first thoughts

[Julie]

No: HPFGUIDX 71266

Hi everyone, 

After spending three hours a day going through the digests, for the past
four days, I'm finally getting together the courage to post something. Let
me do so quickly before I give up! 

First I'd like to say the group is everything I expected and more. It's a
place where you can think and talk about Potter's world without anyone
saying something like "It's so silly! A kid with glasses doing tricks with
his wand - I could write that and make millions!" ( quote by a classmate in
my Law class). 

Then some tidbits about what I've read here so far. I loved OoP ; that goes
for many reasons, but probably the strongest one is that it was the first
book I read "freshly"; it was the only one I had to wait anxiously for it to
come, and then it came, and now I know things my friends do not ( since
Brazilian edition isn't due to publishing before November). 

Which brings me to something else - the "why I like Harry Potter " issue. I
suppose I can add a cent or two here because Ive once belonged to "the other
side". Until the end of 2001 I hated Harry Potter and everything to do with
it. I loathed anyone who was more than 10 and said it was interesting.
Moreover, being a Tolkien fan, I absolutely hated it when anyone would
compare JKR to him. And why??? Because I didn't take the time to read the
books.And suddenly there they were, handy, just waiting for me to take a
look. I decided to do so, and even though I wasn't particularly moved by the
two first ones, things began to change from PoA on. And by the time I
reached GoF I couldn't put it down, which would upset even my HP'ers friends
because I took it on holiday! That was february 2002 and since then I've
longed for OoP enough to buy it in English and still read it within five
days. 

Point being, I don't know anyone who has been through all 4 ( or 5 for that
matter) HP books and sustained that "sillly" idea in their heads. Au
contraire, they can't wait to read more. So, whenever someone says it's dumb
simple or childish (mostly driven by the movies), I just say, "go read the
books and come to me again". Which is pretty much what I've done to anyone
who would go to LOTR and say "Stupid! A kid with a ring!" or "Where's the
end of it?" 

Speaking of LOTR, here's a thought that crossed my mind last night as I
re-read some OoP chapters: 

I was having a hard time understanding why people ( around here, sorry for
not keeping the names) wanted to add Peter Pettigrew to the prophecy
scenario. [Probably because I only read PoA once and didn't have a lot of
time to think about him because I jumped to GoF right away]. But then again,
they might as well be right, considering DD's statement "the time may come
when you will be very glad you saved Pettigrew's life." 

Now, when have we seen a long-bearded, powerful and wise wizard, telling a
young hero something alike? That his pity of a traitor, life-changed
creature would one day be rewarded? I just couldn't help remembering Gollum
on this one. 

So maybe, Pettigrew will indeed make a difference in those last moments, now
how that's gonna happen is way beyond my capacities and I leave it to you -
right now, I feel like you are all Hermiones while I still have to catch up
with "Hogwarts: a History" 

Cheers, 

Julie 

who does like the "empire strikes back" feeling to OoP 

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