Potter Post 3 1/3--Book 5 Predictions

Warning: This post contains spoilers

I stumbled across an old article from 2003 this morning: Harry Potter Plot: Your Predictions.  It's from right before the fifth book of Harry Potter was released--Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and it's a magical treasure--so today I'm going to post some of the predictions that readersmade for this book.  But first, a look back:

In 2003 I was still in high school.

Whoa.

And Harry Potter  was getting ready to enter his fifth year of school after having participated in the Triwizard Tournament in his fourth year. 

 

Edward Cullen was a Hufflepuff.

Remember?  The Triwizard Tournament brought three schools together for the competition but Harry's name was mysteriously entered into the tournament under a fourth, fake school in order to fool the Goblet of Fire thus forcing him to compete in notoriously deadly competition.  Things seemed to be going well into he and Cedric touched the Triwizard Cup---remember Cedric Diggory---The Hogwarts champion--from Hufflepuff--?  Well they touched the Triwizard Cup together and-gasp!-it was a portkey that transported them to a graveyard where Cedric was killed.
 

Who killed Cedric? Peter Pettigrew.  But who told him to? VOLDEMORT.  We then witnessed the rebirth of Voldemort.  And learned that Voldemort's wand and Harry's wand don't work properly against each other--who knew how big of a deal that would end up being?  Harry escaped-barely-and returned to Hogwarts just in time to almost be killed by...Mad Eye Moody? GASP! But it was actually Barty Crouch Jr. all hopped up on polyjuice potion. 

The point being that this was a huge moment in the series.  This was the moment that Voldemort returned to power.  This was the moment that forced Harry Potter to grow up.  This was the moment that told the readers--anyone can and will die.  So naturally everyone was on edge waiting for fifth book.  Waiting and guessing about what would happen.  So below are some predictions from 2003:

Who will die?

       Ironically it seems that Sirius dying was the farthest from anyone's mind.  In fact he wasn't even on the poll this site did.  They asked readers who would die in The Order of the Phoenix--below are the choices, results, and I added when they actually died.

--Professor McGonagal...5.15% (Survived--eventually became headmistress)

--Professor Snape... 9.94%  (Died in the last book)

--Hermione...5.08% (Survived--married Ron)

--Rom...7.99% (Survived--married Hermione)

--Hagrid...36.44% (Survived)

--Professor Dumbledore...30.65% (Died in the sixth book)

--Draco...4.74% (Survived)

So it seems that Hagrid and Dumbledore were the most favored to die...Dumbledore dying was always on my least likely to die least while reading the series.  

It was also predicted that Dumbledore would die and Snape would become the new headmaster and lead the fight against Voldemort.  This was a great prediction because it holds a ton of truth, just a little early and only slightly off.

Voldemort is Harry's father

This was a very common predication for several years until JKR finally put and end to it decalring that Voldemort is NOT Harry's father.  Come on guys...Harry has a nose and Voldemort doesn't.

Dumbledore is a Death Eater

Cool predication. Untrue.  But cool.  This prediction got it's ground from the line in the fourth book where Harry tells Dumbledore that Voldemort can touch him now and then there is flash of triumph in Dumbledore's eyes.  This was a huge line in the book.  I personally obsessed over what it could mean and we didn't find out until the end of the series.  But it did not mean that Dumbledore is a death eater.  

Ron and Hermione get together

Oh...that was always a constant prediction.  Except for the Hermine/Harry people (I'm talking to you Emily!)

Ginny becomes important

Well I guess so.

Something is up with Neville. Not sure what.  But something.

Great prediction and we did learn about Neville in the fifth book.

I hope you enjoy this look back into the past brought to you by my friend Google!

 

 

Potter Post 3 1/8

How awesome is this?  Hogwarts Toms.


Sorry for the short post.  It's the holidays and I'm currently in a muppet frame of mind.  Oh wait! Muppets!  Puppets!  Perfect Potter Post!  See below.

