Harry's all up in my Hallows

WARNING !!! MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOKS. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. ((but there are other blurbs too kids! So skip over this first part and you'll be solid!))

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

What does HALLOWS mean anyway? DEF – 1. To make or set apart as holy. 2.To respect or honor greatly; revere.
((("hallow." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 16 Jul. 2007. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hallow.)))


I didn’t become a full-fledged Harry Potter fan until the 3rd film, The Prisoner of Azkaban. Forced to see it with my family as my niece was quite into it, I figured “why not?” after all my mother was paying for my ticket. I was blown away, hooked, knew that I needed to find out more about this Harry Potter bloke right away. After all, this boy was cute.

I can’t deny it. Daniel Radcliffe hit puberty around the time of the Prisoner of Azkaban, and started looking VERY hot! I’m the girl that cat-called during Harry’s bathtub scene in Goblet of Fire and had a countdown clock for Daniel Radliffe’s 18th birthday (only 7 days away ladies!!). My boyfriend finds it creepy, my family mocks me, yet I can’t deny the attraction to fictional Harry. But I digress.

After seeing the 3rd film, I read all of the books and became hooked. I was on a constant cycle of reading. I would read the entire series and start over again. It actually was a major and conscious decision to STOP reading the series and move onto other things (trust me, I’ll be starting again soon, once the new book comes out).


So the new book. CANNOT WAIT!!!! There are the obvious questions – will Harry die? JK Rowling has promised 2 major deaths in this final novel. I’m sorry for all of those fans of Harry (me included but something I’m willing to accept) – but his death is likely. Here are some of my predictions and theories:

1-My sister has convinced me that Harry is a horcrux (if you haven’t read the books and want to know – Lord Voldemort has divided his soul into 7 parts to ensure immortality, each part called a horcrux). For Voldemort to be defeated, all horcruxes must be destroyed. Harry has shown his connection with the Dark Lord in previous novels (Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix) particularly where he sees things through Nagini’s eyes. Nagini being Voldemort's snake, loyal companion and most likely one of his horcruxes. If we list the horcruxes that are known:
1-item from Slytherin (Destroyed by Headmaster Dumbledore)
2-item from Hufflepuff
3-item from Ravenclaw
4-Locket (another Slytherin item, searched for by Dumbledore and Harry – stolen by R.A.B. aka Regulus Black?)
5-Nagini (unconfirmed)
6-Tom Riddle’s journal (Destroyed)
7-Gryiffindor Item OR ??? – HARRY (unconfirmed - the only Gryffindor artifact left is the sword which has been protected/bewitched)

2-I believed at first that Dumbledore was not dead, in the sense of Gandelf the Gray from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but this is probably not true. After all, his portrait was filled in the Headmaster’s house of Hogwarts, thus symbolizing his demise. The other noted death from the series is Harry’s godfather, Sirius Black. But with the portrait and the mirror (mentioned in books 6 and 5 respectively), communication from the beyond is possible. And likely. After all, these are Harry’s 2 mentors, dead but still major characters in the series…and full of knowledge about YOU KNOW WHO.

3- SEVERUS SNAPE – bad or good? He is the ultimate red herring. Often looked to by the Harry, Hermione and Ron as the evil one, he leads them off the trail again and again in the novels. Will this continue with the final chapter or will he be revealed as all good? I hope for his redemption; but I also know that his hatred for Harry’s father runs deep. I am gunning for a good Snape.
In the end, despite the outcome of Deathly Hallows, my biggest hope is for a prequel recounting Harry’s parents time at Hogwarts. The ridicule that Snape was subjected to whilst being enamored over Lily; the frat boy mentality of Padfoot, Prongs, Wormtail and Moony – this intrigues me most after the conclusion of Harry’s 7 years at Hogwarts. Either way – I cannot wait for the final book and the end to a brilliant and exciting series that has captured even this stuffy B.A. in English Graduate’s mind. =)

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In other news –Josh “JAG” Garcia is a liar!!! Not once but 2 times over!!! The last 10 minutes of “Who Will Be The Next Food Network Star” proved to be the most rewarding as Jag was called out on not one but two lies about his prior life. Not only was he NOT a culinary school graduate but the Military man was never in Afghanistan despite his insistence that he was. He resigned himself from the competition and now it’s up to ladies Rory Schepisi and Amy Finley for the final episode. I’m hoping for Amy to win, next door gourmet is right up my alley.

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I saw the new HP film over the weekend, and I enjoyed the heck out of it. But to agree with my boyfriend and my little sister – it mos def did not feel like a full Hogwarts year in the same vein as Goblet of Fire or Prisoner of Azkaban. Alan Rickman reprising his role as Snape was genius, glad to see him with more speaking parts than Goblet…I was fully surprised with Sirius’ death despite knowing full well it was coming (creative previews and sneak peeks helped out on that one); all in all I was happy with the final product. But shorter than all the other movies kinda makes me sad – it could’ve been 30 mins longer and showed MUCH MUCH more. The final book coming out helps satiate my HP fever.

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And finally, despite Mel Gibson’s absolute insanity, Apocalypto is a gripping and beautiful film. No major actors, no snuff film tactics – just real history coupled with a simple story of a man trying to get back to his wife and family is executed wonderfully in this movie. Jaguars rule – nuff said.