The Harry Potter Thread

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What is your favorite Harry Potter movie?

The Philosophers Stone
2
15%
The Chamber of Secrets
0
No votes
The Prisoner of Azkaban
1
8%
The Goblet of Fire
3
23%
The Order of the Phoenix
1
8%
The Half Blood Prince
1
8%
The Deathly Hallows Part 1
1
8%
The Deathly Hallows part 2
4
31%
 
Total votes: 13

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Astronomer
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Post by Astronomer »

Dumbledore. He's the only sane character in all the books.
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TigerintheShadows
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Post by TigerintheShadows »

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone wrote:Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.

"Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!

"Thank you!"

He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Harry didn't know whether to laugh or not.

"Is he--a bit mad?" he asked Percy uncertainly.

"Mad?" said Percy airily. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?"
Yep. Dumbledore's the only sane man... ;)

My favorite character is...Harry. And I'm probably the only fan in the entire universe to think so. The reason why I like Harry so much is basically his journey. Was he perfect? No. Was he your average White Knight hero? No. But he grew. He grew throughout the whole story and did incredibly heroic, brave things not because he wanted to or even because he had to--he did it because it was the right thing to do.

Plus, he can be really Adorkable. :inlove:
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Sherlock
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Post by Sherlock »

Definitely Snape, but I'm a sucker for antiheroes like that. I thought his whole backstory thing was really well written without being overly sappy.
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Post by 31899 »

I have a few favourite character, but my favourite is definately not Severus Snape (Like I have said before). I also don't agree that he is as "layered and complicated" as his fans say. Sorry Snape fans.
Last edited by 31899 on Tue Jul 03, 2012 9:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
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TigerintheShadows
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Post by TigerintheShadows »

Oh, he's layered and complicated, it's just that he's not the most layered and complicated out of all the characters.

Snape is one of my least favorites. I appreciate him as a character; the series wouldn't be the same without him. And yes, he did some heroic things and he could be very mature. He was just very emotionally immature, and was, to me, the best example of a person who's let a root of bitterness take hold of them.
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"Death's got an Invisibility Cloak?" "So he can sneak up on people. Sometimes he gets bored of running at them, flapping his arms and shrieking..."
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Taps
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Post by Taps »

Well, their are the old favorites everybody could say is their favorite character. Fred, George, Ron, Neville, Snape... I could go on. But my three favorites are Ginny, Umbridge, and Draco. Heres why.

As for Ginny I loved to watch her grow from the shy little girl in the first few books into such a strong female character from book five on. Pretty much any line she said from Order on I loved. She has a very brave loyal Lets Do This attitude and I admire that. Ginny is a great character and the perfect match for Harry IMO

Umbridge- ah Umbridge. We all love to hate her. Honestly I was boiling up inside when I first read Order, and that's why it is now my second favorite book- because of Umbridge and Ginnny. Honestly, if any character is stirring up such strong emotions in me- she's got to be well written. and Umbridge was. I hissed at Harry's first detention, growled when Harry was banned from quidditch, yelled when Harry was being tortured and cheered when the Centaurs came in the Forbidden forest- the book stirred up strong emotions in me- all because of Umbridge.

Draco: Well, in the first three or four books Draco is one dimensional. He's the bully, the rival the main Protagonist has in every series. But from book five on there was a change in Draco. He started to become more and more of a Reluctant Antagonist. A real threat. He's the reason Ron, Dumbledore, and Katie Bell got severely injured/killed in the sixth book, and partly responsible for Crabb's death as well. We also got to see a very scared and emotional side of Draco in the sixth book. He was terrified and sad and angry, because he messed with the wrong people. He got tangled up in evil, and their was no way out for him. I thought that was a very powerful moment in the sixth book at the Lightning Struck Tower. He's also partially responsible for the downfall of Voldemort, what with the Elder Wand Fiasco and all.

So those are my three favorite characters, and why I love them all.
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Post by TigerintheShadows »

At first, I was like, "Umbridge?!" I don't think I had a moment of frustration to spare when you mentioned Draco as a favorite. ;)

Then I read your analysis and I was like, "Okay. I see where you're coming from." Yeah, I hate Umbridge precisely because she's such a well-written villain (aside from just being annoying and irksome).

As for Draco...well, I see what you mean about his character development and layering. The problem with Draco is that his legions of fangirls (who like Tom Felton, by the way; not Draco) have really turned me off. I have two friends who are like, "DRACO IS SOOOO COOL" and talk about how sympathetic he was and how abused he must have been as a child to say all the things he said--completely ignoring the fact that the Malfoys' love and care for one another was just about their only redeeming quality. So, apparently, if you're hot, calling someone the wizarding equivalent of the n-word is a byproduct of your supposed "horrible childhood" (and the fact that your biggest rival actually was abused as a child and turned out to be an admirable and heroic character who hated such prejudices is completely irrelevant).