Always awesome.  
  

Thanksgiving Movie: The Muppets

Oh. My. Gosh.  What a wonderful movie.  It's time to meet the Muppets. 

After accidentally walking into the wrong movie theater I narrowly escaped watching Breaking Dawn again and found my way safely to The Muppets.

I wasn't super hyped about going to see The Muppets, but my mom really wanted to go see so Cameron and I went along.  I remember the muppets, I watched them a great deal growing up--including the muppet babies.  In fact, my favorite Christmas movie is The Muppet Christmas Carol--but I still would have chosen another movie to go see.  However, within 5 minutes I realized what a treasure of a movie this is.  It was cute, funny, and fresh.  And I'm not the only one who loved it.

The movie opened with a 98% critic review on Rotten Tomatoes---the highest this year (Breaking Dawn Part 2?  28%.  But that's a heck of a lot better than the new Adam Sandler movie-Jack and Jill-which got a 4%).  What I wasn't aware of was that Nicholas Stoller wrote the scrpit with Jason Segel---I already love Jason Segel, and now I love him even more.  His cuddly bear in a big body is always amazing and it continued to be in this movie.  And of course Amy Adams is as charming as ever and jaw droopingly better than most actresses out there these days.   If you  loved Enchanted then you really shouldn't miss this movie. 

The movie is bluntly honest and pokes fun of itself which really eases the audience in to fully enjoy it.   The plot is easy and--dare I say it--somewhat realistic?  The Muppets have been gone for awhile and when there is threat to tear down the Muppet's studio in order to drill for oil they attempt to reunite and reintroduce the world to the Muppets in order to save the studio.  It's realistic in the fact that is the Muppets were real--this is totally what would happen.  They have been gone awhile and Selena Gomez has no idea who they are (there are a TON of cameos in this movie-so brace yourself).  There are also tons of fun little lines like "Let's travel by map!" and "The was an expensive looking explosion.  I can't believe we had that in the budget."  and "It must have broke during the dance number I was just in."  And if you know me at all you'll know how much I love when characters reference the fact they are in a movie :) 

I laughed the entire time and thought it was incredibly heartwarming.  I recommend it to EVERYONE.  Even if you have no ties to the muppets or no idea who they are, go see it anyways because you'll still love it.  And remember that life's a happy song when there is someone by my side to sing along.

The Sidekick.

"No! No! No! Noooo-! This isn't about you.  Why does every conversation we have always have to turn into Potter talk?"
"It isn't Potter talk--"
"No! No! I'm miserable!  And all you can do is talk about yourself.  You're like the most self absorbed guy I know!  But if you were miserable I'd be there for you but you won't even listen to me and I'm sick of it.  So, so...good luck with whatever you were talking about and I hope that you and Voldemort live happily ever after.  Me?  I am never gonna be happy again.  So I'm just gonna go curl up in my sock drawer and sleep for days."  (from A Very Potter Musical)

Do you ever have moments where you feel like the sidekick in your own life?

Or do you know people who seem to stare at you blankly while you're talking, just waiting for their opportunity to talk again?  Or those people who seem to always wanna talk about what's going on with them and never ask about you?  Or when they do ask they always find a way to make it about them again--or just dismiss your response while they continue on about themselves?  I know several people like this--I'm sure everyone is like this sometimes but for some it just seems to be who they are. And it's fine.  It's just that after you spend so much time with someone like this you start to forget that you have a life to.  You aren't the sidekick in your own life despite how they constantly make you feel.

Take charge.  And remember that you are the star of your own life--not them.

Also remember that Frodo was awful and should have died. 

Breaking Dawn: Part 1. Review. If you loved the movie just don't read this.

To be completely honest--I didn't like the movie.  There were some good moments but mostly it was just bad.  To be fair, I didn't like the book either for many reasons.  But an hour and 45 minutes of watching the characters stare at each other left me feeling that the life was drained out them.  Any depth the characters had before is completely gone--except Jacob.

