Deathly Hallows movie or scared it won’t do the book justice.
Day 18: Least fave book.
Day 19: Do you prefer the books or films.
Day 20: If you had to meet one member of the cast, who would it be.
Day 21: Out of all the characters that died, if you could bring one back, who would it be.
Day 22: Harry Potter or Twilight
Day 23: Any part of the books/movies that makes you cry.
Day 24: Any particular scene you wished would have been put in the movie but it wasn’t.
Day 25: Nineteen years later. Are you happy how it turned out, or do you wish something was different, ie Neville married Luna?
Day 26: If you could be able to work one spell without a wand what would it be.
Day 27: Would you rather own The Invisibility Cloak, The Resurrection Stone or The Elder Wand?
Day 28: Do you listen to Wizard Wrock, what do you think about it?
Day 29: Did you enjoy A Very Potter Musical.
Day 30: What affect has Harry Potter made on your life and how much does it mean to you?

30 Day Harry Potter Challenge

When I stumbled on the 30 Day Harry Potter challenge on the Why Girls are Weird blog, I knew I had to do it! For those of you just joining me, I love Harry Potter. So, I'm giving another blog challenge a try. This time I'm going to try to make sure that I get every day answered, so bear with me! Many of my posts may be this challenge, but I will try to filter in other posts as I go along. This challenge comes at the perfect time, however, since I'm a little short on blogging ideas (I do have a couple coming up, but even so).
So, onto the challenge!

Day 1: Your favorite book.

I absolutely love the 3rd book. There's just something about it that really attracts me. I love the attention Harry gets in this book (I'm not quite sure why), and I love the way it ends. The first two books end happily, but this one doesn't. Yet, it doesn't end with a death, like every other book after that. It's the last "happy" book, in a way, and I love that.


What's your favorite Harry Potter book?

Day 1: Your fave book.
Day 2: Your fave movie.
Day 3: Is there any of the films adaptations that have made you angry because they’ve ignored important parts of the book.
Day 4: Least fave female character and why.
Day 5: Fave male character and why.
Day 6: What house would you want to be in.
Day 7: Fave female character and why.
Day 8: What do you think would be your fave lesson.
Day 9: Least fave male character.
Day 10: Horcruxes or Hallows.
Day 11: What character would you say you are most like.
Day 12: Fave ship.
Day 13: Least fave movie.
Day 14: Team Voldermort or Team harry.
Day 15: Who would be your best friends at hogwarts. (three only)
Day 16: Fave professor
Day 17: Are you excited about The Deathly Hallows movie or scared it won’t do the book justice.
Day 18: Least fave book.
Day 19: Do you prefer the books or films.
Day 20: If you had to meet one member of the cast, who would it be.
Day 21: Out of all the characters that died, if you could bring one back, who would it be.
Day 22: Harry Potter or Twilight
Day 23: Any part of the books/movies that makes you cry.
Day 24: Any particular scene you wished would have been put in the movie but it wasn’t.
Day 25: Nineteen years later. Are you happy how it turned out, or do you wish something was different, ie Neville married Luna?
Day 26: If you could be able to work one spell without a wand what would it be.
Day 27: Would you rather own The Invisibility Cloak, The Resurrection Stone or The Elder Wand?
Day 28: Do you listen to Wizard Wrock, what do you think about it?
Day 29: Did you enjoy A Very Potter Musical.
Day 30: What affect has Harry Potter made on your life and how much does it mean to you?

All was well.

Harry Potter has done a lot for me. It brought my sister and I closer together. It brought my husband and I together. And it taught me that, no matter what life throws at you, you always have your friends and things will work out in the end.

As you are reading this, I'm probably sleeping, as I was at the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2. The last Harry Potter movie I will ever see in the theaters. In light of that, I thought it would be fun to look back at my own, personal Harry Potter timeline.

December 2000: I'd spent the last 3 years avoiding the Harry Potter books. You see, I have an issue with reading or watching things that everyone else likes. Until Christmas break my senior year in high school, when I was home and bored for 2 straight weeks. I picked up the first book and was hooked immediately.

July 2001: We came home from a trip to Washington DC the day Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire came out; the 4th book. It was waiting for us on the doorstep. Unfortunately at that time I didn't own any of the books so I had to wait the 5 days for my sister to finish her copy.

November 2001: The first Harry Potter movie came out. I dragged my roommate and a guy friend to the midnight movie.

