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Tuesday 5 July 2011

(F7) Keeping the HARRY POTTER Love Alive


I was quite selfish with this feature. I FORCED poor Ava to comply and write me a Harry Potter post. Fortunately, she agreed before I pulled the Chinese torture implements. *phew*

You may have come across Ava’s name and links to her blog on here a couple of times. OKAY, a few times. But that’s only because I’m addicted to her writing. It’s so fresh and so… consistently good. I’m starting to believe this girl couldn’t get in a writing funk. I may have to prick and poke to determine if she’s a good candidate for my super-secret Writer’s Block Antidote Research program (W-BAR).

Until I figure that out, let me formally introduce my friend to you. Avalon Jaedra is a book nut, a movie junkie, and a word-mongering machine. She writes like she reads: fast and furious. I haven’t seen this writing (except for her blog posts) or her picture yet, but… Wait. Now that I think about it, her name sounds like a pseudonym to me.

Hmm, I wonder if she’s a mythical creature or a celebrity on retreat.

While I figure how to lure her to my secret lab and find out, you might as well read this feature post and then go keep an eye on that lair of hers. Then report back. 



6 Things that Made Harry Potter Special (to Me)
by Avalon Jaedra

When Violeta suggested I guest post about Harry Potter, I thought it was a great idea. What’s not to love? I’m a huge (and proud) Harry Potter nerd and the opportunity to guest post is just incredible so both of those COMBINED is like Butterbeer on a frigid winter’s day! (For you Muggles, that’s freaking delicious).

Not only that, but the timing was just PERFECT with the VERY LAST Harry Potter movie coming out in less than a month. (Anyone else about ready to die from excitement? I AM!)

So. Writing a post about Harry Potter should be easy, right? I thought so. Then I tried to write it.

Crap.

I could probably write an entire blog just about Harry Potter and the scope of J.K. Rowling’s influence and what made it successful and all that jazz. How the hell was I supposed to cover anything even remotely decent and interesting in ONE POST that could do the amazing world of Harry Potter justice?

Crap. I mean, WHERE DO I EVEN START?

So I came up with six things that made Harry Potter special to me (because five just wasn’t enough). Here we go:

  1. The depth of EVERY character. I don’t just mean Harry, Ron and Hermoine. I’m talking Gilderoy Lockhart, Filch, Professor Slughorn and yes, even Ron’s owl Pig. I can’t think of a single character that wasn’t interesting in some way. Everyone from Cornelius Fudge to Norbert the dragon had a fully-fleshed and intriguing personality. And that’s a rare thing.

  1. The wizarding world is EPIC. Don’t lie. If you’ve ever read the book or watched the movie, you wish you could find Diagon Alley and walk through that wall between platforms 9 and 10. And that’s not even talking about Hogwarts. Hogwarts is any castle you ever thought of ON STERIODS. I mean really, moving staircases, talking portraits, a gourmet banquet that just magically appears three times a day and SECRET ROOMS AND PASSAGEWAYS! Don’t even try to tell me you wouldn’t leap at the chance to go there FOR REALS.

  1. The humor. Who can forget the Marauder’s Map message to greasy-haired Snape? Or Ron’s first Howler? Or Filch’s tragic destiny as a Squib? Or any one of Fred and George’s ridiculously awesome antics? I could go on forever about my favorite funny Harry Potter moments (that could seriously be a blog post on its own). Rowling not only balanced the dark moments with the tension-relieving humor, but she made it so hysterical and memorable that I can look back on it years later and still laugh about it.

  1. Harry is a jerk. Not only is Harry a jerk, but he makes YOU feel like a jerk for agreeing with him when he’s being a jerk to his friends. No one’s perfect, not even the chosen one, which makes Harry an even more believable character. Besides, when our protagonists do everything right and don’t do anything stupid they aren’t half as interesting. And Harry is chock full of stupid decisions and rash conclusions.

  1. Awesome people die. Ok, that sounds really morbid but let me explain. I don’t like that five of my favorite characters did not survive the series. I was actually pretty torn up about quite a few deaths. I can count on one hand how many times I’ve come across a book that made me scream NO DON’T KILL HIM! Three of those are Harry Potter books. Why does this make it better, you ask? First of all, it’s more realistic. If no one died fighting Voldemort, he wouldn’t have been a very scary bad guy. Not only that, but the fact that I had the reaction I did upon their deaths meant I was emotionally attached. To five characters that weren’t our main trio. That goes back to point one that EVERY CHARACTER WAS AMAZING!

