Harry Potter

Now the last book has come out, and the series is over.  Movie #5, “Order of the Phoenix” is out, and I imagine #6 and 7 will eventually be completed as well.  I read all the books and saw movies 1-4.  Overall, what’s the deal?

 Books.  Seven, by now, all written by J.K. Rowling and each title begins with “Harry Potter and the...”

1.         Sorceror’s Stone.  This book introduces us to Harry, his “Muggle” family the Dursleys, Hogwarts, the basic elements of magic, and most of the main characters.

2.         Chamber of Secrets.  More of the same.  Instead of a stone, they find a secret chamber within Hogwarts.

3.         Prisoner of Azkaban.  Introduction to Azkaban (the prison for bad magic people) and the Dementors, the wraith-like guards of the prison.  First glance at Sirius Black.

4.         Goblet of Fire.  The Quidditch World Cup starts this off.  There’s a Tri-Wizards competition between Hogwarts and two other schools, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang – the first time we ever learn that there are magic schools besides Hogwarts.  Cedric Diggory is the Hogwarts champion, yet Potter is also put in.

5.         Order of the Phoenix.  Introduction to the Order, which operates independently of the Ministry of Magic.  The Order directly opposes the Death Eaters, who are Voldemort’s support team.  A junior version of the Order, “Dumbledore’s Army”, arises at Hogwarts because the Defense Against Dark Arts teacher, Dolores Umbridge, is such an incompetent idiot.

6.         Half-Blood Prince.  The Death Eaters grow more powerful, Harry learns more about Voldemort and his “Horcruxes” - soul split up into 7 seperate objects – so defeating Voldemort requires finding and destroying each one.  Harry starts to hook up with Ginny Weasley.

7.         Deathly Hallows.  Harry, Hermione and Ron skip the final year at Hogwarts and spend it trying to track down the Horcruxes while evading Voldemort.  We also learn about the Deathly Hallows, which are a killer wand, a stone of resurrection, and the Invisibility Cloak (which he found long ago).  Finishes everything up, ties up the loose ends, and explains exactly what Snape and Dumbledore were up to all this time.

 Characters

Harry Potter.  The only one known to survive the death curse, which caused his distinctive lightning bolt scar on his forehead.  He’s a celebrity within the wizarding world, shows immense natural talent, but is insecure and would gladly forego the fame and danger.  Despite his fame and talent, he’s not an arrogant prick – though he fails to take advantage of his fame when it comes to getting a date for the prom in book 4.  As he grows older, he grows smarter, better at magic, and a bit more petulant.  As the series goes on it becomes more apparent how important he is and how much of his fate is inextricably tied with Voldemort.

Ron Weasley & family.  Apart from his younger sister Ginny, who ends up at Hogwarts, Ron is the youngest of his family.  They are all wizards, so they take magic for granted.  The father, Arthur, works at the Ministry of Magic; an older son, Percy, is a bit of a self-important ass, first as a Prefect at Hogwarts and then working for the Ministry.  Bill works in Romania on dragons, and marries Fleur (a hot French chick).  And Fred and George are the joking twins, always up to no good – but still decent guys after all.  Ron is Harry’s same age so he forms the closest bond, but all the Weasleys – particularly Ginny – like Harry.

Hermione Granger.  The Muggle-born overachiever.  Her parents were not magical, so she’s got a chip on her shoulder and vastly overcompensates.  She knows all stories and spells.  She comes off as a real know-it-all.   She’s far more motivated than Potter, though it ends up being a good thing.

Neville Longbottom.  The opposite of Hermione.  He comes from a distinguished family of magic but is for the most part (until book 7) a shy, insecure underachiever.

The Malfoys.  Draco and his parents, part of the Death Eater crowd and Slytherin house.  Incredibly arrogant assholes.  But worth what to see what eventually happens to them in book 7.

Dumbledore.  The headmaster of Hogwarts, the kind old wizard, far wiser than he appears to be, very much the Gandalf of this book.  He protects Harry and gives him a remarkable amount of support and assistance behind the scenes.