//rant over

So I voted for Philosopher's Stone. It was a hard toss between PS and CoS, but I chose PS because it was a bit lighter and softer than CoS and because after PS, you still have one more movie containing Chris Columbus and John Williams working together. I really, really wish Columbus had done all the movies...my Quidditch... -sob-
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Sherlock
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Post by Sherlock »

Meh, I need JJJJ in here to defend my Snape argument! Either that or the one crazy dude in my college who did some sort of literary analysis on his character. ;)

Meanwhile, you guys are just going to have to trust me here. I totally know what I'm talking about.
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Post by 31899 »

I think that Severus Snape is a very simple character who really just suffered from obsession, but I do understand where you and his other fans are coming from. Agree to disagree?
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Post by darcie »

I like Snape as a character! He's the guy you love to hate, until you realize he did it all for love. He's that horrible Bryan Adams song from Robin Hood. \:D/
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Post by TigerintheShadows »

It's not whether or not you know what you're talking about that's the problem, Sherlock, and I get what you mean about liking him as a character. It's just that all of Snape's fangirls are extremely off-putting, oftentimes squeeing over the fact that
he was in love with Lily (read: was actually capable of love)
and will handwave and excuse Snape's abusive, outright bullying behavior towards his students as "coolness". It's the same problem with Draco fangirls--they will sit there and excuse every flaw about the character while ignoring the fact that flaws are part of what makes a good character worth their salt.
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"Death's got an Invisibility Cloak?" "So he can sneak up on people. Sometimes he gets bored of running at them, flapping his arms and shrieking..."
"And now the spinning. Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile."
"It unscrews the other way."
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Post by 31899 »

Has anyone else been watching the Quidditch summer games?

http://www.internationalquidditch.org/2 ... ve-stream/
Last edited by 31899 on Sun Jul 08, 2012 10:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Sherlock »

FYI, I was referring to "good" in the "interestingly written, unique character" sense, not "good" as in "morally upstanding." ;)

That said, I think some of the best written literary characters are also the most heavily flawed. Heathcliffe, anyone?
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Post by TigerintheShadows »

Sherlock wrote:FYI, I was referring to "good" in the "interestingly written, unique character" sense, not "good" as in "morally upstanding." ;)
I figured you did. I have nothing against the former interpretation, but--and I'm sure you could never have guessed--I have no patience for the latter. ;) That being said, I apologize for the wall of text that was my (unneeded) raging.
Sherlock wrote:That said, I think some of the best written literary characters are also the most heavily flawed. Heathcliffe, anyone?
They usually are, because those who can write are those who can give backstory and motive, which is always interesting to explore about characters.
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Post by 31899 »

Now that we've reached a mild agreement on Severus Snape... Bellatrix Lestrange, dead or petrified?
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Post by Aeva »

Sherlock wrote:That said, I think some of the best written literary characters are also the most heavily flawed. Heathcliffe, anyone?
YES. :inlove:

About Bellatrix, I rather enjoyed the moment in the movie when Mrs. Weasley eliminated her. \:D/
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Post by Steve »

Well, I saw about ten-twenty minutes of Order of the Phoenix on TV at my friend's. That's about all the Harry Potter I've ever seen.
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Post by ~JCGJ~ »

Aeva wrote:
Sherlock wrote:That said, I think some of the best written literary characters are also the most heavily flawed. Heathcliffe, anyone?
YES. :inlove:

About Bellatrix, I rather enjoyed the moment in the movie when Mrs. Weasley eliminated her. \:D/
YES.
I just LOVE her line (even though it has a bad word in it... :anxious:).
It really shows how much of a Mama Bear Mrs. Weasley is.
It's one of my favorite moments in the entire series...
Well, that, and Harry's first Quidditch Match. :D

I must say, though, Luna Lovegood is my FAVORITE character from both the books, and the movies.
My favorite in the books alone would have to be Dobby.
In the movies, it would have to be Dumbledor.
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Post by TigerintheShadows »

Michael Gambon is the best Dumbledore EVER. \:D/

The whole scene with Molly vs. Bellatrix was just wondrous. I cheered. I knew what would happen, having read Plugged In's review, but I didn't know it would be that awesome until I saw it.

Did anyone else totally love the ending scene of Deathly Hallows Part 2? The music in the scene...just...man.
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"Death's got an Invisibility Cloak?" "So he can sneak up on people. Sometimes he gets bored of running at them, flapping his arms and shrieking..."
"And now the spinning. Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile."
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Post by 31899 »

I'm in the not dead boat, because I feel that by killing her it would have gone against a lot of what the story stood for, and sparing life wherever it could be spared, and not killing where it is not necessary. (I'd don't care what the films think).
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