Harry Potter is also aging, though — the first book came out in the States ten years ago this September.  To wring a few more rubles out of the franchise celebrate, Scholastic is issuing an anniversary edition with a new cover.

UK bookstore Waterstones has been putting together a book of stories so short, they can fit on a large index card.  Most entries, apparently were gathered through a competition, but they also invited entries from well-known authors — including J.K. Rowling, Neil Gaiman, Tom Stoppard, and Margaret Atwood.  The JKR card was a snippet of a story about James and Sirius.  As the original has now been sold (proceeds to charity) for massive amounts of money, you can read the text here.

Warner Bros. continues to be over-protective of HP.  Seriously, guys.

Another story with castles (but no wizards):  California man from the Netherlands builds his own.

– Impressive, disturbing, and a dark sort of tribute to American capitalism:  we present the Wal-Mart virus.

– By this point, I think most of you have seen Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.  (And if not, it’s still available on iTunes; DVD to come out sometime soon.)  Shockingly, Pug and I thought it was fantastic, and still go about humming about freeze rays and Bad Horse.  Goodness knows it got a ton of media coverage, but I offer a couple of my favorites:  The Dr. Horrible oral history, because it amuses me, and the NPR piece, because I’m impressed that they picked it up.

– The fourth book in the Twilight series, which has been enjoying popularity among those inclined towards YA vampire-romances, came out this weekend to Potter-like midnight release parties.  I know that at least a couple of you have read the books and enjoyed them — and that at least a couple of you have read the books and offered your critiques on them.  I haven’t read any of them, but I thought this Salon article offered what seems to me like some particularly insightful commentary on them.  (And while we’re at Salon, the same writer had some worthwhile notes on Harry Potter 7.  Naturally, it’s an article from a year ago, but I just finished re-reading Deathly Hallows, so I enjoyed that one as well.  I think she’s pretty fair about Rowling’s strengths and weaknesses.)

– And Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (remember A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich ?) passed away this weekend.

Later: Woah!  They’re making a Gatchaman movie?  Carmen, did we know about this?  I don’t really expect this to be what you would call… good, but Cartoon Network ran a dubbed version called G-Force that my brothers and I enjoyed when I was nine or ten, so it might get a few nostalgia points.

Well, now that’s six unrelated topics.  Or five.  Oh well; the title sounds better as it is.

First, an editorial I particularly enjoyed about NASA, Star Trek, and the presidential campaign: The Next Space Frontier. While exploring the final frontier is hardly a high priority for our next president, it’s nice to see that the three front-runners all express support for the space program. (There are links to specifics within the editorial.)

And a few items that make you feel good about the Star Trek movie due out in summer 2009:

• In an interview with the Australian Herald-Sun, Simon Pegg (cast as Scotty) said with regard to whether the film will be “serious science-fiction”:

  Very much so. It’s not at all ironic. It’s not a jokey take on the original series. It’s a faithful and loving installment in the ongoing mythology of the show.

• Leonard Nimoy (who will be in it) seems to be very pleased about it. So does Nichelle Nichols (who is not).
• And if you haven’t seen it yet, check out the trailer (fyi, video begins when the page loads). It makes me happy.

And hey, look what happens when I ignore the Harry Potter news sites…the seventh movie is actually going to be the seventh and eighth movies: they’re splitting Deathly Hallows into two films. This means that Half-Blood Prince will be released next Christmas, Deathly Hallows, part I a year later, and Deathly Hallows, part II the following summer.

Now go eat some pie! I plan to!

Cambridge restaurant offers an HP inspired pudding.

Pug and I went to Upstairs on the Square once and it was very nice — if rather more up-scale than we were expecting (slightly awkward, but like I said, it was very nice). I can’t vouch for this dish myself, but I think the story is awesome.

The article gives their recipe, but I have no idea what the non-dairy substitute for heavy cream would be. It also looks like a lot of work and suggests the use of a blowtorch.

I only took part of The Leaky Cauldron’s massive prediction quiz, but I looked back today at what I had guessed. Of minor interest, but I thought I’d stick it up for the heck of it. The link isn’t working anymore, so don’t click there, click here:

About the characters

Will Harry live?
Yes

Will Voldemort live?
No

Will Harry time travel?
No

Will Ron live?
Yes

Will Hermione live?
Yes

Will Snape live?
No

Is Snape loyal to Dumbledore and the Order?
Yes

Did Dumbledore tell anyone why he trusted Snape?
Yes
(Wrong.)