I did enjoy the wedding and honeymoon.  In all fairness those scenes were pretty good.

I was shocked to realize afterward that the move was under two hours because it felt incredibly long.  It felt like three hours.  There were so many moments where it felt like they were drawing out scenes to justify it being two movies....believe me I know what fluff looks like.  I've written many papers filled with fluff--I can see a fluff when I see it.  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was split in two movies-and yes it had a couple of fluff moments but the split was done to finish off all aspects of the plot and to deepen the characters so you're more emotionally in touch during the final battle--and it was beautiful.  The plot in Breaking Dawn is basically the exact same plot of the others.  Bella loves Edward.  Edward loves Bella.  Jacob loves Bella.  Bella really really likes Jacob.  Bella wants to be a vampire.  Edward doesn't want to turn her.  Jacob wants Bella to leave Edward.   There is more plot introduced in Breaking Dawn (the book) but it could have been introduced and finished in one movie.   Sure, you would have had to skip some parts in the book--like the Denali sisters--but I could have lived without that part in the movie.  It was thrown in there awkwardly and I guarantee you non-readers had no idea what that was all about. 

To those ready to stone me--I'm sorry.  I've read the books, and enjoyed them (despite the fact that they are badly written) but I felt that this movie seemed more like a bad SyFy channel movie at some parts.  HOWEVER the very last scene and the clip after the credits were great and my favorite part of the movie and with that in mind, I think the next movie should be much much better than this one.

Potter Post 2 15/16--AVPS

Happy Saturday everyone.  How crazy is it that next week is Thanksgiving?  So while you're at home with nothing to do, you should take a look at the two Starkid productions, A Very Potter Musical and A Very Potter Sequel...both of which can be found here

Here are clips from both of them for a brief look:
A Very Potter Musical:

A Very Potter Sequel:

May the odds be ever in your favor

Yes, yes, yes everyone is eagerly waiting for Breaking Dawn to come out.  I get it.  I'm going to see it a midnight myself.  But to be bluntly honesty, I'm not super excited about it.  I enjoyed Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse....I thought Breaking Dawn was ghastly.  But there are moments that are promising (like Jacob shirtless) and up until after the honeymoon I like the book.  In fact I didn't really hate it until the very end.

But I'm off topic.  Breaking Dawn's upcoming release might be overshadowing something amazing that happened today.  Today the new Hunger Games trailer was released.

What's the Hunger Games you ask?  Go read it.  It's fantastic. It's full of political, economical, and ethical issues that will stay with you as you read about a government so controlling that it throws 24 kids into an arena to fight to death once every year while forcing everyone to watch and celebrate.  Now for the squeamish out there--calm down.  The movie will be PG-13 and it's not a gladiator arena---it;s a huge wooded arena and the killing is very spread out. I devoured this book when I first read and immediately scarfed down the next two as quickly as possible.  I'm rereading the series now at a much slower pace to fully take in everything.

Anyways, here is the trailer.  Enjoy.  Look for Lenny Kravitz, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, and Jennifer Lawrence.

Potter Post 2 3/4

Guess what came out on DVD/Blu-Ray yesterday?

There are several different ways you can go about getting HP and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
-Standard DVD
-Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack
-Part 1 and Part 2 pack
-Harry Potter films 1-8 (no special features though)
-WB's Limited Edition Collectible

Which at first glance seems to be to one to get.  However it's only a three disc set. While Target has the...




-Target's Exclusive four-disc edition (Which is the one I got)  Sure...it doesn't have an awesome cover or book like WB's but it does that the documentary that I mention a few weeks ago: When Harry Left Hogwarts  and that's what I really wanted.   And it's the version I suggest.


