Harry Potter Moment of the Week (#5)

Harry Potter moment of the week is a meme started by Uncorked Thoughts. The aim of this meme is to share with fellow bloggers a character, spell, chapter, object, quote etc. from the books/films/J. K. Rowling herself or anything Potter related.

This week's topic is...well, there isn't one. It's a free week, so I can pick absolutely anything I like.

What to pick, what to pick...Quidditch.

I flipping love Quidditch. From Harry's first lesson with Oliver Wood, to the Quidditch World Cup, to Ron winning the cup, every moment of Quidditch in the books is wonderful.

I particularly love the Quidditch World Cup in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Not only is it a great insight into the social lives of magical folk, it's also a wonderful way to bring many, many characters together, properly introduce us to Cedric Diggory (we didn't see much of him in Prisoner of Azkaban), it's a riot of colour and sound, and it shows us how magic does, or doesn't, fit into the Muggle world. It's also full of some really funny bits (the Leprechauns and the Veelas), and some great description that is very amusing.

They trudged up the misty field between long rows of tents. Most looked almost ordinary; their owners had clearly tried to make them as Muggle-like as possible, but had slipped up by adding chimneys, or bell-pulls, or weather-vanes. However, here and there was a tent so obviously magical that Harry could hardly be surprised that Mr Roberts was getting suspicious. Halfway up the field stood an extravagant confection of striped silk like a miniature palace, with several live peacocks tethered at the entrance. A little further on they passed a tent that had three floors and several turrets; and a short way beyond that was a tent which had a front garden attached, complete with birdbath, sundial and fountain.

And, of course, the Quidditch World Cup also introduces us to the Death Eaters and really starts the rollercoaster journey that won't finish until the end of the series.

Rowling takes the best elements of a lot of sports, and then adds in brooms and lots of outrageous rules, and creates a game that most of us would love to play.

In fact, there is an International Quidditch Association (IQA), which actually exists and where you can play a version of Quidditch in real life. Amazing. I wish my university had had a Quidditch team, maybe I'd have been interested in sport then.

Harry Potter Moment of the Week (#4)

Harry Potter moment of the week is a meme started by Uncorked Thoughts. The aim of this meme is to share with fellow bloggers a character, spell, chapter, object, quote etc. from the books/films/J. K. Rowling herself or anything Potter related.

This week's topic is...favourite film in the Harry Potter series.

This is a tough one, and not for the reasons you think. It's because I haven't seen all of the films yet. I'm in the process of a Great Harry Potter Rewatch, but it's taken me months and months and months, and so far I've only watched five of the six films I've seen before - I still haven't seen The Deathly Hallows.

Mainly, it's because I love the books so much, and I generally feel that the films haven't lived up to the world that was created by Rowling in my mind. However, when I think of them related but mostly apart from the books, I actually quite like some of the films.

Therefore, my pick is (and this could change after I eventually watch The Deathly Hallows)...Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

For me, Goblet of Fire is when the films reached a real turning point, although popular opinion has it that Prisoner of Azkaban is when they turned dark. I disagree, Prisoner of Azkaban was forcibly dark, Goblet of Fire was dark because of what happened in it, and the way it was handled.

Goblet of Fire is the first time we see Voldemort in the flesh, it's the first time an innocent gets killed in front of us in present time.

The film is wonderfully acted, both the new additions such as Ralph Fiennes and David Tennant, and the regular cast, who I felt the cast came into their own in Goblet of Fire. It's full of bleak moments, but also funny ones, and the balance is just right.

What's your favourite Harry Potter film?

Harry Potter Moment of the Week (#3)

Harry Potter moment of the week is a meme started by Uncorked Thoughts. The aim of this meme is to share with fellow bloggers a character, spell, chapter, object, quote etc. from the books/films/J. K. Rowling herself or anything Potter related. 

This week's topic is...favourite moment in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

Although there are many great moments in the first Harry Potter book - Harry's first Quiddith match, meeting the Weasley family, the troll fight - this is quite an easy topic for me.

I still get a thrill when Harry first goes to Diagon Alley. Although he's been hanging out with Hagrid for a few hours, it's in Diagon Alley that Harry first truly experiences the new world he is about to become part of - the good (cool stuff, Hedwig), the bad (Draco Malfoy), and the ugly (finding out the wand he possesses is the brother to the one that gave him his scar).

As the bricks behind the Leaky Cauldron move to form a gateway and the world of wizards and witches is unveiled to Harry, it's also unveiled to us, the readers.

There's something breathtaking, even on my whatever-number-I'm-on reread, about clapping eyes on Diagon Alley for the first time.

The brick he had touched quivered - it wriggled - in the middle, a small hole appeared - it grew wider and wider - a second later they were facing an archway large enough even for Hagrid, an archway on to a cobbled street which twisted and turned out of sight.

"Welcome," said Hagrid, "to Diagon Alley."

 He grinned at Harry's amazement.

Amazement is definitely the right word.

Harry Potter Moment of the Week (#2)

Harry Potter moment of the week is a meme started by Uncorked Thoughts. The aim of this meme is to share with fellow bloggers a character, spell, chapter, object, quote etc. from the books/films/J. K. Rowling herself or anything Potter related. 

I'm a little late this week, but better late than never, right? This week's the topic is...favourite newspaper in the series.

Okay, I'm going to say The Daily Prophet. Yes, I know, it treated Harry pretty badly, not to mention Sirius and Dumbledore, but that was rogue reporters and editors, and not the newspaper as a whole.

I'm probably taking this week's meme a little seriously, but I'm a journalist, and my industry has been going through some tough times over the last few years. I know that papers are rarely bad, it's the people who work for them that can make them bad, and luckily they are in a small minority.

I think The Daily Prophet was a bad paper for a while, but that was down to Rita Skeeter and then the Ministry feeding the paper propoganda. I like to believe that once the paper sorted itself out, it went on to become a proper investigative, trustworthy source of news.

Harry Potter Moment of the Week (#1)

Harry Potter moment of the week is a meme started by Uncorked Thoughts. The aim of this meme is to share with fellow bloggers a character, spell, chapter, object, quote etc. from the books/films/J. K. Rowling herself or anything Potter related.

I've decided to take part in this meme because I'm a huge Harry Potter fan, and what other reason is needed but that? This week's the topic is...favourite house.

Gryffindor image from here.

I'm a bit of a traditionalist, and am going to say Gryffindor. If I was a character in Harry Potter, it would be Hermione - slightly nerdy, head always in a book, distinctly uncool, loyal to friends (I'm nowhere near as clever as Hermione though). So Gryffindor it is.

Gryffindor's colours are red and gold, and its mascot is a lion, which works for me since I was fascinated by big cats when I was younger!

Some of my favourite Gryffindor characters:

•The whole Weasley family - who doesn't love the Weasleys?
•Oliver Wood - great sportsman. Mostly, though, I love the accent of the guy who plays him in the film.
•Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet - three women who more than held their own on the Quidditch team.

What is your favourite Harry Potter house?