Was Snape in love with Lily?
Yes

Will Dudley be the one to perform magic later in life?
No

Will Percy return to his family and realize the error of his ways?
Yes

Who was the “awful boy” Petunia referred to in book 5?
Snape

Love

Will love play a part in Harry conquering Voldemort as opposed to him using an Avada Kedavra?
Yes

Will we/Harry learn more about love in the Department of Mysteries?
No

Will Harry sacrifice himself because of love/friendship?
Yes

Will Harry tell someone he loves them in book 7?
Yes

Will Neville find love?
Yes
(Wrong — but just as well. No need to pair everyone off.)

Will Ron and Hermione get married?
Yes

Will Harry and Ginny get married?
Yes

Will Tonks and Lupin get married?
Yes

Did Dumbledore have a spouse?
Yes
(Wrong.)

Are Pince and Filch a couple?
No
(Thank goodness.)

Will we learn about the little witch or wizarding babies that the trio might have?
Yes

Will we see any new ships?
Yes
(Wrong, I think.)

Hogwarts

Will Hogwarts reopen?
Yes

Is there a Horcrux hidden in Hogwarts?
Yes

Will Harry return to Hogwarts as a student?
No

Will Voldemort try to take over Hogwarts?
Yes

Will a battle take place at Hogwarts again?
Yes

Will the Hogwarts ghosts play a role in the war against Voldemort?
Yes

Will we visit the Chamber of Secrets again?
Yes
(Wrong, but Ron & Hermione did)

Will we see the Mirror of Erised again?
No

Will we hear the Hogwarts students sing the school song again?
No

Will we see a new Transfiguration teacher now that Professor McGonagall is filling in for Dumbledore?
Yes
(Wrong)

Have all the Hogwarts founders created a secret room in Hogwarts, (like the Chamber of Secrets)?
No

Will we find out why Peeves listens to and slightly scared of the Bloody Baron?
No
(Hmm, sort of. Not directly in relation to Peeves, but we did learn about the Bloody Baron)

The Order of the Phoenix

Will The Order of Phoenix continue meeting in secrecy?
Yes

Who will be the leader of The Order now?
Someone Else (Other choices were Harry, Mr. Weasley, and Scrimgeour)

Will Dumbledore have left instructions or insight of some kind to the Order?
Yes
(Wrong! Only to Harry and Snape, it seems.)

Will the Dursleys join the Order to help fight against Voldemort?
No

Is the “more than meets the eye” thing about Petunia related to contact with the Order?
No

Is there still a traitor to be revealed in the Order?
No
(Mundungus is only a coward.)

Will Fred and George join the Order?
Yes

Will Percy join the Order?
Yes

Will the Ministry and the Order combine forces and unite against Lord Voldemort?
Yes
(Wrong. T’other way around.)

Will we learn more about what James, Lily or Sirius did for the Order during 1st war?
Yes
(Wrong. I would have liked that, though.)

Will Grimmauld Place still be the Order’s head quarters in book 7?
Yes
(Wrong.)

Who is the member of the Order that we will get to know more?
Tonks (But could also refer to Elphias Doge, Dumbledore himself, or Aberforth, none of whom were choices.)

Voldemort and the Death Eaters

Will Voldemort learn the entire Prophecy?
Yes
(Wrong — I don’t know that he ever did, actually.)

Will Lord Voldemort discover that Dumbledore found out about and told Harry about the Horcruxes?
Yes

Do the Death Eaters have a head quarters like the Order?
No
(Wrong, I think the Malfoy residence was serving as Dark HQ.)

Has Voldemort in fact recruited Draco Malfoy as a Death Eater?
Yes

Do one or more of the Death Eaters know about Lord Voldemort’s Horcruxes?
No
(Did Bellatrix have any idea? I forgot to look for that.)

Do you think Regulus Black was murdered by Lord Voldemort himself?
Yes
(well, by a henchman)

Will Bella sacrifice herself for Lord Voldemort?
Yes
(Technically wrong, though she did die fighting because of him.)