Meanwhile, check out this awesome video I found:

To my college friends

I remember staying up till 3am writing papers and studying...sometimes till 6am.  I remember working on homework when my roommate came in and offered a trip to Cook Out at 11pm and my immediate response would be "Of course! It's only 11, I have plenty of time to write this eight page paper that I haven't even picked a topic for!"  I remember writing 3 page literary responses in my 45 minute break between classes.

Now I wake up at 6:30am, go to work, come home at 4:45pm, do whatever the evening activity is, retire to my room to read for an hour and I'm asleep by midnight.

Today and yesterday, however, I had the task of work, important paperwork, bills, lots of baking, improv class, work, delivery, and errand.  All of which kept me running like a chicken with his head cut off from Tuesday at 6pm to today at 4:30pm--with very little sleep.  I of course leaped at the the chance to nap today after work until my roommate's computer woke me up. 

My mid hectic middle of the week got me thinking...I can't imagine living the way I did a couple of years ago.  My roommate's boyfriend is in college and he stays up all hours of the night writing or studying and it exhausts me just to think about it.  If I'm up past midnight I feel like death. And it's not just me.  Nikki was just saying today how she gets sleep and cranky around 11pm and that's her end time of the day.

So to my college friends...I wish all the more power to you.  I remember those days and I promise that eventually you'll have this thing called--a sleep pattern.  Goodnight.

Potter Post 2 2/3--FOOD!

With the holiday season right around the corner (what am I saying?  It's already here!) our minds turn to food.  Pumpkin pie, dressing, honey baked ham, candied yams, green bean casserole, and the list goes on.   With thoughts of food filled days also comes the worries of weight gain and cholesterol levels--we can't completely indulge over the holidays for health reasons...but....but...what if we were witches and wizards?

 

This past weekend while standing in line for a haunted house in weather that felt below freezing, Andy and I were discussing how awesome it would be to be able to produce a bluebell flame to keep warm.  (It's a charm that produces a blue flame.  A charm that Hermione uses quite frequently in the books and puts them in jars to keep warm.)  This of course led to more Harry Potter discussion and eventually to food (don't the best conversations always end up being about food?).  But not just any food.  Food in Harry Potter.

There is a lot of food in Harry Potter.  Heavy traditional British food seems to be served at every meal.  It's never ending feast of fried sausages, shepherd's pie, cornish pasties, steak and kidney pudding, black pudding, baked pumpkin, potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, mint humbugs, apple pies, treacle tart, eclairs, doughnuts, and the list goes on and on.  And that's on an everyday basis.

As for food served when they are out and about in Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley, or on the train?  Candy, candy, candy, chocolate balls with strawberry mousse and clotted cream, nougats, ice cream, coconut ice, toffee, chocolate everything, pumpkin tarts, butterbeer, soda with flavored syrups and again the list goes on.

Anything strike you as odd?  No? Nothing at all?  How about the lack of fresh fruit, salad, water, pasta salads...or really anything on the lighter side?  Those foods aren't there.  While living with his aunt and uncle, Harry may eat those foods--in fact, in the Goblet of Fire Dudley is on a strict diet and Harry lives off of meals of grapefruit and cottage cheese.  When his magical friends discover this they load him up with mince pies and cake. It seems that the only "healthy" eating that occurs is done by Muggles.  And that is rare, considering the Dursley's do not eat healthy.  Dudley is described as being the size of a small whale.

But you see, that's really interesting.  Dudley really doesn't eat all the differently from the Hogwarts students. Yet he's the size of a baby whale and Ron is described as being tall and lankly.  Something doesn't quite add up.

JKR stated once that witches and wizards generally live longer than muggles.  Well, considering what they eat on a daily basis this seems impossible.  Most likely, witches and wizards do not have the same health concerns as we do.  Something in them prevents them from having cholesterol problems or any other health issues that we have that keeps stuck to drinking water and eating salads.  They also seem to have a sort of immunity against obesity.  Sure Mrs. Weasley is described as being plump but my guess would be that comes from other factors, such as age.  If her weight reflected what she ate, she wouldn't be able to fit in the door.