June 2003: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was published. This time I ordered my own copy. I snuck the book into work at Dunkin Donuts and kept the unopened package under the register until I got home and could read it. I read it during every nap that the kids I nannied for took that summer.

July 2005: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince released. This was the first book I went to a midnight book release for and it was awesome. I finished the book by the end of the weekend, and when I went to work on Monday, I was obviously depressed by the ending. My coworkers both laughed and comforted me.

{My sister at the book release. Excuse the hair...it was a phase, thank goodness}

May 2006: My sister and I get matching Harry Potter tattoos. We got the snitch, and at the time we didn't know how important it would be to the last book, which was pretty awesome.

 {My sister's is on her chest...

...mine is on my foot}

October 2006: My best friend and I went to Salem, Mass to meet Chris Rankin, who played Percy Weasley in the movies.

July 2007: The final Harry Potter book was released. I went to the book release party and was paid for it, since I wrote an article for the paper I was working for at the time. Probably the best release ever. Of course my sister went willingly, but I dragged my best friend too.

{It was late, please excuse our manic looks}

I sobbed through the majority of that book. I read it in about 2 days. I was shocked, angry, happy...every emotion you could even imagine, I felt it.

It should be noted that between July 2007 and July 2011 there were other movies released, but they were attended without much incident, since I had moved away from my best Harry Potter friend (my sister)


July 2011: I dragged Geoff to the last movie at midnight.

That's it. There are no more surprises, no more midnight book or movie releases. In a way I'm relieved, but mostly I'm very, very sad. The last 10 years of my life have been very erratic and brought on a lot of changes, but one thing has stayed the same: Harry Potter. Thank you, JK Rowling, for everything you have given me.


{Don't forget to enter my giveaway that ends Sunday, July 17!}

Welcome home

This is a guest post from my friend Kathleen, a fellow writer with whom I worked at a newspaper back in Massachusetts.

Friends and family had told me about the Potter series since the books came out and I laughed at them because I thought they were “children’s books.”  My best friend, Ellie, was a particularly big fan of the series. I forgave her this grievous misstep only because she was my best friend. Until she pointed out that Alan Rickman was in the movies. I tried to get the DVDs from her but she said that I would only get a movie when I had finished the corresponding book.  

I grumbled about it until a few chapters into Sorcerer’s Stone I realized it was time for me to sleep. “I’ll go to bed after the next chapter,” I said. I finished The Sorcerer’s Stone in one sleep deprived night. It took me 10 days to read all the books up to Half Blood Prince. During which I caught only a few hours of sleep, called out of work, and skipped class. I honestly forgot the movies even existed. Also, by then, I was a bigger fan of Snape than Alan Rickman.

As a writer I was in awe of JK Rowling’s ability to create an entire universe that had me hoping my owl got lost on its way to New Hampshire.  The characters weren’t just three dimensional; they were my friends, my family.  Sirius’ death in Order of the Phoenix upset me so much I drove across town to see Ellie at her work, my face swollen with tears, clutching the book to my chest. (Don’t even get me started on Deathly Hallows. My poor boyfriend is going to the midnight showing with me, he is on Kleenex duty.) The reactions we had to each part of the story are all due to Joe’s gift for storytelling. The stories inspire me every day to write and keep writing because she was my age when she started scribbling notes on diaper pads, notes that turned into one of the greatest novels of all time.

What Harry Potter represents to me most of all is the permission to be a kid, no matter how old you are. This is what makes reading the books and being a fan such an amazing experience. Fans waiting in line for books argue about who was the best character; discuss what their patronus would be, and which house they would be a part of. We craft beautiful original works of art and write fanfiction that is good enough to grace the shelves of Barns and Noble. 

I cannot talk about the Potter fandom without mentioning the amazing friendships I have made as a result of this series. My love of Harry Potter has helped me build bonds with people all over the world, some I consider my best friends.

I have been very sad for the past month because the movies are coming to an end and with it the end of fresh Potter material. A few weeks ago I met someone who liked Harry Potter in the grocery store and we stood for about an hour talking as if we had known each other our entire lives. That’s when I realized, the story never really ends; all of us keep it alive.  Like Joe said during the London Deathly Hallows premier, “whether you come back by page or by the big screen, Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home.” 

Everything I need to know in life I learned from Harry Potter

This is a guest post by my sister, Laura, which she wrote for a site called Dear Mr. Potter.

I learned that it’s okay to be a smart girl.
I learned it’s okay to have bushy brown hair.

I learned that sometimes friends argue.
I learned that sometimes friends leave.
I learned that true friends always return when you need them the most.