Is there a spy from the Order among the Death Eaters yet to be revealed?
Yes
(Wrong.)

Is Narcissa a Death Eater?
No
(Don’t really know, do we? I assume she was a sympathizer, if not actually a Death Eater herself. Though the whole Malfoy family was trying to keep their distance by the end.)

Will any of the Death Eaters turn good?
Yes
(I guess you could count the Malfoys. Sort of.)

Will Wormtail pay his life debt to Harry?
Yes
(But not willingly.)

Will Voldemort try to recruit more types of creatures than those he has?
Yes
(But if he did, it didn’t really figure into the plot.)

Why did Voldemort send Wormtail to Snape?
To keep an eye on Snape
(Not revealed/important?)

Creatures

Will the centaurs play an important role in Deathly Hallows?
Yes
(Wrong; merely a minor role.)

Will the house elves be free?
No

Will Dobby be of further help to Harry in his Horcrux hunt?
Yes

Will the goblins choose to fight on the good side and help them win?
Yes

Will we see Griphook again?
No
(Wrong!)

Will Lupin convince any of the werewolves to join the good side?
No

Will we learn the 12 uses of dragons blood?
No

Will we see Norbert again?
No

Will we learn that some of the creatures that Luna talks about are real?
No

Will there be peace and cooperation between all creatures and wizards?
No

Will we see Fawkes again?
No

Will Hedwig help Harry in the fight against Voldemort?
Yes
(Wrong… *sob*)

Places

Will we find out who owns the Riddle house now?
Yes
(Wrong.)

Will we visit Azkaban prison in book 7?
Yes
(Wrong.)

Will the wizarding bank Gringotts play an important part in book 7?
No
(Wrong!)

Will Albania play a role in book 7 as Voldemort spent so much time there?
Yes
(Um, it was mentioned, does that count?)

Is there a Horcrux at Tom Riddle’s orphanage in London?
Yes
(Wrong.)

Will Durmstrang play a role in book 7?
Yes
(Very, very minor.)

Will Harry take a stroll into the Forbidden Forest again?
Yes

Will we visit Grimmauld Place again?
Yes

Bill is working as a curse breaker in Egypt, and all the Weaslys have been there. Will Egypt play a role in book 7?
No

Did Snape, Lily and Petunia grow up in the area around Spinner’s End?
No
(Wrong!)

Will we see what’s beyond the veil?
Yes
(Wrong.)

Will the Horcrux hunt bring Harry out of Britain?
Yes
(Wrong.)

Others

Will we find out what any of the whirring silver instruments in Dumbledore’s office do?
Yes
(Wrong, I think.)

Will we see any new spells used in book 7?
Yes

Was there another person at Godric’s Hollow?
No

Is there going to be an attack at Bill and Fleur’s wedding?
No
(Wrong.)

Will Harry’s potion book be seen or used again?
Yes
(Wrong.)

Will the fact that Ginny’s patronus is a phoenix be of importance in book 7?
Yes
(Wrong. Is it really a phoenix? I had forgotten that.)

Will the fact that Ron’s watch is similar to Dumbledore’s be of significance in book 7?
Yes
(Wrong.)

Ollivander…
…went into hiding.
(Wrong, kidnapped.)

Will the draught of the living death play a role in book 7?
Yes
(Wrong.)

Do the tasks the trio went through at the end of Philosopher’s Stone/ Sorcerer’s Stone foreshadow some of the plot in book 7?
No

Will Harry talk to Sirius again?
No
(Wrong, surprisingly.)

Will Harry inherit Dumbledore’s pensieve?
No

Will Halloween be an important day/night in book 7?
Yes
(I can’t think of what, if anything happened on Oct. 31 in the book, but we did lean that Harry’s parents were killed on Oct 31.)

Where is Sirius’ bike?
Hagrid flew it to the cabin where he met Harry and the Dursleys. It’s still there.
(Wrong.)

Is Harry a Horcrux?
No
(WRONG!)

And laughed. And cheered. And loved every minute of it.

What a fantastic send-off for Harry Potter. I found Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows entirely satisfactory and continue to be completely in love with all my favorite characters. Ms. Rowling has my heartfelt respect.

