Why OoP is my favorite in the series so far...

[Dave Hardenbrook]

No: HPFGUIDX 74249

I know some people weren't crazy about _OoP_. but I feel a great
warmth for it because it hit home for me in several ways... And not
just because I love Tonks and Luna so much. :)

The book struck a chord for me because of recent events in my
own life.  With the loss of my mom last November, I can really feel
Harry's pain at Sirius' death.  Espcially since my mom -- like Sirius --
deserved so much better from life than she got.

In contrast, Harry's date with Cho was like a "blast from the past",
as the last girl I dated before my mom got sick was also a girl who,
as it turned out, wanted someone with a shoulder to cry on and who
would act as her therapist, rather than someone to have an equal,
heathly relationship with. Thank heaven Harry and I both got
past *that*!

Returning to the present, Umbridge runs nicely parallel to the
tyrannical individual who became "High Inquisitor" of my
Toastmasters Club and who instigated a similar regime of malice.
We also needed a "Dumbledore's Army" of sorts to bring *him*
into check.

And while I still haven't had my first kiss, I have more reason to
hope than ever before... There are Hermiones, Ginnys, and Lunas all
around me now, and I've learned to exorcise the beautiful but immature
and unstable "Chos"... :)

And thanks to both Toastmasters and my UU church, I -- like Harry --
now know the joy of "seeing them all ranged there, on my side."

So, because of the way this book has touched me on a personal level, I
have to consider it my favorite!  (At least until Book 6 comes out!)

-- 
Dave (Who for a year beforehand was having dreams that the OoP
dustjacket would be dark blue)