***Scroll down for updates***

I was already a Harry Potter fan when I discovered John Granger a couple of years ago. I can't remember how I found his (old) site, but I remember devouring his work. I was still a closeted Potter fan at the time, so it was refreshing to see a fellow Christian so open about his appreciation for the books.

I quoted Granger in my weekly Townhall.com column (with SPOILERS), where I reviewed Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and briefly discussed Christian themes and symbolism. I'll elaborate on these and other themes in future posts.

Also see "Christian themes abound in Potter," by religion reporter Jeffrey Weiss. He begins:

J.K. Rowling gets the last laugh on the dwindling number of conservative Christians who have attacked her "Harry Potter" saga over the past decade: The most important plot point of the seventh and final book is unambiguously Christian.

Ms. Rowling cleverly scattered so many red herrings amongst the loaves and fishes in the previous books that she made it difficult to see the trail clearly except in retrospect. The Potter story is not a linear Christian allegory, no modern day Pilgrim's Progress. And Harry's World is insistently devoid of explicit religion, right through the final chapter.

It definitely helps to know what "unambiguously Christian" means. As Weiss writes, concepts like loyalty, love, friendship, etc., are common among the world's various religions, but what makes something "Christian"?

Continue reading Deathly Hallows 'unambiguously Christian'

SPOILERS BELOW!

I’ve jotted down a few notes from chapters 14-25, which I’ll refer to as I prepare subsequent posts. "First Third" was posted last week, and "Last Third" and posts on Christian themes will follow. Read my first impressions of the book.

The first part of this series, "First Third," ended with a shout-out to Nazi Germany. Harry, Ron, and Hermione learned that the Ministry of Magic was persecuting Muggle-borns and accusing them of stealing magic from “legitimate” witches and wizards. In Chapter Thirteen, the trio went into the Ministry undercover and retrieved Slytherin’s locket, one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes, from power hungry "Nazi" Dolores Umbridge.

Chapters 14-19: On the Run

The second third part of the book begins at Chapter Fourteen with the enigmatic title, “The Thief.”

This chapter marks the beginning of the trio’s on-the-run forest camp-out in a magic tent (same one used at the World Quidditch Cup in Goblet of Fire), aided by Hermione’s enchanted beaded handbag, which holds the tent, clothing, supplies, and various objects of importance. The small handbag, which is small enough for Hermione to stuff in her sock, is a clever and convenient invention. Bravo, JKR.

For reasons that can only be explained as a plot device to set up the drawn-out bickering between Harry, Ron, and Hermione, they decide to take turns wearing the Horcrux locket around their necks, presumably to keep in safe. Why doesn’t Harry just carry it in his magical pouch ( seen around Harry's neck on the US cover), which no one but the owner can get into? That’s rhetorical.

Harry dreams that Voldemort has found Gregorovitch, a Bulgarian wandmaker. Harry enters Voldemort’s thoughts as he performs Legillimancy on Gregorivitch and sees a laughing blond man stealing something from the wandmaker. Later in the book, the stolen object and the thief are revealed.

Tension mounts between the trio over the next two chapters, culminating in a falling out between Harry and Ron, with Hermione caught in the middle. The irritable moods, caused by too little food and no plan to find the Horcruxes, are exacerbated by the locket's dark residue, so to speak. At one point, they overhear voices outside the tent. Two goblins, schoolmate Dean Thomas, Ted Tonks, and another wizard are on the run from Death Eaters. They set up camp near the trio’s tent (with food!), which they can’t see because it’s protected by Hermione's spells.

A fake Sword of Gryffindor, they overhear, is locked away at Gringott’s bank in Bellatrix's vault, but the Death Eaters don't know it's fake. Snape (who knew it was fake) sent it to Gringott's for safekeeping after Hogwart's Ginny Weasley and others tried to steal it for Harry after Scrimgeour refuses to give it to him, although Dumbledore left it to Harry.

Back in Chapter Twelve, Hermione took Phineas Nigellus's portrait from Grimmauld Place so he couldn't go to his portait in Snape's office and rat out the trio. After overhearing the bit about the attempted theft, Hermione removes the portrait from her pouch to find out if Phineas witnessed the attempted theft. He did.

Continue reading Deathly Hallows: Second Third

SPOILERS BELOW!

I’ve jotted down a few notes from chapters 1-13, which I’ll refer to when I review Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for my next column and prepare subsequent posts. “Second Third," “Last Third,” and posts on Christian themes will follow. Read my first impressions of the book.

The first third of the book, which encompasses Chapters One through Thirteen, was the best. I thought the book opened beautifully. It set the tone for the rest of the story and answered burning questions from Book 6.

Chapters 1-6: Let the Games Begin

In the first chapter, we found out where Severus Snape and Draco Malfoy were hiding: At Malfoy Manor with Voldemort and the rest of the Death Eaters. At that point, we still didn't know Snape’s true loyalties. (Hint: He's good!) Nervous Death Eaters are sitting around a table, scared out of their wits that Voldemort will kill them Darth Vader-style, while Voldemort plots to take down the Ministry of Magic and capture/kill Harry Potter en route to his safe house.

