Ms. Rowling TLC PotterCast, Part 1

The first part of Ms. Rowling’s interview at The Leaky Cauldron is online already but I will wait to comment until the transcript goes up at TLC or Madame Pince’s Potter Pages. If you have iTunes on your computer and have listened to the show, please offer your thoughts here. The posted Table of Contents for the “landmark show” is:

-The morals of Beedle the Bard
-Who was right about Horcri?
-Who made the first Horcrux?
-Creating a Horcrux vs. splitting the atom
-Will Jo tell us how to create a Horcrux? [Read more…]

Goblet of Fire: ‘Mad-Eye Moody’ & ‘The Unforgivable Curses’ (Chapters 13-14)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Chapters 13-14

Mark True statements with a “T” and False statements with an “F.” Please share your thoughts on these two chapters in the com boxes below!

1. _____ Harry, Ron, and Hermione gather bubotuber puss in Herbology before Care of Magical Creatures class with Hagrid. They try to feed the Blast-ended Skrewts the frog livers they love without getting burnt, blasted or blood sucked.

2. _____ Hermione decides the best way to protest the slavery of house-elves is not by refusing to eat and wasting away. She eats as fast as she can at every meal instead and goes to the library to get away from being a part of “the slave scene.” [Read more…]

Ms. Rowling on TLC PotterCast, Tuesday, 18 December 2007

Read about it here. Ms. Anelli promises “new canon.”

Oh, well. I look forward to reading the transcript at Madame Pince’s, where I learned this news today.

Any guesses today about what we’ll learn tomorrow? More future relationships or will we learn about events and choices that took place outside Harry’s restricted view? As we’re reading Goblet of Fire, I keep thinking it would be nice to know what Ludo Bagman was up to…. but if it were included in the story, that line would probably require otherwise unnecessary action on Harry’s part to bring the information into his line of sight or would distract and dissipate the reader’s attention from more important story elements.

It’s been two years since what Linda McCabe has called “the interview from Hell” post Half-Blood Prince. Here’s hoping sans Master Spartz that Ms. Anelli asks a few thoughtful questions in with the softballs she is obliged to pitch as the representative of all Fandom.

In Defense of Albus Dumbledore: Regina Doman

Regina Doman, accomplished novelist, Harry Potter expositor among Roman Catholics, and friend of this blog, has written a ‘Defense for Albus Dumbledore’ for The Rambler, the online newspaper of Christendom College. Coming from the pen of a professional story teller and of a mother about to give birth to another member of the Harry Potter generation, it is a challenging apologia and unlike anything you’ll read in the Main Stream Media. I commend the whole piece to your attention and ask for your reflections after reading it. Here is a short clip to whet your appetite: [Read more…]

Goblet of Fire: ‘Aboard the Hogwarts Express’ & ‘The TriWizard Tournament’ (Chapters 11 & 12)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Chapters 11-12

Mark True statements with a “T” and False statements with an “F.” Write your answers to the discussion points in the com boxes below.

1. _____ Amos Diggory wakes the Weasleys with the news that Arthur must rush to save Mad-Eye Moody from the Muggle “Please-men.” It seems the famous – and paranoid – retured Auror imagined an intruder and sent the dust-bins rocketing. Amos gives Molly some toast to apologize for waking her up.

2. _____ Three Muggle taxis take the Hogwarts crew to King’s Cross station but an errant firework and an overly excited cat make the crowded trip in the rain miserable. [Read more…]