But following this cut lies a discussion of the people and plot of Deathly Hallows. If you don’t want to be spoiled, read no further!
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

One of the amazing things about this book is that it is (in sci-fi terms) gadget-heavy without quite overwhelming the reader. There are seven Horcruxes to keep track of, but most of them are familiar: Riddle’s diary goes back to Book 2, while Book 6 introduced the Gaunt ring, Slytherin’s locket, and Hufflepuff’s cup. Nagini has been around since Book 4, leaving Ravenclaw’s tiara as the only new Horcrux (and we knew it was likely to be something of Ravenclaw’s). And even though the three Hallows are a totally new idea, each one turns out to be a previously mentioned object (Harry’s invisibility cloak, Dumbledore’s wand, and the ring again). Hermione’s beaded bag of holding helps to keep it real, too — we’re not forced to imagine our heroes fitting all their many gadgets, talismans, and belongings into backpacks.

The autumn during which Harry, Ron, and Hermione are camping all over Britain and (as often as not) griping at each other is one of the few spots in which the book drags — especially knowing that eventually they must surely go to exciting places like Hogwarts and Godric’s Hollow. And especially since their stay at Grimmauld Place yielded such interesting tidbits. The story of RAB and the locket, for one (As Pug pointed out, Crunch was right!), the fragment of Lily’s letter for another. Not to mention the transformation of Kreacher.

After years of SPEW and knitted hats, Hermione’s social conscience regarding house-elves is finally getting results. She points out to the others that wizard wars are less important to them than personal loyalties, making Harry realize that paying some respect to Regulus Black, as well as to Kreacher himself, will make all the difference. It’s beautiful, but I’m still curious as to whether a change is in the wind. After the final battle, the Hogwarts elves are mingling with the victorious wizards, the centaurs, and everyone else. Are we to assume that because the battle has been won by a diverse army, that the role of house-elves in general society is going to start changing? That the tensions between goblins and wizards or between centaurs and wizards will ease for the time being? Back when Harry and Ron decided that they might like to be Aurors when they grow up, Hermione made some comment about wanting to take SPEW further — I can see her involved in an organization dedicated to smoothing the tensions between the different magical races. The head of some magical non-profit, if you will. And I’m pleased that Ron seems to support her position…now that she sounds practical about it, rather than rabid.

Out of everybody, however, I think I might be most proud of Neville. The confidence and capability with which he steps into Harry’s place at Hogwarts (1) makes me wish I could read Neville Longbottom and the Hogwarts Guerrillas: Another Story of Year 7, and (2) brings me back to that darn prophecy. Until Voldemort attacked Harry, it could have referred to the Potters or the Longbottoms: Voldemort himself chose his nemesis. But very gradually, I think we have been shown that if Voldemort had chosen differently and the burden had fallen to Neville, he could have borne it, too. Although the evidence is scant at first, it’s been there ever since Dumbledore gave Neville those 10 points for standing up to his friends in Book 1.

And what about Neville’s gran? The lady beat up an Auror and was on the run — Rawr! I wouldn’t be surprised if she were good friends (or even sisters, dare I say it) with Minerva McGonagall, who has been a favorite of mine for a long time. I cheered (silently; it was pushing midnight) over her encounter with Amycus Carrow in Ravenclaw Tower and her duel with Snape.

And oh, Severus Snape… I enjoyed hating him all the way through, but I was so pleased to realize as soon as he started offering Harry his memories that he too was Dumbledore’s man through and through. Or rather, Lily’s. In Book 6, we were given an explanation for why Dumbledore trusted Snape (that he had renounced his evil ways and was sorry), and I found that pretty weak. However, believing Snape because of his love for Lily makes perfect sense: love has always been Dumbledore’s favorite motif. These past two years, I have been skeptical of those who suggested that Snape killed Dumbledore on Dumbledore’s orders, but the explanation of the cursed hand and its result (Dumbledore’s looming death) made it believable. A desperate fanwank becomes a heroic death — and Dumbledore deserves no less. Getting to see the little scenes between Snape and Dumbledore over was a real treat, too.

The effort in this book to bring Dumbledore down a notch and keep him human was, I thought, necessary and significant. I think one of the themes that JKR emphasizes throughout the series is that heroes are only human and that normal people can be heroes. Dumbledore is not a saint (as he has insisted before); his past holds mistakes and character flaws like anybody else’s. Harry has grown into a real hero, but his intolerances, anger, stubbornness, poor judgment, and other flaws are integral to his story. Neville belongs here too, of course, and to pick just one more example, I want to point out Ron on page 379 (US ed).

