This week last year HogPro and Hog’s Head were counting down the days to the release of Deathly Hallows with predictions and spoiler alerts. Do any of you have plans to commemorate the first anniversary of the closing of the InterLibrum and the Harry Potter saga? I know the PotterDelphians are planning a MeetUp on Saturday,2 August, for a belated Birthday bash. I think the Grangers may watch a movie or two with some popcorn after dad talks at dinner about the eyes in Deathly Hallows (the Mirror, the Symbol, Mad-Eye’s funeral, and, of course, Snape’s “Look at me!”).
What are your plans?
Hadn’t even thought of that as one of the important dates…Almost like we’re putting together a Potter Calendar 😉 Harry’s birthday, anniversary of PS, anniversary of DH (what date was that, again?)
I think I’ll plan to read a few favorite sections of DH and revisit what I was thinking over at The Hog’s Head just before and after DH was released.
I’ll be driving a sick cat to a vet specialist. But I have started rereading HPSS. I was going to start a week or so ago but put it off because I knew once I’d started, I’d be at the whole series for awhile. Maybe instead of listening to Hound of the Baskervilles as I drive to the vet, I’ll take along the Dale version of DH.
In my own way, I’m taking a serious journey through DH. What a whoop-de-do last year, the tension was so high!
RevGeorge, so sorry to hear about your cat. Our Casey Rose had an ultrasound last week, very stressful us both. Two potential diagnoses, extremely difficult to differentiate and both very mild at this point–either IBD (dealt with in previous kitties) or lymphoma sarcoma. We simply won’t know and wouldn’t put her through extreme treatment anyway; we’ll enjoy this most wonderful of cats as long as we have her. The moment you love an animal, you embrace the future grief of their loss.
Cleverpuss (is he good or bad?) is weaving between bottles on the counter…
My plans will have to wait until this coming weekend, when I am looking to recreate the release weekend. I’m planning to wake around midnight Friday night, and begin reading Deathly Hallows at around 12:58 am – the same time I started a year ago.
I am just finishing up OotP, and the plan in the next few days is to re-read HBP. (The latter just had its 3-year anniversary last week.)
I ought to also go back to re-read some of Travis’ musings on SoG in the days leading up to the release, particularly as we began getting the “leaks”. The “daughter photos” were priceless.
In re-reading the books over the last few months, one thing I have been doing is filling up a spreadsheet with a list of various milestones. Among the ones I can remember:
– every uttering of “great man, Dumbledore”
– references to the Crumple-horned Snorcack
– references to Harry’s eyes resembling Lily’s
– decapitation and resurrection references (I’m sure I have missed many)
– Hermione’s mentions of having read something in a particular book
– a listing of different broom models
– Harry’s descriptions of moments when his scar was about to burst open or sear his head
– goblin rebellions
– ferrets (JKR does have a thing about them, it seems)
– Trevor
I’d love to see the spreadsheet count on the green eyes resemblance, the scar-bursts, and head-rolling references!
Wow, John, I hadn’t even thought about the eyes. Wasn’t the Dante reference you posted on awhile back something to do with Beatrice’s green eyes in comparison with Lily’s? I’ve only just started reading Dante, so I haven’t quite made it to Beatrice yet, but am interested to think about it when I get that far.
I have celebrated the anniversary of the release of Deathly Hallows by releasing a wizard rock CD … yes, I am that much of a nerd … and posting a song dedicated to J.K. Rowling on my band site. If anybody is willing to brave Myspace and the fact that this is just me and my Korg Triton LE and Adobe Audition here, come check it out at http://www.myspace.com/librarylily!
I hadn’t even thought of this really. I thought more about how a friend who shares Longbottom’s name wished Rowling had put Neville’s birthday on his, which is also in late July, but oh well.
I’ve always been rather apathetic about book-versaries and such. I tend to have a period of (mostly) quiet fervor about 2 years long and then relax a bit, but I think my perpetual listening to the Dale readings will prolong this into a familiar comfort, an old friend who doesn’t need the fuss. I’ve been listening to DH all summer since (after reading John’s post on the matter), I discovered my town’s library has all (and several copies) of all the Jim Dale HP CDs.
~Nzie
Arabella,
Thanks for your comments. My little girl cat has feline leukemia, so it is as you say, doing enough to make her happy during the time she has left & not doing too much that would make her miserable. Right now she’s fairly stable.
Hopefully she didn’t consider the long drives yesterday & Monday, listening to DH, to be too miserable. 🙂
I don’t have any special plans. I’ve recently finished re-reading all the books, and have decided to re-read select parts of DH this week. I started last night with “The Silver Doe” and will then move to “The Last Hiding Place”. More than likely, I will read through to the end.
And then I want to do some blogging that I’ve put aside while I was reading. My intention was to write about DH while I read, but I just was too caught up in the story to do it.
Mostly, I’m just feeling the same sort of contentment and satisfaction that I did last year when I finished my marathon first reading of Deathly Hallows. And it occurs to me that this last year has gone by very quickly, indeed.
Pat
The Year After Deathly Hallows is reviewed by this HP Progs Post. (Hat-Tip to the Hog’s Head!)
Pretty eventful. Did anyone expect an event that didn’t happen? Were you surprised, disappointed, or pleased by which events and non-events?
I’m not sure why & how most people reacted the way they did to the revelations about Dumbledore as opposed to the ones about Aberforth. But us literary types reacted because one was textual & the other was extratextual with absolutely no indication or purpose in the text.
But not to drag up that old argument, I think the most disappointing thing to happen since the release of DH is the JKR/SVA lawsuit. And not just because it’s forced us to learn more about free use & copyright laws than we’d like, but because it’s tarnished the sheer joy surrounding the books & also divided the fandom to some extent.
Loved the comment about the uproar over DD/gay compared to silence over hints of Aberforth’s goat inclinations!
Now I’m inclined to pet Felix Felixus…
My pre-Deathly Hallows predictions… in case your Potter Party needs a few laughs!
As I get ready for this evening’s slightly-after-midnight rereading of DH, I seem to have developed a sadistic streak. Having finished HBP a couple days ago, during the interlibrium, I’m rereading others’ predictions for Deathly Hallows – a book I’ve already read. How cruel is that?
Janet’s setups/payoffs book provided some good stuff. But the biggest tip of the cap has to go to Daniela Teo in “Who Killed Albus Dumbledore” – she hit some specific plot points spot on. Amazing. (John, I haven’t reread yours yet, either in the post above or in your books – but I know you claim to have a pretty low batting average when it comes to predicting the specifics, just as we all know it’s really high when predicting according to the “magic formula”.)
Nicholas
PS – on an unrelated note – I’m sure most AllPros are aware of Orlando Universal Studios’ work at creating a Potter-themed area out of one of their “Islands of Adventure”, a work that is progressing toward an opening in about 16-18 months. Part of the work now in progress involves at least a partial reworking of a really cool fast food place called “The Enchanted Oak”. I had photos from a couple years ago of a small pub that was part of this structure called “The Alchemy Bar”, with a note that said “This place, at least, won’t need any retheming for Harry Potter!”
With the new construction, it looks as if the Alchemy Bar might be removed – and wouldn’t that be ironic?