Harry Potter has grown up

Since one of the contents of my google personalized home page is the Harry Potter Automatic News Aggregator or HPANA, I got the chance to view the most recent pics from the Order of the Phoenix set. I took particular note of Dumbledore's Army group pic showing Harry, Hermione, Ron, Cho Chang, Neville (he's grown tall!), Luna Lovegood, Dean Thomas, Ginny (di sila bagay ni Harry, I swear!), Fred and George, and the others. I just realized that this movie series is probably one of the few wherein casting has been kept wonderfully intact (notwithstanding the death of Richard Harris) despite the length of time shooting the entire series. They are now on the 5th movie while the 1st of the series was shot way back in year 2000. And despite the fact that the HP movies are not exactly of classic or epic proportions, I personally consider it as one of the most memorable films I've seen primarily because of the books and how much satisfaction the movie gives me seeing the story come to life in the big screen.

At this point, I know it is needless to say that I am a fan of J.K. Rowling and the Harry Potter books. I particularly admire her for standing up to the pressure, having to write the last few installments (books 4, 5, 6 and 7, in particular) with the whole world watching. At the very least, she had the luxury of writing the first 3 books in relative peace as the series gained phenomenal status between the release of books 3 and 4.

I unexpectedly foudn myself reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone over the weekend. I suppose I was trying to relieve the wonder of reading that book which I believe, plucked me from the adult world back to my childhood. I have since read the Chronicles of Narnia which, although equally magical and in my opinion suitable for children, it lacked the humor and fun that was in the HP books. Lord of the Rings was of course quite serious for trying to be goofy, childlike and loving it while Roald Dahl books, while funny, aren't as magical and novel as HP. HP may not be the "best" children's book but certainly, it was for me personally life changing, not in the philosophical sense, but in the recreational sense.

Having reminded of all the enjoyment I had reading Sorcerer's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire, I somehow feel betrayed by J.K. Rowling because I never expected the dark, gloomy mood NOT to pick up after Cedric Diggory's death. It was quite evident that Book 4 is not only the chronological first half of the series; it was truly the turning point of the story. I felt betrayed because I loved the books for being children's books and it has turned our to be a thriller. Anyway, I have placed things in perpective and realized, as I mentioned earlier, that it is actually admirable for J.K. Rowling to be able to write in this environment where all her fans are awaiting the conclusion of her book, each having his or her wishes how it should end. There are actually several websites espousing the belief that Dumbledore is not dead despite J.K. Rowling's categorical statement that he is indeed dead. Come to think of it, none of us would probably be outraged about Dumbledore' death if we had read the book several years after all seven books have been completed. Readers and fans of Harry Potter have had the rare opportunity of being able to see the story unfold before us with no one other than J.K. Rowling knowing how things will eventually turn out.

The Order of the Phoenix movie will be released on July 2007 while there is no announcement yet when Book 7 (still untitled) will be released. I still feel for Harry and really couldn't see how else can he be happy even if he defeats Voldemort, having lost all his loved ones in the process. But certainly, I have been ardently following Harry Potter for six years now and I will certainly not relent until I've read the last word in Book 7 and have seen the last of the Harry Potter film series.