Harry Potter, For those who love Harry Potter, pure bloods, 1/2 bloods, muggle borns and muggles all

Vince524 · Jun 9, 2012

I wanted to start a Harry Potter thread for those of us who love Harry Potter this discuss the books and things that may have not fully been explained.

I can't remember exactly when I started to read them, but it was after # 4 and before #5 came out. I was hooked and wanted to read them to my kids. I was on line and waiting for each of the books as they came out.

I have read and re-read them many times. Some more than others. Each one I pretty much read 2x right away.

I just recently re-read them all, within the last month, now that they have become available as e-books.

So there are questions that weren't answered which I wish I knew. For example:

Did Harry and/or Ron ever become Aurors?

What did Hermione become? Or Ginny? (I know Neville became Herbology Professor at Hogwarts.)

Also, Draco Malfoy's son Scorpius. I kept wondering, did JK Rowling pick that name in reference to the fable of The Scorpion and the Frog?

The Scorpion and the Frog is a fable about a scorpion asking a frog to carry him across a river. The frog is afraid of being stung during the trip, but the scorpion argues that if it stung the frog, the frog would sink and the scorpion would drown. The frog agrees and begins carrying the scorpion, but midway across the river the scorpion does indeed sting the frog, dooming them both. When asked why, the scorpion points out that this is its nature. The fable is used to illustrate the position that the behaviour of some creatures is irrepressible, no matter how they are treated and no matter what the consequences.

In other words, he really hasn't changed that much. It's in his nature?

Also, anyone feel free to put the books in your favorite order.

Mine:

1) Deathly Hallows
2) Order of the Phoenix
3) The Prisoner of Azkaban
4) The Sorcerers Stone
5)The Goblet of Fire
6) The Half Blood Prince
7)The Chamber of Secrets.

Just an all around discussion.

fredXgeorge · Jun 9, 2012

Can't write much right now but for now I'll just say that, in my completely unbiased opinion, Harry Potter is the greatest thing in the history of the universe.

Oh, and if you want to know what happened to the characters afterwards:
Ron helped George with the shop before becoming an Auror alongside Harry who, by the time of the epilogue, is head of the Auror department. Hermione fought for the rights of subjugated creatures including house-elves in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures before becoming high up in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Luna became a naturalist and married Rolf Scamander (grandson of Newt Scamander who wrote Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) and together they went searching for mad creatures. Ginny Weasley played for the Holyhead Harpies (all-female Quidditch team) before leaving to raise the children while writing as the senior Quidditch correspondent for the Daily Prophet.

Vince524 · Jun 9, 2012

Well alrighty then. Where did you get that from?

fredXgeorge · Jun 9, 2012

Here you go. It's a compilation of heaps of interviews she's done about post Deathly Hallows.
http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/books/postdh

I started reading the books in around 1998 I think, when I was 8. I remember seeing CoS in a bookshop and thinking it looked like the most stupid book ever by some guy called Harry Potter. Then my Gram gave me PS for my birthday and the rest is history! I was that annoying girl who made friends read the books when they came over to play. Actually that hasn't completely changed, though now I make my friends watch videos on YouTube and listen to my favourite Wrock songs.

My list of favourites is something like this:
1. Deathly Hallows
2. Half Blood Prince
3. Order of the Phoenix
4. Goblet of Fire
5. Philosopher's Stone
6. Prisoner of Azkaban
7. Chamber of Secrets.

Maybe. But DH is definitely my favourite and CoS my least.

Bookewyrme · Jun 9, 2012

Oooh, I do love Harry Potter. I started reading when the first one, or possibly the second (can't remember for sure) came out. I was about the same age, a little older, as the protagonists. She released them so regularly that I always stayed a comparable age with them, so it was like growing up with the hogwarts crowd. That was kinda cool.

My favorite thing about HP is all the cool language things Rowling does (Sirius Black turns into a big black dog etc). I can't wait for the next thing she writes!

Let's see:
Favorites in order - Prisoner of Azkaban, Sorcerer's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Goblet of Fire, Deathly Hallows, Half-Blood Prince.
I don't include Order of the Phoenix because I pretty much hate that book, mainly because I want to do terrible things to that martinet Umbridge.

Incidentally, anyone who loves Harry Potter should play on Pottermore. It's super cool and has all sorts of extra information from Rowling. I don't play regularly once I got through the whole first book, but I'll go through each book at least once.

fredXgeorge · Jun 9, 2012

My favourite new info on Pottermore was McGonagall. So awesome. What house were you sorted into? I got Slytherin, which was pretty cool. As much as I love Gryffindor and have my Gryffindor robes, tie and scarf, I think if I went to Hogwarts I'd actually be sorted as either a Slytherin or Hufflepuff.

