College Students! discussion

Let's talk about Harry Potter! :)

Yay! Wow I can't believe we haven't started a thread about this!! Haha. So all I have to say right now is that I really, really need to re-read the books. I hardly remember anything...well not anything...but the smaller details. Haha.

Greatest series ever written. I just wish hollywood would stay true to the books. The 5th movie was somewhat disappointing.

I have read/re-read the books at least half a dozen times. Each time I read something I couldn't remember having been there the first 5+ times. I know it isn't possible for it to not have been, but wow! S

o much is included in the books, it would be awesome if the movies stayed true, but the movies would be 12 hours long, but Hey I am all for that.

Just watched The Half Blood Prince again in Imax this time. I still almost wet myself when Ron was in love with Romilda. :) Too Funny!

I would have preferred the movies to be infinitely long as well. I also would have preferred a better director, as well as movies aimed at an older audience. I know they are kids books, but I kind of don't care lol. Peter Jackson or someone else could have made the movies epic.

I sadly never got around to watching the Half Blood Prince and it is now gone from theaters around here. How was it??
I agree with Ashley, the 5th movie was so different and disappointing.

***Spoilers*** I saw the 6th movie last night and I can't remember who RAB is. I could flip through Deathly Hollows to find out, but I'd get sucked into reading it. So, who is RAB? I'm thinking that either we didn't find out in book 7 or it wasn't someone whose importance leaped out at me. And don't forget to put the spoilers warning before your answer.

***Spoilers***RAB is Regalus Black, Sirius' brother who joined the Death Eaters, and then later tried to destroy the locket horcrux.

I have a really nerdy question, but this has been bugging me forever.

So, I have the entire series in the hardcover books. I also have books 1-4 in the paperback versions that look exactly like the most common hardback editions. However, with the last three books, I cannot find copies of these that match exactly, because I can only find ones that are solid color on the back with text. The first four I own look like the hardcover on the back as well as the front (in other words, they have the illustration that wraps around instead of just solid color).

Did they stop making them in paperback with the illustration on the back halfway through the series? If so, I am angry with Scholastic lol. Because I am a little weird/OCD about my books sometimes, and when I have a set (particularly in this case, because HP is my favorite), I would like the books to match properly.

Thanks for answering my question Jessi.

I have no idea. The only paperback I had was book 1. I hope you find your answer. When I do a series, I hate when the books don't match too. You're soooo not alone on that one.

I'm like that too. If I have a series I want the covers to match. I hate having a couple that are paper back and the rest and are hardcover.


There is nothing wrong with being a little OCD. I think everyone is OCD about something. For me its organization. If I walk into a room the first thing I critize about is how well it's organized.

Well I certainly hope there is nothing wrong with having a touch of OCD, because if there is, I'm out of luck. lol. I'm really picky about my books. Especially Harry Potter because it’s my favorite series. They have to match.

I don't know about your set though, Jessi. I bought all of mine in HB from the very first.

I wish that the movies had been closer to the books, but I think they are getting better. Nothing ticks me off more than to think of what they did to the 3rd movie. ***3rd book spoilers*** I hate that they took out who wrote the Marauders Map! That had to be the stupidest thing they've done. That and how they changed the end of the first movie, they left sooo much out!

Kimberly, I'm with you on that bit about the map. I think it would have explained so much to leave it in.



My mom is addicted to the movies and she has a thing for Ron saying "bloody hell." Whenever we watch a movie, we always look for the first bloody hell and call attention to it.

Isn't it strange what stands out in the movies? I think it was great in the new one how the boys filled in "went to the library" for Hermoine. :) That was in all the books, and they made a big point of showing it in this last movie.

Tami, yes I love that! This last movie they were great about establishing the friendships, much more so than they had in the last movies.

Have any of you been reading along in some other book and have a name of either a character or place or object pop up from Harry Potter and thought, hmmmm, wonder if that is where JK Rowling got the idea?

I can't remember what I was reading but a little while back Hermoine was a character in the book, then a little further back, there was something odd, like Horcrux or something that really shocked me. I wish I remembered what books now. :)

Tami wrote: "I can't remember what I was reading but a little while back Hermoine was a character in the book, then a little further back..."

Hermione was a Greek goddess, I believe, so they probably took it from that, and not Rowling :)

yes, I know, and the other think was Mandrake root. It was actually used back in the day for some type of tonic/medicine. I doubt they screeched when you picked them though. :)

Check this out! I want to go!

http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-2...

Bloody hell! This is awesome! I just called my mom and told her that we have to go next summer.

