what surprised you the most?

[joym999 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 24110

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Chris <eyegrrl at e...> wrote:
> Do to the recent thread of "why did you start reading the HP books" 
I was 
> very curious to find out which bombshell, large or small, surprised 
you the 
> most

Great thread, Chris.

I am one of those readers described as "along for the ride" readers, 
in other words the first time I read a book I do not really think 
about the plot, or the mysteries, or the inconsistencies, or what 
will happen - I just sort of lay back and let the author tell me 
his/her story.

Because of this, I am rarely surprised at anything.  But there is one 
part in the HP books so far that did shock me.  That is the first 
chapter of GoF.  Maybe because it is somewhat confusing -- you have 
to use your brain to work out which Riddle is which -- but when I 
realized that JKR was saying that Tom Riddle, while still a teenager, 
went and killed his own father and his grandparents, I was really 
shocked.  Up until that point, it was unclear (at least to me) why 
Voldy was considered such a bad guy -- we knew he killed people but 
not really any details.  Then we find out that he is a truly 
psychotic lunatic, and has been since a very young age.  I found that 
terrifying and shocking.

I am also surprised that no one else seems to have been affected by 
that scene as much as I was; and that other people find Wormtail, 
Crouch and others to be scarier than Voldemort.  What is scarier than 
an insane serial killer who inspires people to follow his lead?  To 
me, nothing, except maybe for a moronic greedy national leader who 
inspires people to follow his lead, but thats a forbidden topic so I 
cant go there.

--Joywitch