tigra

I was thinking about it and I think Dumbledore was a descendent of the brother who was the original "master" of the elder wand. Pure speculation, but it fits, especially since his family ended up in the same town as James Potter's family. And it fits in terms of all 3 of them being extremely powerful wizards, showing their talents at a very young age. (Harry flying a toy broomstick before he could walk? Before Voldemort "marked" him?) It also fits in terms of the age of the brothers- the oldest chose the wand (Dumbledore), the middle one chose the stone (Voldemort) and the youngest, the cloak and it fits in terms of the lives they led.

Decant it because it will taste better that way. Its not the best wine, but decanting it helps a lot. (serving it slightly chilled helps too) If your guests want better wine, they can bring it themselves. That's one reason I bring wine to gatherings and dinner parties.

That would have been very cool! I liked that Dudley turned semi human in the end, and that Petunia *almost* said something to Harry, and from Snape's memories, that Petunia did care about Lily and was more jealous than ashamed of her. True, there was no explanation of what became of Umbridge, however there was a massive "breakout" right under her nose. We can guess. Voldemort might have had her killed for incompetence, and if he happened to SEE her, proudly wearing the fake Slytherin locket, he would have fed her to the snake for sure! And if that didn't happen, she'd have been locked up in Azkaban after Kingsley became minister fo magic. I loved their "raids" on the Ministry and Gringotts. I loved Harry taking Moody's "mad eye", how they liberated the "mudbloods" that had been dragged in for "questioning", and how Harry freed the poor abused dragon in Gringotts. Honestly, I can't remember enjoying a book quite this much ever.

I definitely HOPE the next two films are 1000X better than Order of the Pheonix because that was just really really bad. If I had to guess, I'd say Bellatrix killed both Tonks and Lupin and although I enjoyed both characters, I didn't mind mainly because Lupin has been kind of a sad tragic character all along. With Teddy an orphan whose parents died as heroes, he didn't grow up and have to live as an outcast the way Lupin did. Plus, they died together which is better than one of them dying and the other one grieving for the rest of his or her life. I don't know that Snape LOVED Harry, but that moment when he's dying and he asks Harry to look in his eyes so he can see Lily's eyes one last time? Not to mention, the fact that Harry knew to go to him as he was dying and knew he had something to say again just shows the growth. I've got to agree about Percy. He's a Weasley- I wanted there to be a better explanation than "I've been such a Prat!"

I had mold in the house I was buying, so the seller had to pay for it, but I had to pay for the inspection- which I think is the real ripoff. In my case, the mold was in the attic, and it was a potential deal breaker for me. I knew from first hand experience how bad living with mold can be! Our home inspector found the mold, but we had to bring in a "mold inspector" for another $350.00 before any mold removal service would come in and give a "free" estimate. And the "mold inspector" did nothing more than say, "Yes, that's mold all right!" which of course, we already knew. The estimate the first company gave was over $7,000.00-we're talking about a full but unfinished attic- no drywall, no cabinets, just some wood slats to be replaced and treated. (They might have installed a vent as well, to kee the problem from recurring!) I let my seller find another company that took care of it for about half that. So, I don't know- $1300.00 doesn't sound all that bad to me for what they are going to do in your house.

If you don't like the books, why open the thread?

I think its best enjoyed as a series. The book might stand on its own, but you'll miss a lot. The series really is amazing. There's a reason this one sold 20 million copies in just one day.

The Malfoy clan post Voldemort? I do think it was explained with them hanging around during the victory celebration (Narcissa played a vital role at the end) but looking a little bit out of place, and Harry's nod to Draco on the Hogwarts platform as they were seeing their children off. They were never meant to be friends.

Don't read them, but so far the only spoilers are in the clearly labeled thread. And enjoy your reading!

Snape being a "good guy" really wasn't a surprise at all. The surprise was that it took until almost the end of the book before it was revealed, but I think that's how it had to be. For one thing, Voldemort would have known if Snape was still actively working with the order and for another, Harry wasn't ready for the truth. He needed his anger and hatred to fuel him at the beginning. I also thought it was interesting that Harry was a descendent of the same old wizarding family as Voldemort. Could Dumbledore have been a descendent of the third brother?

The naked crying child was Voldemort/ Tom Riddle- or what he would become after he died. That's why Harry told him to try and feel some remorse. He was showing him mercy. And I LOVE that Harry disarmed Voldemort and his own spell backfired on him - Harry's signature move that Lupin criticized him for. Through all 7 books, did Harry take a single life? I loved that each of the main "child" characters had a shot at doing something heroic- it wasn't all Harry. I especially loved the significance of Neville pulling the sword out of the sorting hat and killing the snake with it. I loved them being "underground" and causing trouble for the deatheaters, and the whole "resistance" movement. I liked that in spite of everything they were doing and handling, we were reminded that they were still kids from time to time. Ron's insecurities, for example, and how he had to overcome them. The bit with Percy- I thought it would come out that he'd been secretly working for the order all along, and that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley knew and that made Mrs. Weasley worry all that much more because of the danger he was in as a "double agent". So, I guess I was a little disappointed in the whole "I was a prat" reconcilliation bit. Pretty small complaint, I guess. Not enough Ginny, but you still knew she was there waiting for Harry and doing her part. As I was reading, things kept clicking into place, and I had a really hard time putting the book down even for a few minutes. I loved it from start to finish. And Teddy? I kind of thought he'd end up with Harry too, but he was only 17. I'm OK with Harry being a godfather, just like the kind of godfather Sirius might have been to him if things had been different.