I love the OCD comments. That's why I bought the British editions (it helps that I lived in Canada for books 1-3 and visit to buy books 4-7). I prefer Bloomsbury/Raincoast's binding and the fun artwork. I had a scholastic hardcover for book four and I left a pencil in the book for a bookmark over night (stupid, I know) and the entire binding broke at that page.

The epitome of nerd - I have the Latin edition of book one and have been using that to teach myself Latin. :P

Oh, and Susan Cooper of The Dark is Rising Sequence fame wrote several books on Boggarts.

David wrote: "I love the OCD comments. That's why I bought the British editions (it helps that I lived in Canada for books 1-3 and visit to buy books 4-7). I prefer Bloomsbury/Raincoast's binding and the fun a..."

Haha, David that sounds like something I would do. Like watching my favorite movies in another language to try and learn it.

David wrote: "The epitome of nerd - I have the Latin edition of book one and have been using that to teach myself Latin. :P "

I have the first book in Spanish, and it helps that I have already taken some Spanish, but I can basically read the whole thing. This is not because I remember very much of the language, but because I know the book so well I can remember a lot of it verbatim.

Also, Latin is HARD. I tried taking it my freshman year of college and then I said eff that (my professor wasn't very helpful, either, though).

David and Jessi, I think that is such a great idea to have a copy of Harry Potter in a foreign language. I am such a HP freak and I am surprised I haven't thought of this myself! Latin seems like it would be interesting to learn, but I'd probably buy the book in French, since that is what I have studied.

Oh and by the way, has anyone else seen the new trailer and the new poster that WB released for the last two movies?? Amazing!

I had the same urge Danielle!! I think I'm going to reread them for the umpteenth time before the movie is released! I reread HBP a few weeks ago and wanted to just continue with DH, but I had to make myself stop so I could finish other books that I am currently reading.

I want to reread the series but I don't have the Chamber of Secrets. I can get it for like $10 but I don't know if it's worth it. I can get a brand new book hardcover for like $18.

Thanks!!! Hopefully they'll accept my request so I can complete my harry potter collection :D.

Okay, for realz, this thread just reminded me why I've been itching to re-read this series.

I hear ya. Once I get the second book, I'll probably re-read the series.

You all should read Harry, A History: The True Story of a Boy Wizard, His Fans, and Life Inside the Harry Potter Phenomenon. It made me fall in love with the series all over again. I usually don't really care for non-fiction, but this one was excellent. I was pulled into the book from the first page.

Jess, I know what you mean! I think I may have to reread the series this fall before the next movie comes out. I definitely need to reread book 7 because I realized how much I had forgotten about it when when I got into a conversation about book 7 with my boss.

Kimberly, I loved reading Harry, A History! It brought back all the memories of how I came to love the series and how the fandom grew over the years.

I just love how I grew up with these books. I read SS when I was 10 and Harry was 11 while I read DH when I was 17 and Harry was 17. I love that I matured and aged just as the books did, the characters did and the writing did.

I always reread the books before a new one would come out so I think I'll reread them again before the movie. Or at least reread DH.

Has anyone been to the HP park at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure?

I'm going for my birthday in October! I live in Orlando so the hype is pretty big here. I drove by Universal the other day and could see Hogwarts....it looks amazing! Friends of mine have gone, and since it's still new, the lines are extremely long...2-3 hour wait just for a butterbeer, 6 hours to even get into the HP section. Sheesh.

I want to go so bad!!!!! I tried to convince my parents it would be the perfect 21st birthday present, but it didn't work, lol. It'll be nice to go when it's not so new and crowded.

Eden- I grew up reading the books too! I love that. I think it's kinda fun that there's this generation of us that grew up with the books.

I actually went to the theme park opening week! It was pretty amazing! And yes, I agree with Eden also. There is this whole generation of us who grew up with this series.

Lucky!!

I was ten when Sorcerer's Stone came out, and I got it for Christmas. Looking back now, I think it is AWESOME that I was a part of the HP phenomenon from the beginning. And now, it kinda seems like people are missing out on SO MUCH, b/c they can just read the series right through. What's up with that? One of the most awesome things about HP was the community. I remember being glued to the computer screen for hours and hours, reading up on the latest theories about the next book. And trying to determine what the name of the next book would be... Anybody remember HP and the Green Flame Torch, lol? That wait between HP3 and HP4 was INTENSE! And the fanfiction! I'm always ashamed to admit it, but I devoured that stuff. It was like the only way I could cope with the wait! And release parties!!! I loved standing (or sitting) in line all night before the book releases, waiting to get my copy right after midnight. The people you meet in those lines are INCREDIBLE! Seeing everyone dressed up and playing the part of the characters, the excitement in the air that can be cut with a knife, reading the book on the way home using a cell phone as a light (and then staying up until the next evening b/c you've waited SO LONG and just can't put it down)....