I learned that death happens and it’s sad.

I learned that it’s okay to cry.
I learned that sometimes, if you have too many possessions, it’s okay to break a few.

I learned that you should always speak clearly when traveling by Floo.

I learned that first loves hurt.
I learned that second loves hurt.
I learned that love doesn’t always have to hurt.

I learned that magic is real (even if you don’t have a wand).

I learned that I’m a Ravenclaw.
I learned that my sister is a Gryffindor.
I learned that sometimes siblings aren’t sorted into the same House.

I learned that everyone, even Draco Malfoy, deserves redemption.

I learned that good will always triumph over evil, even when it seems hopeless.

So thank you, J. K. Rowling, for all the lessons. I will never forget.

{Don't forget to enter my giveaway that ends Sunday, July 17!}

Remembering the Magic of Harry Potter

This is a guest post from my friend Elizabeth, one of the few people who can give me a run for my money in Harry Potter trivia!

I discovered Harry Potter in Walmart.  It was the summer between freshman and sophomore years of high school and I was bored, so while my mother was roaming the aisles in search of everything on her three-page-long list, I slipped away to the book aisle.  I didn't quite pick up the book at random.  I had heard about the series, but I didn't really know anything about it. I knew that it seemed to be causing a whole lot of ruckus in both the book world and the conservation Christian world, which, being from Alabama, I had generous exposure to, but that was about it.

I knew very little about the story, only that it was about magic, was apparently awesome, and a movie was in the works.  I knew that people had camped out at bookstores to get copies of the fourth book the summer before and that adults were fanatical enough to dress up in costumes.  But I didn't know of anyone who had read the books, nor had it really gained any popularity in my hometown.  But something about the cover struck me as interesting, so much to my mother's dismay, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone landed in our buggy. 

I started the book that night, and sometime around midnight, I had to force myself to stop reading and go to sleep.  I bought Chamber of Secrets a few weeks later and enjoyed it just as much.  But it wasn't until Christmas and being gifted books 3 and 4 that I really got bitten by the HP bug.  I devoured both of those in record time and was impatient for more.  I started being much more vocal about how much I liked the books and encouraged a few friends to read them as well.  I clearly remember spending a good chunk of my sophomore lunch times discussing Harry Potter and what might be coming in book 5.

And then I discovered fan sites.  That summer, not quite a year after I picked up the first book, while I was supposed to doing health homework for summer school, I went in search of a trailer for Chamber of Secrets(set to release that fall).  I stumbled upon the WB's official site and realized there was some sort of fan section that included message boards.  Well there went any sort of productivity I could ever hope to have.  I spent hours that summer reading and posting on the message boards, swapping theories and ideas, rereading the books for clues that others were pointing out, and even reading (and writing!) fan fiction.  

It was official.  I was obsessed with Harry Potter.  My obsession carried me through most of high school, through the discovery of MuggleNet (where I spent hours and hours and hours) and HP-themed RPG games, through creating my own HP character and crafting several stories around her, to the release of two movies and the long awaited (and heart breaking) release of Order of the Phoenix.  I became those people I had seen in the newspaper, standing in line for hours to see midnight premieres and getting the book at exactly 12:01 while dressed in costume.

I found a community in my fellow HP fans.  I've made it no secret that high school was a difficult time for me.  But I always had a comfortable space in the online fan community.  No one ever made me feel uncomfortable or unwanted and I truly valued all the time I spent on the message boards.  

I lost a bit of my fervor when I went to college.  Not because I loved the books any less (I was still anxiously awaiting the arrival of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince the summer after my freshman year in college), but because college proved to be much more entertaining and welcoming than high school did.  But Harry was still there for me when I needed him to be.  My sophomore year in college was especially difficult.  I suffered from fairly severe depression and often closed myself in my dorm room for days at a time.  I turned to Harry Potter and the online community during this time.  It was one of the few things that kept me going and kept me focused on something other than how awful I felt all the time.  It's a bit of a stretch to say that Harry Potter saved my life, but I owe him a big credit.  It gave me great pleasure during the darkest period of my life when I had very little to be happy about.  

