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.

So Much Stuff!

The amount of Harry Potter-related news and commentary is overwhelming. As we move closer to D-Day — July 21 — expect a lot more.

With “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” hitting theaters next week and Book 7 theories here, there, and everywhere, there’s plenty to satisfy even the most hardcore Harry fan and the most ardent Harry hater.

By the way, set your DVRs and TiVos for A&E's Harry Potter: The Hidden Secrets to see interviews with John Granger, Janet Batchler, and the Lexicon's Steve Vander Ark. The first airing is Sunday, July 8 at 10 p.m. EDT. And HP blogger and podcaster Travis Prinzi of Sword of Gryffindor will present papers at Prophecy 2007 in Toronto, Canada, on August 2-5.

Christian Symbolism

What’s been amazing to me throughout the Harry Potter hype is the way Christians have come out of the closet to openly discuss the series’ Christian themes. You’d have to be willfully obtuse to miss the Dumbledore-as-God, Harry-as-savior, and Voldemort-as-Satan symbolism. Or that Gryffindor House’s (Harry’s house) mascot is a Griffin, a mythical half-lion, half-eagle creature considered a symbol of Christ in medieval days. Slytherin, the house of Voldemort and Harry’s enemy Draco Malfoy, is symbolized by a snake, which symbolizes evil generally and Satan specifically.

And what about the place where Harry Potter’s parents lived and died, Godric’s Holllow, where Harry will return (or must return?) in Book 7, and Hogwarts co-founder’s name, Godric Gryffindor?

That's not even the tip of the iceberg. (See Harry Potter and the Charmed Christians Part I and Part II) The symbolism is deep and rich, and the series will keep fans and even haters busy for decades.

John Granger of HogwartsProfessor.com addressed the unicorn symbolism in Book 1. A Voldemort-possessed Professor Quirrell killed unicorns and drank their blood to sustain his master. Granger says that in medieval literature, the unicorn was a symbol of Christ. So is this the image of “Satan” Voldemort drinking the blood of “Christ” in communion?

More profound are overarching “Christian” themes that reverberate through every human alive, whether or not they’re Christ followers: salvation and redemption (to buy back or pay off). What’s been building across seven books is the culmination of sacrificial love, a love that conquers death. Harry will have to harness that power within himself if he’s to defeat Voldemort. We’ve gotten enough hints throughout the series that love will be Harry’s advantage over the Dark Lord, not expert spellcasting. How will that play out?

(Also see "Christian" Elements in Narnia)

Continue reading Harry Potter: Plenty of Stuff for Fans and Haters

"Order of the Phoenix" MOVIE SPOILER BELOW!

My poor fantasy fic blog. It never sees me!

If only this were my only blog. I'm convinced that if I didn't have to work for a living or keep up a political blog that I'm reluctant to give up because it garners interviews, press, invitations to cool events, and a few intangibles, and provides a well-linked forum for my "controversial" opinions, I'd be the premiere Christian fantasy fiction blogger on the whole wide web.

Nothing wrong with my ego, as you can see. But since I'm doing this on stolen time, I'll get to the point: I'm probably the only Harry Potter fan not going to see "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." Why? The cuts and story changes will be gut-wrenching. I can't take it.

I liked "Goblet of Fire," in a sense, because it was about Harry Potter. But it drove me crazy. Read my review. And that dragon chase scene. Don't get me started on that. All through the movie, I actually took notes (don't tell anybody) so I could remember what was left out, condensed, changed…Watching the DVD months later made me feel only marginally better about the movie.

I've explained why I love the first three movies. I saw them before I read the books. I was ignorant! The movies were delightful. I didn't know until I read the books how things were supposed to have happened in the movies. In this case, ignorance was truly bliss.

Continue reading The Only Person On Planet Not Going to See 'Order of the Phoenix'

Update (6/11): Laura Mallory (an ordained minister???) submitted an op-ed to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, dated June 10. For those who don't want to register to read it, here's an excerpt:

"The mass media today knows all too well that "sorcery sells," and the market is none other than … ? You guessed it — our children.

"Just take a look at the flood of occult books, movies, television shows, video games, and there's no denying it. Many children and teens today, fascinated with Harry Potter, are seeking Harry's power. What exactly is Harry's power? Where does it come from? Is it just "harmless fantasy" power or perhaps something more? Let's take a closer look at the effects of Harry Potter on this generation.
…
"But what about casting spells? Is it just fantasy? … The Association of Teachers & Lecturers, a teachers union in Great Britain, says, "This goes far beyond a case of reading a Harry Potter story. This represents an extremely worrying trend among young people."

Continue reading Laura Mallory, Foiled Again!

WATCH OUT FOR SPOILERS BELOW! Read at your own risk.

Are you bored at work? Are you late-night surfing, looking for something interesting? Kill a few minutes answering these three questions:

1) How/when did you become a Harry Potter fan?

— I'm going to cheat a bit and link to a book review I wrote. An excerpt:

When Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone premiered on ABC last year, I intended to watch an hour’s worth to see what the Harry Potter hype was all about. I ended up watching the entire movie, which I found completely charming. I hadn’t read any of the books at that point, but “the boy who lived” had captured my already-active imagination.

After that, I saw "Chamber of Secrets" and "Prisoner of Azkaban," and was totally taken with both. But the real magic didn't happen until I read the books. In early summer 2005, the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6) pre-release hype was driving me crazy.

Why is this so big? What am I missing?

Arriving at the conclusion that I had been missing something, I ordered Books 1-5, and started reading. I thought reading Books 1-3 would be tedious because I'd already seen the movies. Boy, was I wrong! In adapting the book to the screen, scenes had to be cut, condensed, combined — it was almost like discovering a new story.

Continue reading Three Questions