Yeah, for those of you who didn't read them as they were published, you missed out, BIGTIME.

I grew up with Harry Potter as well. It was the first series I got into. At first I didn't want to read it because I thought it was some cheap wizarding book. But I soon discovered that it was awesome and I fell in love. Ever since then I bought the new book as soon as it came out!! -I started reading them a year before the 2nd movie came out-.

I grew up with Harry Potter too!! I started reading them in 1999, so the first 3 were already out then (still had to wait for my parents to buy them for me). The waiting for the next one to come out was so amazing, frustrating, exciting and just a joy when it finally happened. I'm so glad some of you have also read the fanfiction, that's how I survived the waits too! At some point I even wrote some myself... I don't think anybody else I know in real life has even heard of fanfiction (sad, I know).
You guys get me all excited about rereading them. I own the first 4 in Dutch and I want them in English as well, cause I own the rest in English (couldn't wait for the translation to finally come out).
I didn't know there was a theme park! Now I really need to plan a trip to the US ;)

Haha, Daisy, none of my real life friends know about fanfiction, either. Well, I did try to introduce it to a friend of mine who was also pained by the waits, but he thought I was weird. Oh well. :)

Caitlin wrote: "Haha, Daisy, none of my real life friends know about fanfiction, either. Well, I did try to introduce it to a friend of mine who was also pained by the waits, but he thought I was weird. Of well. :)"

Also, it makes me feel better that some of those ff authors are NOW published authors, of their own original works. It kind of validates my claim that some of the ff was REALLY GOOD!

I've actually never read any fanfiction, but I personally think that Rowling could've ended the book better. This might seem kind of weird, but I had always hoped Harry would die in the end. It would've been a clean ending.

And someone asked about when the park opened. It opened on June 18th I believe. I was there on the 23rd.

I grew up with them too, though I only got into them when POA was out - that was when the obsession set in! These days I think I could answer just about any question on the books, I'm such a nerd. I did Latin at uni and could probably recite quite a bit of Philosopher's Stone!

I loved the fanfic too, and the online conspiracy theories! I remembered one where somebody claimed there was an ancient prince called someting resembling Ron Weasley who tried to turn his pet rat yellow, but the rat ran off, knocked a candle over and 'Ron' died in the fire ... I was waiting in each book for Ron to die in a fire!

Did anyone else used to read the Shoebox Project fanfics on Livejournal? They were all that kept me going between books :)

NOOO! How can you want Harry to die? I love that boy! That would have totally ruined the final book for me, I'm still scared to reread the sixth one because of Dumbledore dying.

Daisy wrote: "NOOO! How can you want Harry to die? I love that boy! That would have totally ruined the final book for me, I'm still scared to reread the sixth one because of Dumbledore dying."

Yeahh I know how you feel. I'm afraid of watching the movie cause of him dying, although I'm not a huge fan of the current Dumbledore actor. But I still need to watch the 6th movie :(.

I completely agree with you Daisy! I would have been heartbroken if he had died.

The first actor that played Dumbledore was best, but its a tricky role, I think the current actor does a pretty good job.

Kimberly wrote: "I completely agree with you Daisy! I would have been heartbroken if he had died.

The first actor that played Dumbledore was best, but its a tricky role, I think the current actor does a pretty g..."

Yeah. He's gotten better. I hated him at first cause of how he acted in the 3rd movie, but his speech at the end of the 4th one won me over haha. The battle scene in the 5th one was pretty awesome as well.

I liked the 'happily ever after' ending, just because he got to name his children James and Lily :) Poor Albus Severus though! What a name for a child!!

Yes, Amanda, it was still amazing! I love the series even though it didn't end the way I hoped.

Haha, and to Daisy and all you others: I know, I feel crazy even admiting that! I mean, I grew up with Harry and all of the other characters and they are seriously such a huge part of my life. But I think it would've been cool for Harry to die a hero's death, sacrificing himself so that the people he loved could've lived normal lives. I guess they got that anyways, but in a more "everyone lives happily ever after" way. Whatever, JKR is still my hero :)

And Kimberly, my friends and I have arguments about the actors who played Dumbledore all the time! I think the new guy has won me over but at first I was all about the original. Like my friend always argues, could you have imagined the orginal in all of those battle scenes? I really don't like the current actors portrayal in GoF, though. In my opinion, McGonagall was the best portrayed character in all of the movies.