Voldemort.  The #1 Bad Guy, easily the Sauron of the series.  Originally known as Tom Riddle and involved at Hogwarts.  He’s Potter’s nemesis throughout the entire series.  His fan club are the Death Eaters, mostly scum from Slytherin. 

Snape.  The #2 Bad Guy, well played in the movies by Alan Rickman.  He seems to have it out for Potter (Rickman spits out the name with the same contempt and venom he did with “McClane, Mr. Rambo Cowboy” in “Die Hard”).  A Hogwarts professor, first of Potions then Defense Against the Dark Arts.  He leaves us guessing – until the very end! - about whether he’s with the Death Eaters or not.

Hagrid.  The big, burly, dense but helpful groundskeeper who never found a wild animal he didn’t think he could tame.  He helps out Harry big time and is a sympathetic character.

 Hogwarts.  The magic school somewhere in England.  Supposedly it’s hidden, and reached, by the students, by a magical train called the Hogwarts Express.   It’s split up into four houses: Gryffindor (the bravest, best students – including Potter, Hermione and Ron); Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff (mediocre houses not particularly special or bad); and Slytherin, which have the slimiest, nastiest, most unscrupulous students.  Given that this house seems to only produce evil wizards who belong in Azkaban, I’m not sure why the house should even exist. Naturally Snape was a Slytherin.  The students are assigned to houses by the Sorting Hat and remain in that house for all 7 years – if you don’t like where the Hat sent you, tough shit.  The castle is magic and has moving stairs, magic paintings, secret passageways, hidden rooms, ghosts, and all sorts of crazy shit.  It even has dormitories, though these are not co-ed.  There is no sex in the books, the romance is light and fluffy, and it isn’t until book 4 that the kids even realize there’s a difference between girls and boys. 

            The magic itself varies from simple stuff all the way up to spells causing complete domination, excruciating pain, or even death.  As you can imagine it plays a central role in all the books.  However, it’s never explained why some people have the ability and some don’t – some magical people end up with non-magical children called squibs.  There is no mention of God, the Devil, angels, demons, an afterlife – Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, or even oblivion - or even pagan dieties.  The source of magic itself is never explained at all.

 Quidditch.  The make-believe game played on flying brooms.  Actually pretty lame.  They make it into a magical equivalent of soccer, rugby and cricket rolled into one; there’s a World Cup and private teams.  Harry plays on the Hogwarts team for Gryffindor house and is a natural – he plays “Seeker”, a position most like quarterback.  Fortunately Quidditch stops being important after book 4 and they focus on the nasty stuff going on with Voldemort instead.

 The Ministry of Magic.  The magic world has its shadow government of wizards.  The Ministry regulates the magic world and keeps it secret from the Muggles (non-magical people).  Apparently only the top levels of the Muggle government are aware of its existence.  Incidentally, it’s not clear whether the MoM only controls England or has worldwide jurisdiction, as they never mention MoMs in any other country, yet there are schools other than Hogwarts and students from all over the Eastern Hemisphere...which leads to my next topic.

 Americans?   Oddly, there are no American characters in any of the books, nothing takes place in America, the country itself isn’t even mentioned once (I think there may have been some Americans at the Quidditch World Cup), there are no magic schools in America, and for all we’d know from reading the books, the entire Western Hemisphere doesn’t even exist (no Brazilian, Mexican, Argentinian or Canadian wizards either).  I’d say it’s strange, but hey – we’re talking about books about magic. 

 Children’s Books?  Well, it’s no match for Tolkien, Moorcock or Robert E. Howard.  It does get a bit confusing in some places.  But with names like Hufflepuff and calling the non-magicals “Muggles” much of it is lame.  On the other hand, several people die, and the language isn’t completely simple.  It’s more than Dr. Suess.  I’d say they are children’s books, if you define children as “10-13 years old.”   After reading more serious stuff, particuarly textbooks, regulations, or any boring stuff we have to endure as adults, it’s like candy for your brain.  But not corrosive, more like a guiltless pleasure.  By all means, enjoy it.