I just finished re-reading (for the third? fourth time?) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I hate that we have to wait until next summer to wrap up this story, but I also hate that once we get the long-awaited trove, it’s over. As with any serial, I suppose, the story is becoming more limited as to directions it may go. At the end of OotP, I had no idea where the tale would head, but going into Book 7, we know that Harry is going to be set on finding the remaining four horcruxes and battling LV. That’s a LOT of action to have to cover in one book, unless we find that the horcruxes are somehow grouped. I don’t care one bit about Snape’s redemption or “double-agent” storyline. Whether he acted on Dumbledore’s orders or not, he’s still a vile, greasy, classless loser and I have no idea why that character is revered in any way.

I’ve also decided that I no longer care about the HP movies, only the books. Popular opinion is that the first two (SS and CoS) were terrible, but I can loop either of them with no problem. It was only once the “artsy” director got involved that the films began to suffer under the weight of becoming more “indie-like”. Hogwarts was a place of grandeur, not a dilapidated hovel as seen in POA. The Leaky Cauldron became more of a makeshift hostel under Alfonso Cuarón’s desire to establish himself in the mainstream world. GoF served only to follow up on the premise that Hogwarts was in shambles and I have no love for that film, either. The magic of seeing Diagon Alley and Hogwarts for the first time can never be matched using lowgrade, grainy film that the current filmmakers seem to prefer. I want to watch these movies to feel magic, not to see near-ruins. If I want to see that, I can look around my own world. I doubt OotP will be any better than the last two, and will go just as astray from the important themes as they did. It’s shameful to think how shabby the Ministry of Magic will look onscreen if the current trend holds. Of course, I’ll be there watching, but knowing already what I think it should have been.