So, I decided that instead of writing about the third book and film, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (since I haven’t finished re-reading the 3rd book), I’d write about my 2 favorite characters; Fred and George Weasley. I honestly think they are the funniest characters in the entire Harry Potter series. Their witty sense of humor and perfect sense of comedic timing make every moment they are on the screen quite enjoyable. Their looks help with that as well. LOL. But it is their loyalty to their family and friends, in particular, Harry, that make them stand out among others. While their older brother Percy, the "over-achiever" of the family, has been estranged from the family because he disagrees that Lord Voldemort has returned to power and thinks the family is jealous of his success, they retain their devotion to their family and to the fight against Voldemort and his followers. Though neither were what you would call "scholarly" they performed decently in school. Their true passion was pranks, and they started a business called "Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes", which began as a small business venture that they ran from their dormitories while attending Hogwarts. It included many practical joke items, as well as candies that could help people fake illnesses to get out of class (such as the one that caused fake warts to pop up on one's face).This later turned into their career once they left Hogwarts, as they opened up a joke shop at Diagon Alley (the main shopping center in the wizarding world) much to the dismay of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. However, once their parents saw how successful the business really was, they learned to accept their sons’ chosen career paths. Despite their departure from Hogwarts and moving out of the Weasley household, they were still very much devoted to Dumbledore’s Army, a group formed by Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger, in order to help train fellow students to fight against Lord Voldemort and his followers, known as Death Eaters. This group was basically a student version of The Order of The Phoenix (also the name of the 5th book!), a group of adult wizards (which included Harry’s and Ron’s parents) who fought in the First Wizarding War against Voldemort. The twins even assisted in recruiting former Hogwarts students (including Oliver Wood!!!) to help with the cause. One of my favorite scenes from the entire series is when the twins have decided to drop out of Hogwarts just weeks from their graduation because of their hatred for the new headmaster, Dolores Umbridge, who ordered that the former headmaster Albus Dumbledore be sent to Azkaban Prison. It is later revealed that she is a supporter of Lord Voldemort. As one last prank they pull on her, they break into the exam room where she is administering exams to the 5th year students, come flying in on their brooms, set off a bunch of fireworks, including a large dragon which chases Umbridge out of the castle, and basically start a massive riot at the school. All the students, and even some teachers, come running out, cheering, and the twins fly off on their brooms, setting off one last firework, which explodes and form a giant W in the sky. That is their final scene in the movie, and they figuratively AND literally, go out with a BANG.Friday, May 2, 2008
Oh, those silly Weasley boys!
So, I decided that instead of writing about the third book and film, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (since I haven’t finished re-reading the 3rd book), I’d write about my 2 favorite characters; Fred and George Weasley. I honestly think they are the funniest characters in the entire Harry Potter series. Their witty sense of humor and perfect sense of comedic timing make every moment they are on the screen quite enjoyable. Their looks help with that as well. LOL. But it is their loyalty to their family and friends, in particular, Harry, that make them stand out among others. While their older brother Percy, the "over-achiever" of the family, has been estranged from the family because he disagrees that Lord Voldemort has returned to power and thinks the family is jealous of his success, they retain their devotion to their family and to the fight against Voldemort and his followers. Though neither were what you would call "scholarly" they performed decently in school. Their true passion was pranks, and they started a business called "Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes", which began as a small business venture that they ran from their dormitories while attending Hogwarts. It included many practical joke items, as well as candies that could help people fake illnesses to get out of class (such as the one that caused fake warts to pop up on one's face).This later turned into their career once they left Hogwarts, as they opened up a joke shop at Diagon Alley (the main shopping center in the wizarding world) much to the dismay of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. However, once their parents saw how successful the business really was, they learned to accept their sons’ chosen career paths. Despite their departure from Hogwarts and moving out of the Weasley household, they were still very much devoted to Dumbledore’s Army, a group formed by Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger, in order to help train fellow students to fight against Lord Voldemort and his followers, known as Death Eaters. This group was basically a student version of The Order of The Phoenix (also the name of the 5th book!), a group of adult wizards (which included Harry’s and Ron’s parents) who fought in the First Wizarding War against Voldemort. The twins even assisted in recruiting former Hogwarts students (including Oliver Wood!!!) to help with the cause. One of my favorite scenes from the entire series is when the twins have decided to drop out of Hogwarts just weeks from their graduation because of their hatred for the new headmaster, Dolores Umbridge, who ordered that the former headmaster Albus Dumbledore be sent to Azkaban Prison. It is later revealed that she is a supporter of Lord Voldemort. As one last prank they pull on her, they break into the exam room where she is administering exams to the 5th year students, come flying in on their brooms, set off a bunch of fireworks, including a large dragon which chases Umbridge out of the castle, and basically start a massive riot at the school. All the students, and even some teachers, come running out, cheering, and the twins fly off on their brooms, setting off one last firework, which explodes and form a giant W in the sky. That is their final scene in the movie, and they figuratively AND literally, go out with a BANG.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets is the second book in the Harry Potter, and finds our hero facing the dark Lord Voldemort for a third time (once in his infancy, the second time at the end of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone). This time however, Voldemort takes the form of his 16-year old self, the former Hogwarts student, Tom Marvolo Riddle (which is an anagram for “I am Lord Voldemort”). His new self is “a memory preserved in a diary for 50 years”. This diary was sneaked into Ginny Weasley’s cauldron by one of Voldemort’s followers, Lucius Malfoy, while the Weasleys, along with Potter and their friend Hermione Granger, shopped for school supplies at Flourish and Blotts bookstore. I like this book and movie just a tad more than the first because of the more sophisticated element of danger in the Chamber of Secrets. Although Harry faced Voldemort in the first book, Voldemort was in a weakened form, and fused to the head of Professor Quirrell, so he was unable to do much in terms of harming Harry. However, in the Chamber of Secrets he was more powerful, as he had taken the form of his 16-year old self, and was drawing power from Ginny as she lay dying in the chamber. Also, the threat of the basilisk, which killed people just by making eye contact, made the story much more exciting and kept readers and viewers on the edge of their seats. The introduction of Dobby the house-elf interjected comic relief into this very serious story line. The multiple Quidditch scenes were also enjoyable, especially with the adorable Quidditch captain Oliver Wood (awww). OK, I’ll admit, I mainly liked this movie more because Oliver Wood was in more scenes than he was in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. But other than the eye candy, it was still such an exciting movie! My favorite scene is when the Weasley boys have arrived back at their home, called The Burrow, after a night-long car ride in which they rescued Harry from the Dursley’s house with their flying car. This was Harry’s first time in a wizard family’s house, and he was absolutely astonished to see the dishes scrubbing themselves, a sweater being knit on its own, and something that looked like a clock, but in fact had several hands, one with each member of the family’s picture, and instead of numbers, had several locations listed (such as home, school, work, etc.) and each hand of the “clock”, faces the location of wherever that person is currently at. Although Mrs. Weasley scolds the boys for leaving without notice, she welcomes Harry with open arms to her home and cooks him breakfast. Ginny, who is upstairs, comes running down to ask her mother where her jumper is, and is mortified that Harry Potter is at her house, seeing her in her pajamas, so she quickly runs back upstairs. Harry, confused by what has just occurred, asks Ron if he did anything, and Ron replies, “She’s been talking about you all summer. It’s a bit annoying actually.” This shows that Ginny fancies Harry and foreshadows their future relationship and (***SPOILER ALERT!!!***) their eventual marriage in the epilogue of the final book in the series. Can’t WAIT to finally read that one … again!
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