Potter Profile - Nicole

March 2, 2006

Give us your review of Half-Blood Prince.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was not my favourite book, but I think it was necessary for the seventh book to have the impact that is needed to end the most widely acclaimed and well recognized fiction series in the last 10 years.

Upon my first reading, I initially thought that it was emotionally shallower (or lighter?) than OoTP, centered more on action rather that emotion and reaction. The snogging really bugged me because the relationships had no emotional depth. Then again, I've never been a teenage boy; maybe their relationships really do have no emotional depth. (typical)

Second and subsequent readings; I still think that it is emotionally shallower than OoTP and GoF, but (as above) I think that is has to be, in preparation for the physical and emotional climax that will be the final of the series.

I really don't know how book Seven will tie all the loose ends together! Dealing with Malfoy, Snape, Returning to Godric Hollow, finding and destroying the remaining horcruxes and defeating the Greatest Dark Wizard in Harry Potter history and the denouement after the climax. It will be a long, long book. *smiles mischievously*

Did you like the fourth movie or not and why?

Yes and no. This book is my favorite in the series and therefore I was anxious about whether the movie would meet my expectations.

I thought the direction was much more artistic and encompassing of the environment and language as well as the ‘visual' character. BIG yes for Neville's scene watching the spidery things, BIG no for the spidery things; real spiders are so much scarier.

I loved the thought given to the shots and angles. I though the angles were so interesting when Neville was leaning against the ‘crying' pane glass. I also really enjoyed the juxtaposition of the students enjoying the spidery dance, and Moody quietly bringing them to the reality of what the curse means for a human being.

The acting was a little disappointing. Up to this point I have been satisfied with the acting, but a few points really made me uncomfortable, the largest of these being Emma Watson's acting at the Yule Ball. She seemed very uncomfortable with the level of anger required and I got the impression that she was holding back. It also broke my belief in her character momentarily, and she was really difficult to watch after that point.

On the positive, Daniel Radcliffe had no problem with the intensity required by the scenes in the movie. His acting was strong, and strongly physical. I really enjoyed the physicality of his performance and that I had total belief in his portrayal (fighting a dragon and being tortured) so I never saw Daniel, only Harry. I think that it was a very powerful performance.

I didn't enjoy the end of the movie. The end of the book was so dark and foreboding, foreshadowing the ‘state of war' that we find ourselves in, at the end of book five and at the same time, empowering with Harry thinking that whatever comes, he can face it. The movie had none of these feelings. All I was thinking was trite, trite, trite. I know it's a movie, but not all movies have to have a happy ending!!! 

If you could spend the day as one EVIL character from the books, who would it be?
If I could, I would be Draco Malfoy. He is such an interesting character, and serves as the first opposite of Harry, just as Dumbledore serves as the first opposite of Voldemort. Of course, both of these characters as disposed of, paving the path to the final battle.

‘The family is old, aristocratic, formal, clannish, very affluent, and extremely proud of their pure bloodlines' ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki /Draco_Malfoy ) I would be Draco to understand him and the Malfoy family better.

One the other hand, I just learned the translation for sectum sempra is ‘cut forever'…now that's dark.

Which GOOD character would you want to be for a day? 
Molly Weasley! I adore Molly; she reminds me of my mother-in-law (that's a good thing, don't fret). I would love to be Molly because for Molly and her family being a wizard is completely ‘native'. I would love to experience the wizarding community first hand, rather than through the all-to-small windows that the books provide.

If you could have any magical power what would it be? 
Wizarding communication and travel methods (is that one??) So would love to be able to apparate and disapparate, and magical communication methods such as talking in fires. The one thing that is difficult for me is talking to my family and friends regularly, because we live in different countries. (and I love Molly's clock)

What is your favourite moment of the series so far?
Dumbledore visiting the Dursley's at the beginning of ‘Half-Blood Prince'. I really ‘felt' Harry's injustices at the hands of the Dursley's, but I always knew that what they were doing to Dudley was worse. I love that Dumbledore is able to take such polite and calm control of the situation. He is the epitome of an assertive and well-mannered person.

One part of me wanted Dumbledore to tell them exactly how terrible their behavior was towards Harry, but of course this would have ruined the good manners I mentioned above. I think he handled the situation perfectly. I admire that, because I would have been berating them, with every foul word I could think of!

Is Snape REALLY good or evil and is Dumbledore REALLY dead?  
Good question. I did pop over to www.dumbledoreisnotdead.com but they have failed to convince me. Book 6 left a lot of questions unanswered about both Dumbledore and Snape, but I do think Dumbledore is dead.

The reasoning behind my convictions is literary. If he is not dead, how will Harry, the protagonist, ever outshine him? Dumbledore is the original antithesis of Voldemort, right from the first time they met in the orphanage, and Harry has to step into those shoes and become the hero of the series, the antithesis of Voldemort and what he represents to destroy him.

And Snape….Severus Snape. I think he is arrogant, hurtful, sadistic and vindictive. As for where his allegiances lie, I can not decide. The book left too many questions in my head. It is possible to imagine that Dumbledore had anticipated his own death, and equally possible that he was allied to the Death Eaters all along. However Dumbledore is dead. Dead. Accept it. (sorry)

Will Harry survive the 7th book?
Actually….I'm not sure! Book seven has had such a dramatic lead up (six books previously, millions of fans, press coverage every week) that I think that an effective climax would have to be very big and very shocking. Maybe only Harry's death would be big enough?

Do you have anything else you'd like to add? Maybe a theory you've concocted, a shout-out?  
I wanted to mention that ‘Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince' is ‘Harry Potter and the Secret Prince' here. Japan is mostly a homogenous population (being mostly Japanese people) and the term Half-Blood has negative connotations, so the title was changed.

Hello to my wonderful husband, Shane. Hello to Don, Mike, Amel, Junko, Makiko from work and the crazy Tokyo crew. Goodbye to Fukutaro-san, enjoy Tokyo. Love to my family and my best friend Jo, and my Potty Potter friend Shilo and her family. Also my friends around the globe, Kalika in Mexico and Maz in Scotland and shouts to Belle and Glen and family. (and YAY! first person from Japan!)

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