Just another thing to make you jealous of the witches and wizards--they can eat whatever the heck they feel like eating.  And they do it with style.

Oh yeah.

For a fun essay, read this

Happy Halloween Office Style

Whoa.

We may not go as far as The Office but it's still fun.

Everybody in their outfits

I was Harry Potter :)  Quidditch style of course.

Yes, I attached a paper Snitch to my bracelet with a barrette

We also decorate cubicles for Halloween.

So Happy Halloween everyone!

Potter Post 2 1/16

Ok, so I know it's not Saturday yet but I'll be out of town until Sunday night so I won't be able to do a Potter Post.  Instead I leave you with this:

Halloween at my office

The Short Hair Chronicles

I cut my hair.  No, not just cut.  Got it chopped off.  Gone.

Told ya!

Cutting your hair short changes a lot of things.  A heck of a lot more than I realized it would.  Thus, a mini-blog series begins.

The first and most noticeable about about cutting your hair super short is other people's reactions.  Once you've cut that much hair off, you're already pretty nervous about how it will be received and if you're like me you feel like everybody is staring at you everywhere you go saying things like "Oh my goodness!!! Her hair is so short!"

To be honest, I was not crazy about my haircut.  Maybe I had visions of stepping out of the salon looking like Emma Watson...but considering I am not Emma Watson-that didn't happen.  So walking out with my super short do was a little nerve wracking to say the least.  You have to introduce your new haircut to so many groups of people.  First, there is your family.  Then your friends.  Then your roommates.  Then your coworkers.  Then your church.  Each time is accompanied with a sense of dread.  Will they like it? Will they hate it?  I had a dinner with an old friend tonight who I haven't seen years...he had no idea I just got my hair cut and therefore didn't realize and opinion needed to be made---it was refreshing.

Some people don't care for my cut.  Others love it.  Me?  I'm starting to love it.  It's really starting to grow on me and I'm slowly falling in serious like with it and I love the fact that I can't get it to do the same thing with it twice since it apparently has a complete mind of it's own.

Oh?  So what does it look like?

Potter Post 1 7/8 -When Harry Left Hogwarts

Good morning!
       
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (Have I ever mentioned how happy I am that they didn't try to come up with a new name for the eighth film?) comes out on DVD on November 11 and with it comes a documentary.

Documentary?  You mean those boring, long movies about nothing?  No. First of all I love a good documentary--or mockumentary for that matter.  Secondly, this ones seems to have a real spirit behind it.

Morgan Matthew was granted access behind the scenes on the last two films in the Harry Potter series and judging from the trailer below, he seems to have really caught the insecurities and humbleness of the title characters.  For Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson, these movies have been their life and now they've been released into the world.  Sure, Harry Potter has been my life as well, but I'm not in the spotlight.  The world is watching them.

Check out the trailer below:

떡볶이 Tteokbokki=best food ever.

 Last night we went out for my good friend's birthday, Hwayeon (she's beyond awesome) and ate Korean food :)

I love Korean food.  It's easily becoming my favorite food.  But for me, the cream of the crop is Tteobokki (Ddeokbokki).  It's spicy, fishy, and squishy.

So what is it?  It's a spicy rice cake dish

No! Not that kind!

This kind:

When cooked it becomes something similar to the dumplings you would find in Chicken-N-Dumplings, only thicker and cylinder shaped. 

The rice cakes are served with fishcakes (don't let the name deter you from something amazing) and some veggies all in a wonderful spicy sauce. For a great recipe check out this blog Migi's Kitchen: How to make the best Tteok Bok Kki

If you don't feel up to the challenge, find a good Korean restaurant or friend and eat up--or call me and we'll go together ;-)

State Fair Cupcake!

It's that time.  The State Fair here (which to us Raleigh people means doing some serious rerouting while driving to avoid the traffic).  It's time for turkey legs, fried EVERYTHING, Italian Sausages, vinegar fries...and of course: Candy Apples.

