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Potter Profile - Steph

April 16, 2006

Give us your review of Half-Blood Prince.
HBP is my favorite book of the series so far. There was never a HP-book that made me laugh so much! I really enjoyed reading it, especially all the Ron / Hermione – scenes. I absolutely loved the first chapter with the Muggle Prime Minister, it was hilarious. I think the characters in HBP were a lot more mature. JKR let them develop in this book without throwing any useless action in, for which I'm very thankful. Especially after the action-books GoF and OotP a calmer book was needed for the characters' development and interaction. But although it's calmer, it never gets boring. Seeing Lord Voldemort's past was very exciting and put CoS for me in a completely new light. HBP brings a lot of discussion material to us readers and I love it when there's so much you can discuss about and so many different ways to see things. It was exactly what was needed before the climax of book 7 and made me look forward to this even more! So many mysteries to solve – the whole ending is one big cliffhanger.

Did you like the fourth movie or not and why?
Well, I never like the movies as much as the books. I love every detail from the books and I guess this is a part of the series' success. Of course, many of these details can't be shown in a film. I know that films are a different medium than books but I've been a bit disappointed by each HP-film. Generally, I liked the fourth film. There were very great scenes, [such] as the 2 nd task, the ball, the ferret and the school life. I think the 3 rd task is pretty amazing, although I'd have liked to see the Skrewts and the Sphinx and so on. The graveyard scene has been done very well, I think. I was only disappointed by the number of Death Eaters who apparated. And I don't think it was appropriate to let Lucius Malfoy put down his mask. So now I've arrived at the things I don't like. What I found the worst thing in the whole film was how Dumbledore was portrayed. It doesn't match his personality to shake a student and he doesn't need to shout in order to silence the students. The first task disappointed me, they could have spent time and money they put into that dragon-chasing-Harry-over -Hogwarts-scene better. And then, by my opinion, Emma Watson is too pretty to play Hermione. Where's the bushy hair? But it's Hollywood and I guess a film with a main character who doesn't match the current image of what is beautiful (By the way, I loved JKR's rant!) wouldn't come into the cinemas at all. The acting of the young actors has quite improved since PoA and especially Daniel Radcliffe did a great job!

If you could spend the day as one EVIL character from the books, who would it be?
I guess I'd like to be Draco Malfoy. He is a character with traits that I don't possess and which I never will possess. He's arrogant and rich and normally gets everything he wants (apart from when Harry comes in the way).

Which GOOD character would you want to be for a day?
I'd like to be one of the Weasley twins. It must be great to run this joke shop, to have a lot of fun and to invent new joke items each day! Plus, they've a great family I'd really like to join for a day.

If you could have any magical power what would it be?
I would like to see what people really think. Today, so many people lie and pretend to be friendly but think completely otherwise at the same moment. Plus, it would make many things easier, so I could just tell if a boy likes me or not J .

What is your favourite moment of the series so far?
Oh, that is one hard question for me. I like the series as a whole, not as a sample of favourite moments. I like nearly everything about the books and I'd do better in giving you my favourite situations, as moment really asks for a short episode. There is this wonderful moment in PS when Hagrid comes to tell Harry he's a wizard. I really love this! And I like Neville's development in OotP. But a moment that really made my day was when Ron declared his love to Hermione in HBP because she had fixed his essay.

Is Snape REALLY good or evil and is Dumbledore REALLY dead?
To start with the more simple matter (for me), Dumbledore is really dead. He was hit by the Avada Kedavra and there's no way surviving it (unless you're Harry Potter). He fell down that tower – even if he had survived the curse, the downfall would have killed him. Then, Harry's bodybind lifted. I think this is the final evidence that Dumbledore is dead. A spell only lifts when the counter-curse is cast, which is in this case impossible, as none other than Dumbledore knew that Harry was there and Dumbledore was too far away (down the tower). So this leaves only room for the second possibility, that the spell only lifted because Dumbledore was dead. Apart from the reasons which can be picked directly from HBP, there's the point that JKR had to kill Dumbledore. Harry is the hero and has to face Voldemort alone. It's the ultimate climax of the series, now that Harry isn't protected by anyone anymore. I think book 7 needs Dumbledore to be dead, or Harry would never step outside his mentor's shadow.

I was convinced Snape was an evil character for five books, and this didn't change after HBP. I remember calling a friend and saying: “I was right, Snape is evil, he killed Dumbledore!” But then I started reading the discussions in the CoS-Forums about Snape's character and the Unbreakable Vow. I must admit that I was very impressed by the arguments for Snape as a good character, especially the theory that Dumbledore wanted Snape to kill him. But I'm not completely convinced. To tell the truth, I'm quite unsure if Snape is good or evil. There are pros and cons and I'll just wait for book 7 to find out.

Will Harry survive the 7th book?
Yes, definitely. What you have to keep in mind is that the HP-series has a moral, and this is “Be good, be brave, stand to your friends” and – most important of all – the decision between what is right and what is easy. Harry incorporates all these attitudes. He is brave, he is good, he fights for his friends and he decides to fight for what is good, no matter how hard this fight will be. So what moral would it be if he got killed by Voldemort? Wouldn't it be a bit contradictory? Something along the lines “Act like Harry and you'll also be killed”? No, I can't imagine that Harry will be killed. HP is a children book series after all, and there must be a moral.

Do you have anything else you'd like to add? Maybe a theory you've concocted, a shout-out?
Well, it's not really a theory, but I'd like to say to everyone who worries about never seeing Hogwarts again, that I'm very sure Hogwarts will play a role in book 7. It's a source of wisdom and knowledge and even if the trio (or foursome?) goes on the hunt for the horcruxes, they will need Hogwarts. And maybe they'll find a special headmaster's picture in the headmistress's office which can provide them with help.

I want to say hello to my family and friends. Special greetings go to my best friend Simon who has listened to my endless babbling about Harry Potter. Then I would like to say a big “thank you” to everyone who has joined my homepage – your headmistress has become Mugglenet's “Fan of the week”! Also I'd like to greet everyone who knows me under my nick “Mira Miracle” from other RPGs and Homepages. My special thanks go to Greg who has chosen me and has given me my best Easter Eggs ever!

Potter Profile - Steph

April 16, 2006

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