Book 43, 44, 45 - Cue Epic Music, For The Time Has Come - Part 1

Title: Harry Potter and the 1) Philosopher's Stone, 2) Chamber of Secrets, and 3) Prisoner of Azkaban Author: J.K. Rowling Genre: children's/YA fantasy

Preamble

As if I needed an excuse, WenghTalk Radio asked me to be a subject matter expert on HP (my dream job, honestly) - so, naturally, doubt in my ability to effectively contribute immediately began to grow inside me, and I turned to the subject matter at hand to brush up and reinvigorate my confidence.

And I'm not enjoying it at allll. Nope, not one bit...

(if you couldn't tell...that was sarcasm...)

Now, you may have heard of this lil' series. You may have watched the movies, read the articles, seen the spoofy youtube videos - heck, you may even have written about the books. There really aren't a ton more surprises left out there as far as this particular series goes so, for that reason, I'm going to stray from my typical review format. The time for spoilers is over, and given that the books have been torn apart and put back together (only to be torn apart, again and again), I'm just going to highlight the things that stand out to me in the books - the things I love and the things I loathe - and you can come along for the ride if you want. 

Part 1: Magic is Fun and (Mostly) Everything is Wonderful Philosopher's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, and Prisoner of Azkaban form, in my mind, Part 1 of the HP epic. I'm probably not alone in that image: the 4th book is a tipping point for many reasons, which I will mention in further detail once we get there. In general, V-Dawg is back and wizard fun-times are over. But, for most of Part 1, the bad guys get theirs and everything is fairly hunky-dory to the child-lit standard.

Book 43 - HP and the Philosopher's Stone This book is so quick it's more like an introductory chapter than anything else. You're a wizard, dear reader, and the adventures begin. Major standout scenes include:

1. When the Weasley twins get in shit for bewitching snowballs to smack into the back of Quirrell's turban - INTO VOLDEMORT'S FACE. Oh my god, can you imagine? He's in there muttering in his wheezy, high-pitched voice: "- stop it - " SMACK "how DARE y - " SMACK "- I am the Dark L - " SMACK. Hilarious.

2. When Neville tips Gryffindor into winning the House Cup with his 10 points for "great bravery", and the Great Hall basically explodes. IT'S SO HEARTWARMING oh my god I tear up every single time.

Book 44 - HP and the Chamber of Secrets We welcome a new cast of characters, as well as the old standards, and J.K. Rowling begins to pick up some steam in terms of character portrayal and dusting clues that will become relevant five books from now...

1. Lockhart. Lockhart is one of the most brilliantly rendered characters in the entire series, in my humble and most definitely correct opinion. He's pompous, phoney-baloney, and essentially useless at everything, but comports himself with such unshakable confidence that it's hard to look away as he winks his way straight into your heart.

2. Ron is also beyond solid, a fact I always seem to forget until I re-read the books and am swept away by his character development. In the movies, he's terribly overshadowed by everyone else (and most of his book-lines are delivered by someone else - booo), but he proves over and over to be the witty, fiercely loyal, heart-on-his-sleeve kind of friend we all hope to have in our lives. 

3. Finally...the rollicking novelty of being able to do consequence-free magic is already beginning to ebb as Rowling sprinkles breadcrumbs throughout her prose...

"The fact was that even though he knew the diary was blank, he kept absent-mindedly picking it up and turning the pages, as though it was a story he wanted to finish. And while Harry was sure he had never heard the name T. M. Riddle before, it still seemed to mean something to him, almost as though Riddle was a friend he'd had when he was very small, and half-forgotten."

- because he's a Horcrux and the diary recognizes a piece of itself. GAHHH. This kind of interwoven brilliance is what keeps me coming back. And every time, without fail, I discover something new.

Book  45 - HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Even more of the wizarding world and our favourite characters is revealed to us (The Knight Bus, Animagi, the loveable Marauders and their various fates, etc.) as we barrel into the end of Part 1!

1. Malfoy continues to be a see-you-next-Tuesday-y little toerag, and Hermione wallops him in face to much cheering from fans everywhere. GET THAT LITTLE GIT.

2. I've...I've found a flaw and I hate to admit it, but in the name of some kind of literary integrity, here I go. The female characters, on the whole, seem to do a whole lot more squealing and shrieking than their male counterparts. There are various other aspects of the books that could be criticized for being anti-feminist - and many others for why it is feminist - but this one sort of jabs me every time I read those two words especially. I couldn't find the exact article I encountered years ago in a child lit course that, if I'm remembering correctly, actually counted the occurrences, but it was a significant number. Bit disappointing, tbh.