The Hook that was PoA CH 1-4

[Mike]

No: HPFGUIDX 181453

I've added one more chapter. Although this isn't any retrospective 
looking from post-DH, these are the chapters that really hooked me on 
Harry Potter. When I say I like the way JKR transported me into her 
world, this is what comes to mind first. I just loved the scenery of 
the mind JKR set the table with in these chapters.

The Knight Bus and getting to meet Stan and Ernie, two regular ole 
work-a-day wizards (I think Stan qualifies <g>). Running an unusual 
by Muggle standards, but mundane to them, transport vehicle. I loved 
the interaction, getting to see the way your average wizard thinks. 
Most of all, the visual of the violent purple, tripple decker, 
sleeper bus was a feast for the mind. And poor old Mrs. Marsh, just 
couldn't take Ernie's driving after a night out on the town.

Then to the Leaky Cauldron. The coziness of the place seemed so 
inviting. Harry's room with the comfortable bed, oak furniture, fire 
in the fireplace, and talking mirror sounds so much like those 
country inns one might luck upon while on vacation. (Except for the 
mirror, of course <g>). I'm enjoying right along with Harry watching 
all the people while eating breakfast down in the pub proper. Another 
glimpse of the everyday goings on in the wizard world.

Finally, Diagon Alley. All those marvelous shops with what I imagined 
was a colorful cobblestone walking street. I can't imagine a more 
enjoyable way to do homework than sitting at a cafe table under an 
umbrella, eating ice cream, and occasionally getting help from the 
kindly old proprietor. (One look back - I do wish Florean Fortescue 
would have returned sometime in DH). The panorama of life playing out 
on a quaint canvas with a 14th century flavor. I longed for this 
picturesque quaintness even more when we saw how bleak Diagon Alley 
had become in HBP and worse in DH.

I know Harry started out on this little adventure scared for his 
future and got frightened by the Grim. But it was the glimpse of all 
these other wizarding places and things, not associated with the 
story-line and not of Ron and Hermione that I so enjoyed. It was 
backstory in the present, stopping to look at the scenery and smell 
the roses. I loved it. <bg>

Mike