Back from Hogwarts

I finally made it back from a three year journey with Harry and his pals that only took me about a week. But like other rabid Harry Potter fans, nothing else gone done while I was "away:" not laundry or other house work and not much else either.

In anticipation of the movie release of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, I decided to watch the first four movies and then start re-reading number 5. Two big obstacles got in my way almost immediately. First, A.J. had his surgery and while I could get some reading done at the hospital, I found I was interrupted enough that it made reading hard. The second obstacle was harder to overcome. I didn't much care for Harry when he was 15. He was a little whiny and full of teenage angst. But book seven arrived on store shelves and I knew I had to get through five and six before I could read seven.

Starting last Tuesday, I made myself read 250 pages a day from book 5 so I could finally get it finished. And I probably would have skipped straight ahead to seven, after all I was growing increasingly worried that someone would let slip how seven ends before I got the chance to find out for myself. But I loaned seven to my neighbor to read and she kept telling me, as others had, that I really needed to read six first to refresh my memory of what Harry's mission was in seven.

So glad I didn't skip ahead because all I really remember (spoiler alert for six, if you haven't read it and want to better stop reading now) was that Dumbledore dies and that Harry told Ginny he couldn't see her anymore because he had a dangerous mission to accomplish. I had forgotten all about the horcruxes which are really essential to the whole plot of seven. And I vaguely remembered there was a prophecy, but not what it was.

I finished six on Friday but knew that I had to take a little break because of all the things that had fallen through the cracks while I was engulfed in the world of wizards and witches. After all, we had a Primary Activity on Saturday that I had to be ready for. But as soon as the activity was over, I was right back.

I won't tell you what happens, but I will have to say that I wasn't disappointed by the ending. Thank goodness. I am happy to know now what happens to Harry Potter. But I am also a little sad too because it is all over. No more suspense waiting to see what happens to the "Boy Who Lived." I am intrigued to see what JK Rowling might come up with next. I have never been one to read science fiction/fantasy books before, but the way she writes and the things she comes up with are just amazing to me.

So farewell to Hogwarts, and to Harry Potter and all his pals, at least for now. The fun will start again for us when A.J. is ready to start reading them. I've already told him he can't watch the movies until he can read the books. But that will be a few years.

And now, back to my life. Right now, I'm still trying to remember what I did all day when I wasn't visiting with Harry and his friends. Guess it won't take me too long to figure it out.