  1. I want more. According to the internet (Yahoo Answers, specifically), the entire series was 4,100 pages in the US (3,407 in the UK) and about 905,800 words. 905,800 words, soon to be eight movies, enough Harry Potter merchandise to fill a house, Harry Potter land in Universal studios, the mysterious Pottermore website and I don’t know about you guys but I WOULD BE SO TOTALLY EXCITED IF THERE WAS MORE. And that’s saying a lot considering just how much there out there.

This list could go on and on and on, but for the sake of not murdering you with Harry Potter’s awesomeness, I’ll stop there.

J.K. Rowling really created something memorable when she penned Harry Potter. It’ll be listed with the classics forever and will always hold a special place in our hearts, even if in the end, we’re all Muggles.

Those are my top six, but what made Harry Potter special FOR YOU?

13 comments:

Jennie Bennett said...

Violeta - thank you for making Ava do this!

Ava - you are so awesome and you have a way of pinpointing things that others just can't seem to describe. You keep on rocking it!

Alivia said...

Violeta and Ava, please keep on writing. I had to comment, not just because it's about Harry Potter (ultimate fanatic right here!) but because the points you said are true! Especially the part talking about Harry being a jerk. His flaws, the humanity, made me sit there and say, "He's this magical wizard dude, and yet he acts like any normal, hormonal guy chasing after a pretty girl named Cho. GO JK ROWLING!"

Angela Wallace said...

Great post. :-) I was upset by a few of those deaths myself. Bring on the final movie!

Lisa Gail Green said...

OMG I LOVE this post!! I did my own HP guest post today, but I have to say I think this one tops it. I felt like jumping up and down and saying "Yeah!!" to so many of these. Okay, maybe all of them. :D

Allison said...

This is a really awesome post! When people ask me my favorite thing about the series, I learned how to sum up my thoughts in one word (instead of making them listen to me for like six hours).

I just say "bezoars."

I think that is such a great representation of how amazing the series is. Harry learns what a bezoar is when Snape humiliates him on the first day of Potions, and then years later in Half-Blood Prince Harry remembers what a bezoar is and uses it to save Ron's life. Excellent example of the complexity of the series, and the knowledge JK Rowling had of her world.

Kiki Hamilton said...

"905,800 words and I want more" - yep. I'm right there with you! Great post!

Gabe (Ava Jae) said...

Wow! I'm so humbled by all these responses. Thanks everyone!

I don't think I need prove my love for Harry Potter any further, and I'm definitely glad I had the opportunity to guest post here.

Also, Violeta is awesome. Just saying. :D

Thanks for all the awesome comments and Twitter love!

S.P. Sipal said...

Ava, this is a fabulous post. You've captured the energy and enthusiasm of what's so great about the fans as well as the story! :-)

I'm so glad to have discovered your post as well as Violeta's blog today. I especially loved this sentence! --
"I could probably write an entire blog just about Harry Potter and the scope of J.K. Rowling’s influence and what made it successful and all that jazz."

That's just what I've done. As Lisa commented, she did a fab post for my Harry Potter for Writers blog today. I wonder if you'd be interested in guest posting there someday? :-)

Gabe (Ava Jae) said...

I'd love to do more guest posting! This is my first one, but it was fun and I'd definitely do it again. ^_^

Angela Scott said...

There's a lot to be learned from reading Harry Potter. Love it.

Unknown said...

Just wanted to pop in and tell you guys how excited I am that there are so many die-hard Potter fans out there, still! *hugs* And thanks again, Ava, for sharing this awesome article with us!

Anonymous said...

I confess that Harry Potter isn't on my top five favorite books. But I love his story all the same. I can't see it becoming a classic, though. The Lord of the Rings is going to outlast it, and if you want to call me out, I would love to argue with you.

Unknown said...

Yes, I will have to challenge you to a wizarding duel! (I love debates.)

I suppose LotR and HP never got along so well, at least for me. *sigh* Both classics nevertheless, me thinks, ;)