“You’ve sort of made up for [leaving] tonight,” said Harry. “Getting the sword. Finishing off the Horcrux. Saving my life.”

“That makes me sound a lot cooler than I was,” Ron mumbled.

“Stuff like that always sounds cooler than it really was,” said Harry. “I’ve been trying to tell you that for years.”

So I suppose that Harry would tell us that his self-sacrifice, return from death, and final triumph over Voldemort all sound cooler than they really were, too, but I found them emotionally satisfactory nonetheless. The tears started coming after Fred’s death, I sobbed for Tonks and Lupin (I have a soft spot for Lupin, always have. I like underdogs.), and was bawling by the time I realized Harry had to die — something I knew was possible, but didn’t want to believe. (I hadn’t bought into the ‘Harry is the last Horcrux’ theory, though. Oops.) I loved that Harry passed on his quest to Neville (and that Neville was able to do his bit!), and the appearance of Lily, James, Sirius, and Lupin was a beautiful tug at the heartstrings.

But though Harry’s sudden appearance in the midst of the Death Eaters is cinematic, to say the least, I have to admit that my favorite part of Harry’s death is that it allows Dumbledore to give his traditional end-of-the-book explanation, even though he’s dead.

And how about that final battle. Harry Potter takes his stand and calls Voldemort by his true name, making him his equal: another orphaned boy who found a home at Hogwarts and has amazing abilities. But not only are they equals: Harry finally has the upper hand and can give the satisfying (if ill-advised according to the Overlord’s Handbook) catechism on everything Tom Riddle has done wrong, everything Tom Riddle doesn’t know, and why he has finally won his happy ending.

My dad and I had been planning to find a release party of some kind since I decided when I was going to come home this summer, so the only question (and not one we were quick to answer) was which bookstore to go to. We learned that B. Dalton in the mall would open at midnight only to sell the book; that all Books-a-Millionses were opening at 9p.m. with various festivities, etc. So we picked a Books-a-Million in town. At the last minute, Middle Brother decided he wanted to come too, and Youngest Brother suddenly caved in to peer pressure. We all caved a little more when my mother (who was not going) suggested that we should go in costume. I hadn’t been planning to, but we pulled out gowns from a couple of college graduations (mine and my cousin’s) and the accessories from a Harry Potter costume Mom made for one of the boys sometime in the last decade. We looked quite fetching.

Youngest Brother’s choice of headgear reflects his personality and the back of his shirt has a Dumbledore quote about how music is a magic greater than anything taught at Hogwarts.

Off we went. Books-a-Million was packed when we got there a little after 11 p.m. We were “sorted” when we came in the door (stuck our hands into a Sorting Hat full of house badges) — I was in Hufflepuff for the night — but after a few minutes, we realized that there was really not much going on besides a couple of massive, snake-like lines. We let ourselves be pushed into one by a Gestapo Kindergarten Teacher of a store manager who seemed to have created her own personal hell. We stood there in line in the middle of the romance section (of all places), not sure we really wanted to be there. When we realized (around 11:30) that the main line was for people who already had vouchers (others must wait in a different line to get a voucher at the cafe counter, then re-join the main line), we decided that we could do better. We swept out in our wizard’s robes and drove down the street to the mall.

There were maybe thirty people standing around the mall entrance. The boys found friends to talk to, as they had in B-a-M, and we had only fifteen or twenty minutes to wait until a pleasant, smiling security guard came to open the doors. Quick, easy, short line, no fuss. Brilliant. This was at B. Dalton, by the way. Can I plug B. Dalton a few more times? They’re part of Barnes & Noble and I’m not generally a huge fan of huge chains ’cause independent bookstores are cooler, but this week, I’m pretty happy with B. Dalton.

And then Dad read us the first chapter on the drive home. I have lots to say about the book, of course, but that’s for another post. Coming soon.

Image credit: LJ user atellix.

The Voice of Harry Potter Knows All. The New York Times talks to Jim Dale, the actor who has done all of the HP audio books.

Image credit: LJ user shannonsequitur.