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Potter Profile - Zimrahil

March 9, 2006

Give us your review of Half-Blood Prince.
This is definitely one of my favorites of the series so far, and I almost didn't read it at all. It is very difficult for me to get a hold of the books to read and since Lucius wasn't in it, I thought I wouldn't bother. Then came the explosion online as a result of Dumbledore's “death”. Suddenly curious, I managed to read just the end of it. I started reading all the discussions about whether he were dead or not dead and realized I was at a huge disadvantage without having read the entire thing. I quickly scrounged a copy and read it through a few times, simply in order to better enter the debate. I ended up finding it highly entertaining, particularly the Potions bits. The main clincher for me was the first chapter. I am obsessed with the British Parliament, and as soon as I saw the words “Prime Minister” I couldn't put the book down. I thought that opening part was brilliantly written, and very humorous. Totally in character! I managed to grind my way through the part with my nemesis Cissa, just because Bella was in it. I had heard about Bella from Nanoa who runs one of the other Harry Potter Blends sites and is completely devoted to her. I thought she was insane at first, but after reading about Bella for myself I could see why. In any case, I found the book well written, and the plots mostly intriguing, particularly Crabbe and Goyle as girls. That was just hilarious! I just want to say here that I do not think Draco is a werewolf and that is a crazy theory. He had a dark mark, not a bite mark! I really wish Slytherin could have won more Quidditch, although how she brought Ginny and Harry together was very sweet. I was particularly impressed with the scene of Draco crying in the bathroom and going to Myrtle over and over. I really feel sorry for the poor little chap, makes you want to hug him. Actually I really felt for him the entire book, which is such a switch from the others. The scene at the Christmas party with Snape is especially telling. In general I like how the book put a lot of the characters at their limit and it was fascinating to see how they reacted. Although most of the adults just reacted by running to the nearest sherry cabinet. The end was very well done, I thought the cutoff was quite appropriate, although I was sad to see Hogwart's go. In general I think the book was really about the fact that people in Slytherin are human too. They have feelings and motivations and problems. They aren't just faceless killers.

Did you like the fourth movie or not and why?
I had a very mixed reaction to the fourth movie. I thought parts of it were very well done indeed but a lot of it was either too rushed or too altered from the books. That being said, I think the soundtrack was brilliant and listen to it constantly. I've been a fan of Patrick Doyle's work ever since Henry V. I was unable to see the movie in theatres, much to my disappointment, being unable to figure out how to sneak out without explaining myself. Where's an invisibility cloak when you need one? I did manage to watch the DVD a few times through, however, and I think I wore out the scenes with Lucius Malfoy. I must have watched the bit at the Quidditch World Cup at least thirty times over and over. I just adore seeing his hair blown in the wind and that gorgeous evil smile he has. But enough about the peerless Jason Isaacs. I thought the World Cup was quite well done by far too short. Oh and did I mention, the opening was quite well done. I like how they moved that scene to the beginning and the lighting was quite beautiful. As an artist I appreciated the composition of some of the shots going up the stairs and so forth. All that being said, there was a great deal I did not like about the film. Mostly my complaints have to do with Dumbledore. I think he was very badly portrayed in the film, he goes from acting like Peeves to yelling and shaking Harry for no apparent reason. Quite unlike how I always felt he should be from the book descriptions. I am terrified they will ruin him in OOTP. The whole dragon sequence, while very exciting, really was so far off it just bothered me. The Yule Ball had some praiseworthy merits, particularly Fleur's gown and the music which I loved, but again there were a lot of elements, particularly costuming, that I did not find very pleasing. The maze scene was well done but it was dragged on too long. Then again I just want more screen time for Lucius close-ups! The Dark Lord's wand bothered me, I liked the portrayal of the Death Eaters arrival, very elegant. Lucius was fabulous of course. Just not enough of him, they needed to have some more close-ups when he tried to kill Harry and the Dark Lord stopped him. It was so far away it was difficult to figure out what was going on. The end, with the ship, I enjoyed, but I think Emma was way over acting in that scene. Not that I'm complaining, I think they did a decent job overall. As long as I have my thirty second Lucius Malfoy scenes to put on endless loops and watch I'll be happy.

If you could spend the day as one EVIL character from the books, who would it be? That is rather a tricky question, because since I am a Death Eater supporter the question of what is an “evil” character becomes rather difficult to define. But if you want to take the usual form of defining an “evil” character it would have to be Bellatrix. I admire her strength, loyalty and devotion to family honour. She isn't afraid to have fun, but is equally willing to give up her entire life to a cause. To be able to stand up in court, knowing the consequences, and declare your allegiance is just beautiful. Unlike many of the other Death Eaters, I believe she truly does love the Dark Lord. She does not obey him out of fear like many of the others. I am fascinated as to what will happen to her in the end.

