Hmmm. What's your favorite *now*?

[montavilla47]

No: HPFGUIDX 182970

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "cubfanbudwoman" <susiequsie23 at ...> wrote:
>
> Well, poor Mike thinks he may have killed the list with his last 
> post.  There's been a stunned silence around here for 24 hours now, 
> anyway. ;)
> 
> So I thought I'd break that silence to ask a very mundane sort of 
> question of all y'all.
> 
> That question is:  Now that we're almost a year out from the release 
> of DH and the completion of the series, which of the books has become 
> your favorite?

Montavilla47:
My favorate is still the same as it was before DH came out:  
Prisoner of Azkaban.  It had the best plot twist in the series, with
the clues all nicely planted in all of the first three books.  It had a 
happier ending than either of the first two books (since now
Harry had an adult who truly loved him, plus Remus), with a 
little bit of darker set-up for the next book.  

And, it didn't leave any loose ends that weren't tied up 
later.  


> Then, if you're game, how 'bout these:
> *Which is/has become your least favorite book of the series?  Again, 
> can you express why?

Montavilla47:
Right now, DH is my least favorite.  There were a lot of loose
strings that needed to be tied up in that book, and many were
left hanging.  There were several character developments that 
made me unhappy, the most obvious of which was what happened
with Remus.  

I found the camping section tedious and frustrating, not just 
because I suspected I could a better job of hiding out, but no 
one besides Hermione even seemed to be trying to think through 
the situation.

To digress a little, I just read through Prince Caspian again--for 
obvious reasons--and the kids there are  younger, arrive in the 
wilds with nothing but their bookbags and a flashlight, and are 
able to forage and fish and camp with very little problem.  Oh,
and they can't do magic.


> *Is there a character you find yourself especially fond of now that 
> it's all over?  Any pourquoi to add?

Montavilla47:
I'm wild about Neville now, but I always liked him.  

Other than Neville, I can't think of a single character that liked 
better after DH, including Aberforth--although I don't dislike 
him.


> *Which character would you just love to follow from here on out if 
> you could?  Por que?

Montavilla47:
Hmm.  Parvati, maybe.  Or Draco, I guess.  I'd like to know what 
happened to his family and whether he, Narcissa, or Lucius had
to serve time in Azkaban.



> *Are there chapters or scenes (or whole books) that you skip when you 
> (if you) re-read?  Warum?

Montavilla47:
I haven't re-read DH again.  The one chapter I've never been able to 
re-read is Hagrid's Tale from OotP.  It's just too dull.



> *Are there chapters or scenes (or whole books) that you find yourself 
> turning to again and again?  Perche?

Montavilla47:
Heh.  Anything with Snape in it.  But my favorite Snape chapters are the
ones with the Occlumency lessons.


> *Are you surprised at any of your responses?  IOW, is there anything 
> about how you feel about the series now that you never expected you'd 
> feel?

Montavilla47:
I was surprised to realize that I didn't like any of the characters *better*
after DH.  I often like supporting characters better than the heroes,
because they usually don't make a fuss, but still contribute.  (For 
example, my absolute favorite bunny in Watership Down is Blackberry--
not Hazel or Fiver.)  A perfect example of that happening is Neville
coming through at the end.  It was awesome, and completely
in character for him.

But was so odd in DH was that the other supporting characters 
hardly contributed at all to the story.  They just sort of showed up 
(those that did, anyway).  

For example, Viktor Krum shows up merely to drop a bit of 
information--but nothing is made of either his mad flying 
skills, his mad magical skills (guy was a champion), or that
he had a relationship with Hermione for two years.

Likewise, we know that Charlie knows Dragons, but all he
does is get a haircut.  Bill is a cursebreaking expert with 
close ties to the goblins, but all he does is wash dishes
and deliver a warning that is totally disregarded.

I really expected that to be different.