POTTER

THE CAT IS LICKING MY FINGERS WHILE I TYPE.

…which has precisely nothing to do with anything whatever, other than the fact that it feels really strange. And now the other one is wandering my room conversing with the walls and if they get into a fight on my desk I will NOT be a happy blogger.

Anyway. The end has come, at last. I went with my parents and Egg and Yoj and TPh to see HP7-2 this morning (because I failed at getting us tickets for the midnight premier.) It was good. It was exciting, and emotional, and just when things got a little too scary it was funny, and Neville kicked ass, and I still want to be Minerva McGonagall when I grow up.

Actually, I want to be Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall. We'll ignore the fact that I have Trelawney's hair.

My heart was racing like a thestral (ohhhh, bad geeky joke) throughout the entire thing. So many intensely emotional moments (spoilers ahead; skip the blue text if you haven’t read the books): The dragon in Gringotts, Minerva calling the stone knights to life, Neville on the bridge, Snape’s death, his memories…Lupin and Tonks…George… I only cried once, but I rarely cry at movies so when I say I was on the verge of tears for half the movie, that should tell you that Egg actually was in tears for half the movie. I even enjoyed the end bit; they did a good job of aging the characters realistically.

But, like everyone, I’m sad that it’s over. Sadder even than I was when the books ended, partly because I wasn’t that impressed with books 6 and 7 the first time around, and partly because I knew the movies were still to come so at least there was more Potter to look forward to.

The thing is, I grew up with Harry Potter. In fact, the HP books are a big part of why I’m such an avid reader still–I’ve always read a lot, but when I was young I didn’t like reading long books. It wasn’t until I was stuck at my grandmother’s with nothing left to read but Chamber of Secrets that I picked up what seemed like the biggest book I’d ever seen besides the dictionary. It took approximately two pages to get me hooked. I devoured the book in two days (my mother had to take the book out of my hands to make me go mini-golfing with my grandmother.) I had nightmares about Voldemort both nights and didn’t care.

I’m about a month older than Daniel Radcliffe. So when I say I grew up with Harry Potter, I really mean it. The last book came out the summer after I graduated from high school; now the last movie has come out two months after I graduated from college. The books aged as I did–and the actors did, too.

It makes me sad to think that my kids–who will read the books, whether they want to or not, and will read them before they see the movies, which they will be required to watch–won’t have the same experience as I did, of literally growing up with Hogwarts. I suppose I could try to artificially recreate it, letting them only read one book a year, but a) I don’t like censorship and b) come on, like that would really work. If your parents told you not to read a book, what would be your first response? Exactly. But then you run into the problem of age-appropriate-ness. My 9-year-old self could handle Tom Riddle and the basilisk; most of the seventh book would have been lost on me. Sigh. Well, it’s a problem I won’t have to worry about for at least a decade. There is that whole business of finding my children’s father first, after all.

In less nostalgic news: Shyomygodhippies I want Ravenclaw’s diadem.

SO PRETTY.

Also, like threadpanda, I’m now jonesing for some HP knitting. Here are my top choices:

 

Harry Potter Scarf (in Ravenclaw colors, naturally) by Qwertz

Minerva’s Lucky Quidditch Socks by Audrey Paquin

 

Lupin Scarf by Dale Hwang

 

Quidditch Sweater by Anne Bergeron

 

Hagrid’s Dragon Blankie by Freshile Fibers (out of my price and patience range at the moment, but I will make one of these one day, I swear!)

Also I want to knit pretty much everything by Anne Kingstone, but my current status as an unemployed post-grad tells me I shall have to wait on those. I’ve been very good about not spending much so I will allow myself to buy yarn for an HP project, but the design has to be free. What do you guys think? I’m leaning towards one of the first two patterns–I don’t feel like dealing with cables in July and I wouldn’t wear the Quidditch Sweater in any of the house colors…I suppose I could do one for the Packers, but I probably wouldn’t wear that much, either. I know: When I get a job, I will make one in the colors of that school.

Also, there is an astonishing dearth of good Dumbledore sock patterns on Ravelry. This is a man who wears a plethora of purple, sees socks in the Mirror of Erised, and was outed by his creator years ago. It’s freaking Dumbledore. (“You’re Harry freaking Potter….”). But never fear, I has IDEAS. And a tablet. And a great talent for half-assing things. (Are you worried yet? You should be.) So I present to you…

Totally impractical? Yes. Totally faboo? Also yes. I imagine these as being sort of oversized moccasin-bed-sock-things. And the mosaic pattern is supposed to go all the way up the leg, but I got lazy. For future reference, if you’re thinking of freehanding a mosaic onto a pair of socks…don’t.

Off to fill the HP void in my life with The Mists of Avalon and apricot pie. Also, holy bejeezus this post has a lot of tags…