Harry Potter mania

I… am… tired… Probably a combination of being incredibly busy this week and staying up way too late, I guess. I was up late-ish again last night but not for the same reason as before. No, last night I was sucked into the last few chapters of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, which I am (well, was – since I finished it last night) re-reading in anticipation of the last book coming out tomorrow night at midnight.

Yes, I’m a Harry Potter fan. And I’m not ashamed to admit it, although in general I tend to avoid things that are way too popular. I refuse to buy crocs for either myself or my kids because even though everyone in the world has them (so it seems), they remain among the ugliest shoes I have ever seen. I was one of the last people I knew to see Titanic when it came out just because I was annoyed by all the hype.

But I love the Harry Potter books. Yes, the movies are good too, but it’s hard to cram pages and pages of detailed writing into a 2+ hour movie and have it both cover all necessary plot lines and be enjoyable enough to hold people’s attention. And I get annoyed when things get left out that I think are important. My regard for Harry Potter probably has something to do with the fact that I’ve been reading constantly since age 5 (Yes, I was always the kid in school with ‘her nose in a book’) and one of my favorite genres is young adult Sci-Fi/Fantasy anyway. Authors like Susan Cooper, Lloyd Alexander, Madeleine L’Engle, and yes – J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis.

I am not an obsessed fan like my husband who counts down the days until a new book or movie comes out starting months ahead, visits HP-related websites regularly, and who is taking a full day off of work on Monday – just to read book 7. An unpaid day, mind you. No, I just enjoy reading the books. I will not be dressing as my favorite HP character or in line at 11:30pm to snatch up the next book as soon as it’s out (although Ron will). Part of me doesn’t even want to read the last book, because then the magic will end. As much as I want to know the ‘end’ of the story, I also know that it probably won’t end the way that I think it should (many book and movie series endings, like tv show finales, are so unsatisfying), and I will miss some of the speculation and guesswork. But not Ron regaling anyone who will listen with his theories about how Harry is a Horcrux or that Dumbledore created one when he drank from the cup (just wait for the darn book and you’ll find out anyway!). I do have theories, but I’d rather keep them to myself and wait to see how right I am.

Apparently, copies of book 7 have been inadvertently released early and have shown up on the internet. For those interested, here is a site that lists all of the current news and rumors (no spoilers though, thank goodness!). I do have to admit to taking a quick peak at the scanned pages of the Epilogue that were leaked, but that was before I knew that they were probably real. Now I wish I had just let my curiosity go, although I do have a bad habit of sneaking looks at the last few pages of books when I just can’t stand the suspense of knowing what happens. In just under 40 hours or so though, we’ll all know. But who’s counting?