Which GOOD character would you want to be for a day?
Again, taking what muggles would define as “good” (if it were up to me these two answers would be reversed) I think it would be Professor McGonagall. She is a lot like what I am in real life, right down to the hair in a tight bun. She cares deeply but tends to use a “tough love” approach. She won't take anything from anyone, I particularly thought she was brilliant in OOTP when dealing with Umbridge. Now that's a character we can all agree is evil! I think her Animagus form is interesting as well, since after years of ballet I tend to have a rather catlike movement so it would fit well. I would also enjoy teaching a class and give lots of points to Slytherin for a change. With the rumours of her becoming headmistress I would especially like to try it out. Although it would be a lot more fun to be her as headmistress with Snape around so I could boss him about.

If you could have any magical power what would it be?
It is difficult to define power. That is to say if you meant an ability above and beyond the usual wizarding powers it would have to being a Parselmouth. I love snakes and the idea of talking to them and having that ability might get me in a bit closer to The Dark Lord if he also happened to exist. If it was just only one magical ability, I would have to say I would like to be able to use the Imperius Curse. Would be very handy when getting speeding tickets.

What is your favourite moment of the series so far?
That is very difficult to answer. I loved in OOTP when Tonks trips over the umbrella stand, yet again, and Mrs. Black starts screaming about Mudbloods. For some reason I found that highly amusing. I also enjoyed the scene on the train in HBP when Draco is boasting to Pansy and she is stroking his hair. But that was mostly because I was imagining myself in her position, only with Lucius. And how can I leave out Snape's Worst Memory? Proof that James is more evil than Snape!

Is Snape REALLY good or evil and is Dumbledore REALLY dead?
Snape did not kill Dumbledore, he is still alive and Snape is on Dumbledore's side. I have spent so many hours debating this on Leaky that to summarize the arguments would take another thirty pages. Snape is particularly interested in non-verbal spells, Bella stated that you had to truly mean an unforgivable for it to work and the result of the Avada Kedavra in HBP was not typical. Conclusion? Snape said Avada Kedavra and thought Expellarmus. No-one particularly examined the body right away. Snape got all the other Death Eaters out of there before they could confirm it, he deliberately stopped one of them from torturing Harry, and only seemed upset when Harry called him a coward. If he really were undercover, he was going straight to the Dark Lord who would have been very angry that he did Draco's task for him and left his appointed place at Hogwart's. Far from a cowardly act and his anger is perfectly justifiable, particularly since Harry was using his own spells against him that he had deliberately left in Harry's possession, since he knew all about the book. As for the portrait appearing, there is no proof so far that you have to be dead to have a portrait. And if there were a rule about that, and Dumbledore was faking his death, the lack of a portrait would be such a “dead” giveaway that he would have had to figure out a way around that rule and put one up. Clearly it is possible to fake death, as Dumbledore offered to Draco and his family. After all, look what Peter got away with for years! The body can be explained away by several different theories, in fact you don't even see it at the funeral. I will stop now, but I can't be accused of wishful thinking because I really wanted Dumbledore dead. I was highly upset when I realized he was most likely alive!

Will Harry survive the 7th book?
I actually have no idea. Normally I would say no, they would both die entangled in combat, but this is a children's series and it does say Harry Potter on the cover. I forget which HP podcast brought it up, but it really would make no sense to have the entire series about Harry Potter and then kill him off at the end. As they mentioned, who would buy stuff with a dead kid on the cover? It just doesn't make sense. But it would be a very dramatic ending. I think instead someone else in the trio will die, such as Hermione.

Do you have anything else you'd like to add? Maybe a theory you've concocted, a shout-out?
I have a lot of theories, most of them I like to sound out on Leaky. I do have a shout-out to Pandora. She blabbed about Draco so constantly and sent me so many Slytherin pictures that I finally had to cave in and read the series. Of course it is also her fault that I turned Slytherin in a way. I also want to say that liking Slytherin and then turning into a supporter of the Dark Lord is not a natural progression. You can be Slytherin and “good”. I don't fall in that group but they do exist and are wonderful people, so don't judge anyone online that says they like Slytherin as an auto-Death-Eater!

And may I just add that MuggleCast is a lifesaver; I have a very boring job early in the week and without the side-splittingly hilarious episodes I would go insane. I think the chapter-by-chapter is brilliant and I only wish the podcast came out more often!

You can check out some of Zimrahil's art here and here! (you will be taken to a page not affiliated with MuggleNet)

Potter Profile - Zimrahil

March 9, 2006

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