I loved it!

I think everyone is skipping the WFFC this year, you know, since it isn't happening and all.

??? What, are women not allowed to have their names on mortgages in Alabama??? Yah--was thinking just that.. Am I the only one who thinks this is outrageous?? Presumably this is balanced by the woman getting the house in a divorce? Not all that long ago, in Illinois an unmarried woman HAD to be shown as a Spinster on deeds, mortgages and other conveyances.

Years ago, I ended a relationship and buying the house, or actually talking about buying a house "together" was the catalyst. Bottom line- I thought we'd be "equal" partners and were building a life together, headed for marriage, etc., but he pointed out the disparity in our incomes and my inability to match his contribution dollar for dollar since living in the house would cost more than our apartment did. He wanted everything in his name, but still expected me to pay my share. I went from girlfriend/ partner to "tenant" just like that, and he would have been a landlord with extra benefits. It wasn't so much the house or the money, but that IS stressful. The process made things pretty obvious where I stood in the relationship and it wasn't something I could live with so I walked away. No regrets.

I usually don't care about spoilers, but this situation bugs me and I'm trying really hard not to pay attention or look at the sites that are posting them. I think seeing the "spoilers" will spoil my enjoyment of this final installment, but I'm human and very tempted to look. In fact, I'm going to try my best and ignore this thread until I've got my copy and I've finished it. And since it was leaked all over the place, I actually think the publishers ought to just say "F*** IT!" and release the book now instead of waiting another 36 hours. I'm sure most of the major stores have received their shipments by now.

Oh I know it could have been worse, and I did enjoy parts of the movie. I just thought all in all, it was very disappointing and some of the liberties the director took were just plain wrong. I was able to watch and enjoy all of the others without nit picking! But, its also probably not the best or easiest book to make a movie out of- I think its kind of a bridge between the 1st 4 and the final 2. In this book, the character development is more important than the plot and sub plots- the kids especially do an awful lot of growing up in this book. That didn't translate well at all on the screen.

I have read the books and for every other HP movie, I've been able to keep the series content in mind and pretty much fill in the blanks and get a lot of enjoyment out of the films. Goblet of Fire also left a LOT out, as did Prisoner of Azkaban. But this one? It was way too disjointed, left out critical storylines, and made some changes that were really out of context- stuff like Harry handing over the prophecy to Malfoy, hearing the prophecy in front of his friends and the full importance of the prophecy not being explained. I walked out of the theatre shaking my head!

This is the first of the 5 movies that I really did not enjoy, but there were still some good moments. And as far as I know, they are comitted to making all 7 and the 3 "kids" are under contract for the last 2. I'm sure Half Blood Prince is already in production. Unfortunately, the BOOK is very much about storyline and character development and virtually all of that was lost in this movie. Even the significance of the prophecy was lost. So, really, what was the point? Like I said, there were some good moments, but all in all, the movie was a HUGE disappointment.

I'm going to join the list of people who thought the movie was really really bad- a HUGE disappointment. Even with Goblet of Fire, I was able to fill in the balnks and enjoy the movie een with so much content missing. Not this one- the director borrowed the darker vision from Prisoner of Azkaban but left none of the flow and none of the magic. Key elements of the plot were twisted and distorted or just missing entirely. The scene at the end where Voldemort is possessing Harry and he says "I feel sorry for you!"?????? WTF was THAT???? Or Dumbledore allowing Snape to drag Harry out of his office for an emergency occlumency lesson after Mr. Weasley is attacked? Harry listening to the prophecy in front of his friends? There were some good perfromances, but all in all, this one strayed way too far from the book.

I actually got out of bed this morning and hit the gym!

That reminds me of the time I ran into my manger on my way into an interview- an hour before my normal start time, dressed much nicer than my usual work attire (our office was fairly casual) and walking into the building next door where the "competition" was located. DOH! Yeah, she knew but didn't say anything directly to me. As for the rest, just be yourself and YES "I'm a perfectionist" is a cheesy answer most people can see right through.

I really enjoyed the first 2 movies and thought they were probably good just as movies even if you didn't read and love the books. The last 2 involved a lot of "filling in the blanks" and I don't think anyone who wasn't familiar with the books could really appreciate them. But, I still enjoyed them! I figure this one will be pretty much the same. So far, they've done a pretty good job with casting (although new Dumbledore STILL doesn't do it for me......) and that really helps. Its just really hard to make a 5-700 page book into a movie. Plus, the directors are dealing with characters and stories that everyone is soooo familiar with and every new director wants to put their "stamp" on it too. A lot tends to get lost in the process....... And, yes, I'm a geek- eagerly awaiting Deathly Hallows. I'm trying to decide whether or not to make the midnight trip to Borders or just head over there 1st thing in the morning for my pre-ordered copy!

The previews look pretty good and I probably will see it sometime this weekend but I'm way more excited about the book coming out NEXT weekend! I know they had to have hacked the book to shreds to turn it into a movie. I read that although its the longest book of the series so far, its also the shortest movie.

Does passing a beer bottle between the passenger side and the back count as points?