Unfortunately, Snape’s lines are minimal. After he tells the Dark Lord when Harry will be moved and Yaxley shares “new” plans about Harry’s movements, Snape smiles. This scene is ambiguous; we’re not sure what’s going on. Both sides of the Great Snape Debate have equally plausible arguments to support their theories.

In Chapter Two, we learn more about Albus Dumbledore’s life through an untrustworthy source: bloodsucking Daily Prophet reporter Rita Skeeter. There may be some truth in her accusations against Dumbledore, but we know what a talented yellow journalist she is. One thing we know for certain at this point: Dumbledore was a fallen human being. What a revelation!

Continue reading Deathly Hallows: First Third

SPOILERS BELOW!

I can't believe it's over!

So much has already been said and written about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. What more could I possibly add?

Loads!

I ordered a deluxe copy of the book, which was scheduled to be delivered to my D.C. address July 21. But there was one problem: I was in California on July 21 and would spend most of the day flying back to D.C. I had two choices: wait until I got home Saturday night to begin reading or pick up a copy at LAX.

I ended up buying a second copy of the book not only because I was anxious to read it, I was worried being spoiled in the airport and on the plane.

The night before my flight, I had visions of exceedingly long lines at airport bookstores. However, there was nothing to worry about. I stopped at the first bookstore I saw in the terminal, and the line was short. And I was the only one in line buying Deathly Hallows. I read half of it on the plane, a few more chapters when I got home, and the rest Sunday afternoon.

This will be the first of several posts about Book 7, all of which will be filled with spoilers. If you plan to read the book or haven’t finished reading the book, don’t read any further unless you want to be spoiled.

To read my very brief first impressions of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, keep scrolling.

Continue reading Deathly Hallows: First Impressions

I'm going on Harry Potter news lockdown. No more news stories, not even non-spoiler stories and trusted blogs. Nada. From now until after July 21, I'm avoiding all news remotely related to HP.

I shall return next week with a review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and links to other blogger reviews. I'll also re-open commenting at that time. Happy reading!

Well, it has happened.

One of our own, Travis Prinzi, has been spoiled.

Having blogged previously about a possible Deathly Hallows leak, he updates with this:

Whether or not it’s real, here’s my advice: Avoid any possibility of accidentally coming across a spoiler. I was searching around for evidence about the purported leak, and I came across a post that did not warn about spoilers. My eyes fell upon the names of some of the characters who die, according to this particular leak. It makes me really angry. I’m avoiding all Potter-related news from this point forward, except for the sites I know I can trust: Mugglenet, Leaky, HPANA, HogPro, and of course the blogs of commenters here.

When Half-Blood Prince was released two summers ago, I avoided HP-related sites like Black Death. As I've written before, I found out the big news of Book 6 while reading my book, not some web site. Take Travis's advice and be very careful, starting now. Unfortunately, he's closed commenting on his blog until Deathly Hallows is released. Travis is right: it's too bad we have to spend the last week like this.

Travis says you can trust him not to spoil you, and the same goes for me. You can trust FFC to be spoiler-free.

FYI, comments will be moderated this week.

Travis Prinzi at Sword of Gryffindor as posted a "massive review" of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." Travis says the movie will "probably end up" as his favorite so far, but he has a few issues with some of the scenes. For example:

Sirius’s Death: While it’s supposed to catch us by surprise, Sirius’ falling through the veil comes out of nowhere. And since Bellatrix cast an AK at Sirius, the veil actually became rather irrelevant, except that Sirius fell through it after getting AK’d.
…
The Dumbledore-Voldemort duel: This was a killer for me. Almost all dialogue was stripped from this scene, and it was little more than a light show, which wasn’t really impressive in the first place. Once again Gambon’s poor portrayal of Dumbledore comes through. Dumbledore’s calmness in the atrium in the book makes the whole scene, as it is contrasted with Voldemort’s desparate attacks. We get no such dynamic in the massive display of power given us in the movie. The lack of Fawkes was the final straw for me, especially since it was perfectly set-up by Dumbledore’s Fawkes-escape from Fudge and Dawlish.
…
The Dumbledore Denouement: I think perhaps Yates realizes what an abysmal choice Gambon has turned out to be. The whole scene in Dumbledore’s office is almost non-existent. It doesn’t happen until a few days after the Ministry. Harry doesn’t smash anything, and only a few brief lines, taken almost directly from the book, comprise the scene. Harry actually hears the prophecy in the DoM, so there’s not much need to discuss that in Dumbledore’s office. While I’m almost glad that Yates cut this scene, because I knew Gambon would kill it, it’s too bad that has to be the case. And Radcliffe has become quite the actor, so it would have been nice to see him smashing things.

Such deviations from and interpretations of the books are why I said I wasn't going to see the movie. But I suppose they did what they could with a novel of over 800 pages.

So, is " Order of the Phoenix" as bad as I think it is or better than you expected? I'd love to read your reviews.

Update (7/13): I ranted about Cho ratting out the DA and how out of character it was, but a commenter says Umbridge gave her Veritaserum. And Cho was distraught when she found out what she'd revealed. That makes more sense, which is probably why JKR approved the change.