I went back and forth on whether to do a tag blog (because this writer don’t vlog… yet) but hey, it’s a celebration of all things Harry Potter today so why not?
(Tomorrow will be the July wrap up post featuring my #50in5 postcard and the possibility of more #50in5 events.)
I started reading Harry Potter when the third book came out. I was around thirteen and at the time, all things popular were uncool. But my grandmother bought me the books for Christmas and I was a child who read absolutely anything I could get my hands on, be it age-appropriate or age-inappropriate. If it was in my household, I read it.
So of course I read what I was bought. And I loved it.
Now, I feel like many of my friends talk about how J.K. Rowling influenced their writing or made them want to write or gave them the belief that they could write but while I love her world and still do, I can’t say the same. I was already a fantasy fanatic who was writing stories on the side. What I did find, though, was so many more people my age (at the time) who began to love reading again which gave me whole new friends and new beta readers (though they were more “characters in my stories” at that point). My whole best friend group clicked because of our love of the stories.
Which is why I will do the tag that Liz gave me today, on Harry’s birthday….
1. What House are you in? Slytherin. I’ve always been overly ambitious, sneaky and, I’ll be real, a little mean. Not always on purpose, but I have the tendency to say what everyone is thinking. And most people aren’t always thinking nice things…
2. What is your Patronus? So, as I tried to log onto Pottermore, I learned that I am no longer a passport holder. Ah, well. I’m going to go with my spirit animal of a fox.
3. What is your wand? A birch wand with a phoenix feather core.
4. What would your boggart be? A tornado.
5. What position would you play in Quiddich? I would probably be a chaser. I work well with a team.
6. Would you be a pure-blood, half-blood, or muggle born? Pure-blooded.
7. What job would you want after leaving Hogwarts? A medi-witch (but I’m not wearing the lime green).
8. Which of the Deathly Hallows would you choose? I would choose the invisibility cloak.
9. Favorite book? Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (because I love the characters introduced)
10. Least favorite book? I wasn’t a huge fan of Order of the Phoenix only because of the way Harry was near the end. I know it probably is fitting, and at the right age, but he started to grate on me. (Or continued…)
11. Favorite film? and 12. Least favorite film? I have not seen all of the films. I really don’t prefer any.
13. Favorite character? Remus Lupin. The juxtaposition of his wolf-self and human-self is just something I find intriguing.
14. Least favorite/most hated character? Putting aside the obvious (Umbridge), I actually dislike Tonks. I liked Tonks when she was introduced. But as time went on, she just became this… love-sick witch that lost her purpose. She was this badass, female Auror ready to throw down that gets so heartbroken that she just wilts. And I think that’s a disservice to who she was as a character.
It’s probably the reason her relationship with Remus bothers me so much.
15. Favorite teacher at Hogwarts? I’ll move Lupin to the side for now and say McGongall. She reminds me of one of my favorite teachers from elementary school (a science teacher).
16. Least favorite teacher at Hogwarts? (Again, putting aside Umbridge) Trelawney. She reminds me of my least favorite teacher from high school. And the dramatics? Ugh.
17. Do you have any unpopular opinions about the series? Well, I never liked Lupin and Tonks, as referenced above, but maybe my most unpopular opinion is that Dumbledore is a manipulative, sneaky little brat for a lot of the books (I think that is unpopular). He knows so much and waits, dispensing information as if he were handing out candy.
Whatever his reasons, whether or not the information would have helped or harmed, just seem sort of hollow. So, sorry – not sorry – I wasn’t crying when he died. (Though I was frowny-faced)