Bookewyrme · Jun 9, 2012

Hey, I got Slytherin too! I was expecting Ravenclaw, but on the other hand, Slytherin does have my favorite color scheme.

I'm not sure what my favorite new info was. There was just so much awesome stuff on Pottermore. Also, it's been a little while since I played!

Vince524 · Jun 10, 2012

I can't seem to sign in to pottermore. I have the account to buy the books, but the other stuff, I can't get on. I try to do the sign up. I change it to my birthday. That goes ok, but then when it asks for where I live and such I put in the US and change the language above, but it then resets the form. I've tried it a dozen times. No luck.

narmowen · Jun 10, 2012

I don't have a favorite book (love them all), but I'm a Ravenclaw.

Vince524 · Jun 10, 2012

OK, I'm in pottermore now. Still trying to navigate through it. I feel like I'm missing things. But it's cool.

Cyia · Jun 10, 2012

I was expecting Slytherin or maybe Hufflepuff and landed in Ravenclaw.

Vince524 · Jun 10, 2012

Gryfindor!!

Vince524 · Jun 10, 2012

The potions is hard!! I can't figure out how to do everything. How do I wave my wand?

I'll have to try again later, time to go fry some fish. (For real)

fredXgeorge · Jun 10, 2012

Yeah potions is hard. It took me quite a while to figure out how to do it. Then I became a pro

Bookewyrme · Jun 10, 2012

Yea, potions was a pain in the butt, but I basically just kept doing the same one over and over until I got the hang of it. Also, writing the ingredients/steps down on a piece of paper helped, because my memory sucks.

Dueling is the hardest thing for me now. I was getting better, before I stopped for other things.

Smiley0501 · Jun 19, 2012

I got into Pottermore as a beta tester way back when in September, and got sorted into Gryffindor. (Every other test has sorted me in Hufflepuff, but alright I'll go with the Gryff.) I liked learning the backstory of professors, creatures and others in the novels, but I had little patience for the games (esp. potions!). I think this is due to being a college student and not having enough time to sit down and really figure out how to play them.

Vince524 · Jun 19, 2012

I think if I were a wizard, I'd be Neville Longbottom.

sassandgroove · Jun 19, 2012

My fave book is Order of the Pheonix and I am not familiar with Pottermore but I am pretty sure I'd be Hufflepuff.

rwm4768 · Jun 19, 2012

1. Deathly Hallows
2. Chamber of Secrets
3. Goblet of Fire
4. Prisoner of Azkaban
5. Order of the Phoenix
6. Half Blood Prince
7. Sorcerer's Stone

douglass · Jun 19, 2012

Hi,
Is there one Harry Potter book that you would recommend to an adult reader that doesn't want to read the whole series? One that can stand alone and captures the HP experience for an older reader?

Bookewyrme · Jun 19, 2012

Douglass, I would honestly begin with the first one (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone). It is a mid-grade book, so it's a pretty quick read, and all of the books build off of each other, so I think without the previous books each is not quite as much as it could be. But, after the first one, I suspect you will be able to decide if you'd like to continue reading or not.

May I ask, why do you not want to read the whole series? Is it a time-constraint? If that's the issue, all of the books, even the thickest ones, are pretty quick reads, despite their length. As an example, I read each book the first time around in a single sitting, in the space of a single day (as did my husband, sister in law, mother..etc).
Anyway, hope you enjoy whichever one you choose and decide to read them all after all.

douglass · Jun 19, 2012

Hi Lia,
Yes, mostly a time issue -- and the fact I've heard many adults like some of the later books better than the first. Thanks for your suggestion about starting with the first.

Vince524 · Jun 20, 2012

I was thinking the same thing, the first. My favorites do come later, but I don't know if you'd enjoy them as much without the first.

Stop by afterwards and let us know what you thought of it!

sassandgroove · Jun 20, 2012

I agree, if you don't start at the beginning, the later books won't have some of the "magic". (Yes, I did it!)

But they are quick reads. I have read all of them 4 times.

BardSkye · Jun 20, 2012

I will second the advice to read the first book. It's such a sweeping universe, starting elsewhere would likely be quite frustrating, as you wouldn't have the backstory to explain why things might happen as they do.

I'm definitely an adult reader, as I'm 57. My next door neighbour introduced me to the story around the time the third book came out.

One thing I find quite frustrating right now is that ITunes no longer carries the audiobooks, and I've only got the first two so far. I'll have to check out Pottermore, I guess.

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