What If . . . What If It's A *Dud?*

[Antoinette Marie <zoomphy@yahoo.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 51893

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Cindy C. <cindysphynx at c...>" 
<cindysphynx at c...> wrote:

<major snip>
> So what do you think?  How confident are folks that OoP will be 
> really good, and why?  And if it's not very good, will it really 
> matter?
</major snip>

**de-lurks**

I, too, have worries about OoP being "dud-worthy." After reading so 
many different theories and fanfics, I worry that I may have 
compromised my ability to be surprised by the upcoming plot. I have 
concerns that after waiting so long for this book to be published, 
actually reading it will seem...anti-climactic. But, actually, I am 
much more worried about the sixth book in the series being 
unsatisfactory, moreso than this one.

My friends and I have discussed this before on many occasions, and we 
have what we call the "Odd Numbers" theory. It goes like this (please 
excuse the oversimplification!): we really liked the first book and 
the third book. We did not really like the second book or the fourth 
book. (By the end of GoF, I couldn't tell you the plot to CoS--and I 
tend to agree with David's first point in Post 51842 regarding GoF.) 
Following this pattern, we expect we will really like the fifth book 
but not really like the sixth book. The seventh book will, of course, 
be a real page turner, since it is an odd numbered volume. An 
extension of this theory hypothesizes that the seventh book will be 
the best one. We felt that the third book was a lot better than the 
first, so we theorize that the fifth one will be better than the 
third and then the seventh one will top the fifth.

Only time will tell. I would prefer that this theory be wrong in that 
ALL of the remaining books will be real whoppers. But I figure since 
I don't have any strong, unyielding, impassioned theories about where 
the series is going, and my shipping preference is best described 
thusly:

There are red ships and blue ships
The ships that sail the sea,
But the best ship is FRIENDship
And may it always be.
(An Irish Toast)

...I'll probably be intrigued regardless of what happens, who dies, 
who is related to who, and/or what deep, dark secrets may or may not 
be revealed. Personally, I think that if people don't put all their 
eggs in one basket, so to speak, they will enjoy OoP a lot. If their 
sole enjoyment of the series is based on the possibility of, say, 
Snape eventually hooking up with Harry...well...um...don't burn your 
copy! I'll buy it off you! :)

Zoomphy, who looks forward to seeing how much OoP will affect the 
various shipping websites out there. And who just realized that 
actually she WILL be a little disappointed if Harry never cries.

"I have suffered from being misunderstood, but I would have suffered 
a hell of a lot more if I had been understood."
--Clarence Darrow, lawyer and author (1857-1938)

**re-lurks**