Harry Potter-Thon

It's that time again! If you wanna play, head on over to Daily Mish Mash to either play or just read some great movie related posts!




So, I’m on a Harry Potter kick right now. I have no clue where it came from, but when I finished my last book, I had the urge to dive in to the Harry Potter series again. I’ve read every book at least twice. Some I’ve read more than 4 times.

I’m a Harry Potter geek. However, me being me, I’m really only a half geek. I know a lot of facts about the Harry Potter series. Seriously, I know a lot. However, after years of reading the books and watching the movies and reading online, I realize that there’s a lot that I don’t know about the Harry Potter series. And I’m OK with that. That’s not what this post is about.

Last week, when I was in the middle of the book Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, I looked over at my daughter and asked her if she wanted to have a Harry Potter-thon. I explained to her, in response to her blank look, that that means we’d watch all 5 of the Harry Potter movies, back to back to back…well, you get the point. She enthusiastically agreed and the plan was set. We’d start them on Friday night and just watch til we couldn’t watch any more.

Then, to our surprise, my mom said she’d like to join us.

Now, my mom’s a big reader. In fact, all the books in the corner of my room that I haven’t read yet (all 200+ of them) are from her.

However, her taste in books doesn’t run to the fantastical. She likes grounded, real type books. The most “supernatural” or “fantastical” she gets is reading books by Dean Koontz or Stephen King. Otherwise, she doesn’t read it. No matter the rave reviews.

She hasn’t read the Harry Potter series yet but stated that she wanted to delve in to them at some point during her retirement.

I know my mom. I know that she will not get into the series (books or movies) but I gently push her to try them hoping that I’m wrong.

As much as I hate that she was going to watch the movies before reading the books, I gave her a big smile and told her “Great!”.

Friday night rolls around. We had decided to make it an appetizer night. You know, mini egg rolls, pot stickers, pizza rolls, chicken quesadilla rolls, etc…with all their sauces and some I mixed together for dipping.

I had been looking forward to this night for DAYS. I was so excited about this Potter-thon.

Well, as you can possibly guess, anytime you get THAT excited about something, it becomes sort of a letdown.

Light of my life kept asking me to pause the movie so she could pee/get dessert/get something else to drink/go to her room to get something/ask for a blanket/etc…..

Due to all the starting and stopping, my mom got frustrated and that led to her having these “looks” on her face whenever I would sneak a peek at her during the movie. I knew by those “looks” that she wasn’t getting into the movies. Of course, that made me more anxious. I then started stopping and starting the movie to explain to her about Neville’s parents and who Voldemort is and why Harry has a scar and why he lives with the Dursley’s.

About halfway through, mom decided she had enough and got up saying “I just don’t know where my fantasy gene is” and went to bed.

Light of my life and I finished the first movie and went on to bed after that.

On Saturday night, after my daughter got back from a late afternoon birthday party, we popped in #2 and watched most of it before we both fell asleep on the couch.

Yesterday afternoon, after lunch, we popped in #2 to finish it and managed to watch #’s 3 & 4 and start #5.

I had forgotten what a hottie Daniel Radcliffe was until I watched him grow up in these movies. I also didn’t realize how hot George and Fred Weasley were in the last two movies. When did that happen? And then, I discovered that the actor that played Cedric Diggory in the Goblet of Fire is none other than our own "Edward Cullen" in the Twilight movie that comes out in December. I can remember thinking Viktor Krum was much hotter than Cedric but I've since changed my mind. Yes, not only am I a twelve year old boy inside, but I'm also a boy-crazy 14 year old girl. Shut up.

I love watching these movies over and over again because I always learn something new each time.

For instance, in the Chamber of Secrets, when Harry uses Floo Powder for the first time, he slurs his words and Diagon Alley comes out Diagonalley. When my mom heard it, she said “Why did he say diagonally?” and a light bulb went on above my head. What a play on words.

And Knockturn Alley…where it’s the “darker” side of the magical world….could be considered “nocturnally”.

Is that not the coolest thing? I haven’t done any research on the internets to find out if this was intentional or just a happy coincidence, but considering the Genius That Is J.K. Rowling, I find it hard to believe that it’s anything but intentional.

Anyway, to wrap up this silly and very un-important post, despite the setbacks of the first night, we’ve had a blast watching our way through most of the 5 movies. Tonight, we’ll finish up (or at least watch until 9pm) the rest of The Order of the Phoenix.

Tonks, how I love you. You rock!

Later,

Mama Dawg