It's been a long time since I've visited the fan sites.  I know what a time suck (although an enjoyable one!) they can be, and frankly, there are better things I would rather do with my time.  But you better believe that I'll be standing outside my local movie theater by 10:00 on July 14 with a group of my friends.  We'll be dress in costume (I like to go as Madam Pince) and I guarantee we will either start or join in on a rendition of"Harry Potter and the Mysterious Ticking Noise".  I may be 25, but Harry has been in my life for 10 years and I expect he'll be around even longer than that.  Because when you discover something as special as Harry Potter and the incredible community and experience it has become for me, you stand in line to see the midnight premier even though you have to work the next day.  You reread all the books.  You wear a costume.  You shed a tear (or many) to see it finally come to an end.  You see it through "until the very end" (James Potter, DH).  And you reveal in the magic.

{Don't forget to enter my giveaway that ends Sunday, July 17!}

"That Friend" and "That Love"

This is a guest post that my sister's best friend, Elspeth, wrote about how she loves and appreciates Harry Potter.


You know That Thing that you love?
Not with fanaticism and not with desperation, but just with a constant love? Something that's always been there, something you grew up with.

Now, you know That Friend who loves That Thing maybe not MORE than you do, but expresses it more? Maybe they're just more in touch with the love they have for That Thing, maybe they actually do love it more.

This is about my relationship and my best friend's relationship with Harry Potter.
She doesn't just love Harry Potter, she LOVES Harry Potter. And because of that love, which I wouldn't say is inappropriate or excessive, I don't often think about how much I love Harry Potter.

This is not a complaint.
I'm just explaining why, whenever I go back to reread the series, I am able to relive it with such freshness. I've realized now that I LIKE forgetting how much I love Harry Potter, because it's like meeting up with an old friend and having so much to talk about because you haven't seen them in so long.

Ask my best friend and she'd probably tell you she has the same experiences every time she picks up her worn and well-loved copies of the books, so maybe it has less to do with the forgetting.

But you know what I remembered this time around?

Remember back when we didn't know what they Dursleys' secret was? Remember not knowing the whole story? Remember not even knowing who Dumbledore and Prof. McGonagall and Hagrid were? I'm rereading the first book for what I think might even be the first time since finishing the series and the perspective I have now makes the nostalgia even stronger and smoother. Like drinking a well-made cappuccino.

The series that spanned generations

It's a Harry Potter weekend on ABC Family. I love Harry Potter weekends because it means that no matter what time it is, there is something on for me to watch, and I can always watch Harry Potter. For some reason I love watching movies on TV because I feel like I'm connected with everyone else who happens to be watching right now.
Anyway, Harry Potter got me thinking. They have been advertising it as "the series that defined a generation", and I tend to disagree. I think it's more like the series that spanned generations. I was a senior in high school before I started reading Harry Potter, and at that time there were only 3 books. It was my sister, in 6th grade at the time (though she'd already been reading the books for 2 years) who introduced me to Harry Potter. Back then, it was different. Harry Potter was just starting to pick up speed, and it would, of course, only grow bigger as the books continued.

For my sister, Harry Potter was her childhood. For many who started reading the books in late elementary school, early middle school, Harry Potter defined their childhood. They came of age alongside Harry, entering puberty and learning about themselves as they followed Harry.
For me, it was a little different. Harry Potter transported me into a world that was unusual, magical, different, and yet still part of our world. I loved that, and though Harry was just a child, and I practically an adult, the books gave me a reason to be a kid again, if only for 400 or 500 pages.

Harry Potter changed my life. It brought me closer to my sister, it brought me to my husband, and through it I met several good friends. For about 5 years I lived and breathed Harry Potter, reading and rereading the books until the last one came out. Even now, in anticipation of the first part of the last movie coming out in November, I'm already rereading them from the beginning, despite the fact that I can practically quote much of the first three books.

And yet, it's over. The Harry Potter fad, which overtook generations, kids from ages 6 to 60 (my own grandmother read Harry Potter) is done. Sure, there are the movies, but even those are almost over. There are the occasional ABC Family Harry Potter weekends, and I'm sure, someday, JK Rowling with come out with another book, possibly another series. But, generally speaking, the lovers of Harry Potter have moved on. There is always another awesome book or series to read.

This week I was asked to come up with a list of books for middle school kids for a fellow teacher of my mother-in-law. As I was thinking about the list, browsing my bookcase, my eyes fell on my series of Harry Potter books. And I remembered, all of a sudden, almost, that they probably haven't read Harry Potter yet. I put it on the list, and was happy to know that more kids, another generation, will read Harry Potter. Some kids won't like it, some will love the books, read them once, and move on. But maybe, just maybe, there will be someone out there like me, who will devour the books and fall in love with the world like I did.
I know Harry Potter is never going to die. I just want to make sure that people don't forget about it.