I'm Such a Nutter! (HP Spoiler Alert!)

I know, I know I'm a complete nutter for dressing up and going Harry-Potter-Wild, but it was Brilliantly fun! And I wasn't alone in the least....

My fair Jones Valley Barnes and Noble on the eve of the big release.

There was a great Whomping-Willow costume - and an Excellent Cho Chang but I missed getting photos of them. Other than that there was...

The pretty "Fat-lady" in her portrait - and Draco on the side too.

Dobby and Professor Sprout with her horrible mandrakes (glad I remembered my ear-muffs!).

Miss LeStrange, Ginny, and a Hermione.

Although I have to say I think this Hermione is a tad bit better... Hermione does afterall have frizzy BROWN hair, not blond like the movies lead you to believe. And check out Hagrid - this fellow was huge! I thought he was brilliant!

My fantastic fancy boxed version of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows with totally different slip cover artwork (of Harry, Hermione and Ron on the back of the dragon) an acid-free full cloth cover and extra full-page illustrations for each chapter in the back.

I made it till about 3am, and the bodies started stacking up fairly quickly, but by then my eyes were slamming shut, so I had to forgo reading through the night. Saturday passed in muffled silence as both Paul and I spent the whole day reading...

WARNING! - SPOILER ALERT! - WARNING!
If you haven't finished the book - don't read any farther!

By Sunday I think I was more horrified to learn of the fate of a few of Harry's closest friends than Harry. (I knew he'd be ok - he's the hero for crying out loud! Although I'm rather proud of myself for guessing that he was a horcrux and that he had to die and then somehow come back to life to get rid of the Volde... I mean He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named part - you think I want Death Eaters showing up at my work?) It was interesting to see Dumbledore fall from his all-knowing all-perfect pedestal and regain his grace in the very end. And Snape's involvement which I guessed when the doe patronus appeared. I think the most disturbing death was FW - why the heck did JK have to kill him off?! I think that's my one and only huge complaint - there was no reason for his death ('Ear 'EAR!) I eventually accepted RL & NL's death - I knew when Harry became godfather of TL that that was the kiss of death for at least RL, but NL too? Ouch. Although 19yrs later - you knew that Harry had very much taken him in as family and had provided what Sirius had not been able to for him. And I have NO idea how they're going to turn this one into a movie without it loosing half the story or it being 5 hours long. Warner Brothers has already kind of messed up the story line because the movie that's out right now never showed Mrs. W, RW, HP & HG cleaning out the cabinet at the Black's and Kreature stealing RAB's locket from the trash. Wonder how they're going to cover that? I think I'll reread the last book since I gulped it down so fast and then revisit the entire series. In the end though, I must say JK - thanks so much for the magnificent ride - I feel privileged to have watched Harry Potter grow up first hand and create such a wonderful stir amongst kids and adults alike. And as Ron would say "BRILLIANT!"

PS (1:06 PM): Just found another great (highly recommended) review on a fellow bloggers page: The Caffeinatined Librarian