Harry Potter

[mercy]

So...I have the best time just talking Harry Potter with my mom. She's the only other real bookworm in my family and only other one that's read the series. And by talking it I could mean elaborating, finding meaning, but there's also simple fangirling. Like AH MY GOSH THIS MOMENT IS BEAUTIFUL.

And I dunno I talked with her today about it and I've realized that it is a great feeling to just talk Harry Potter with others. Scholarly, not scholarly, picking out passages, things you liked in the movie and things you liked in the book, all this...anything. Anything with Harry Potter. So I've made this thread. Because I think a great deal of us like it or like talking about it. And I think we'd enjoy it.

So I'm making this thread and...I don't know where to direct it. I'd like it to not just stay on one topic, but just glide through. So I don't know whether or not what to start it, what to prompt replies.

So I suppose I'll say I love the depth of love and loyalty and such between Harry and so many people. I mean, when McGonagall sees him and thinks he's dead she cries NO! and so does everyone else and it mattered to me because Harry....Harry wasn't just a figure of hope to these people, he was a friend, he was someone who made them proud, who gave them hope and who made them try to be the best there were, even though they're already astounding people.
And okay I can go on forever in the reverse, about the love and respect BETWEEN Harry and Dumbledore, the solace and motherhood of Mrs. Weasley - THE STRENGTH of her, oh my goodness Mrs. Weasley is a role model for me. About how Harry Potter knocked out a Death Eater because he spat in McGonagall's face. Which revealed that he was at Hogwarts.
I MEAN REALLY THAT'S JUST SO POWERFUL I CANNOT CONVEEEY.

I reread the final battle, starting from Mrs. Weasley charging in to battle Bellatrix to Harry Potter saying he's had enough trouble to last him a lifetime quite often.

....So...to start this...I'll propose a few subjects -
who is one of your role models out of the characters of this book?
what are some great parts of the relationships between people that you find yourself endlessly thinking of?
what's the passage you reread the most?

And obviously go as you wish with this thread in the name of Harry Potter, I'm just helping if any of you feel awkward and don't know where to start talking.

[tähti]

You know (at least I hope so) that I could talk about Harry Potter for hours. But I will just start with answering your questions.

In terms of role models. I just have this thing with McGonagall, and maybe it is because I want to teach...but I just think she has got to be the most caring, most wonderful teacher ever. Even moreso than Dumbledore. I can't even describe to you. But especially after reading the Pottermore stuff on her, ugh, ugh, this woman. I can't even talk properly about her. But just how she stands up for Tralawney in OOTP, everything she does in DH, just how she stands up for Harry against EVERYONE. For all her students. She has that kind of bravery, courage, that I hope to have one day.

And I'm going to go outside of the norm, I know a lot of people don't like him (which is just hilarious to me cause...well you'll see), is Harry Potter. He is a role model to me, for self sacrifice, for friendship, for leadership. Harry Potter is AMAZING. McGonagall may be my role model for teaching, but Harry Potter is my role model for life. I love Harry.

In terms of relationships, I am in love with the friendship between the trio, but specifically between Harry and Ron. That love, humor, and respect, that strange honesty. How they make it through all of Ron's jealousy, HOW HE IS ALWAYS THERE EVEN WHEN THEY ARE FIGHTING. He is always there for Harry, and vice versa. Just ugh. Ugh. Best literary friendship ever.

I love a lot of Harry's relationship with Dumbledore and McGonagall for the same reason as you, Mercy.
And even with Snape, I don't know how to describe that. But I almost love how hard he worked to save Harry because she is the son of his love more than the fact that he loved Lily, more than the fact that he was good. That he would go to such lengths, everything he did, HE DIED FOR HARRY. Just ugh. Like, he died for Lily, but he also, in the end, I think he died for Harry. I think he understood where Dumbledore was coming from, it wasn't just about Lily anymore, it was about Dumbledore, it was about helping Harry do what he had to, it was about saving wizard kind. UGH.

Okay enough of that before I go on a rant.

I read the entire third book a lot, I'm a huge fan of background stories and I just love those few chapters in the Shrieking Shack where they find out all about the Marauders and everything. So awesome.
I read Into the Forest Again (or whatever it is called, the one where Harry goes to die in DH) and that chapter...more than anything else makes me cry. More than any other death. People talk about Fred's death hitting them, or Dobby's, for me it was Harry.

Because I think something that a lot of people forget, and take for granted, is that these books were ultimately Harry's books. He was our protagonist, so we saw the great and the ugly sides of him. And Harry was so so so so sooooo human, but it shows us that we can be just as human, and achieve great things. He's just a normal boy, in reality, a normal boy thrown into tragedy. AND GOSH I LOVE HARRY POTTER SO MUCH AND HAVE SUCH A LOVE FOR HIS CHARACTER.

I should add an addendum that Ron is my favorite character, for his humor, for his flaws, for his relationships with Harry, Hermione, and his family. For his loyalty, for everything. I can go on and on about him too.

I'm going to stop myself now.