So in the spirit of the season I have a new cupcake to introduce you to.

Meet Caramel Apple Cameron Cupcake (as you know, I try to name all my cupcakes after people or fictional characters--this one is named after my brother)

A delicious granny smith apple cake with salted caramel buttercream frosting topped with crushed peanuts.  A bite of the state fair available year round!

Potter Post 1 2/3

So what is Harry Potter up to these days?

No not that one. (And again if you have no idea what this picture is in reference too.  I'm sad for you.  Send me a message and we'll fix this.)

But in case you're wondering what Harry Freakin Potter from AVPM is up to-- he's being pretty busy being totally awesome.  Check it out here:

But I'm talking about Daniel Radcliffe.   Currently he's on Broadway in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (which ironically enough-Darren Criss--our Harry from above--will be taking over the role early next year for three weeks).  I hear it is quite good and I regret I won't be able to see it. 



But he'll be starring in the UK horror movie set to release this coming February--his first film since Harry Potter.  It's called Woman in Black (NOT The Woman in White my fellow literature people)...check out the preview:

And there is this trailer which is decidedly creepy.  I watched it sitting alone in my apartment in the daylight while waiting on cupcakes to bake and it still sent shivers down my spine:

Happy Saturday!

Candy Corn Season!

Yup.  It's that time.  The time when the candy corn emerges from his dark slumber and begins his gradual take over of America.  I'll be honest.  I eat an ungodly amount of candy corn during the month of October--I don't touch it the rest of the year--but October is candy corn month.  So here are some fun facts about candy corn!

-19 pieces equals 140 calories and zero fat (and Brach's uses part honey to replace most of the sugar)
-Brach's sells enough candy corn to circle the earth 4.25 times.
-The candy used to be made hand, however it is of course made by machine now.
-Indian corn is flavored to taste like vanilla and chocolate while candy corn has no extra flavoring
-The candy pumpkin is considered a mellowcreme candy because it has more of a marshmallow tastes than the candy corn
-The candy pumpkin was used to help sway senators to vote for daylight savings time to be extended to include Halloween back in 1995.  (It was extended in 2005)

So go.  Go and devour pounds and pounds of candy corn and be happy :)

Potter Post No. 1 1/8--Wands

It's Saturday! Which means it's time for another Potter Post!  Today is all about wands.

Disclaimer: All background information comes from JK Rowling. 

The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Potter. It's not always clear why. But I think it is clear that we can expect great things from you.-Mr. Ollivander

Mr. Ollivander was always a peculiar character to me (by the way his wand was Hornbeam and dragon heartstring, twelve and three-quarter inches, slightly bendy).  The wandmaker is clearly talented-no question about it.  But he always seemed in awe of power and strength--but hey maybe that's just me.  But here is a bit of fun background info for you on our slightly sketch wandmaker:


The profession of wandcraft was one that was a family business and Mr. Ollivander spent his entire life learning the craft and dedicating himself to improve the art of wandcraft as well.  A common custom was to present a wandmaker with something the witch or wizard held valuable and then a wand would be crafted around that material out of their favorite wood (think of Fleur Delacour's wand, the core was a veela hair from her grandmother).  Mr Ollivander however does not practice this.  Mr. Ollivander studied cores and woods and determined which were the best.  This was revolutionary at the time.  And eventually it became clear that Mr. Ollivander had his the nail on the head--the wand chooses the wizard. 

I'm a beta tester for the soon to be publicly released site Pottermore:a unique online experience from JK Rowling and I recently went through the process of being chosen by a wand.  My wand? Hazel with a phoenix feather core, 12 1/2 inches, slightly springy

So for today we're going to take a look into wand cores.  There is tons of info on wood types but for today's purposes we won't get into that.  There are only three that Mr. Ollivander uses: unicorn hair, dragon heartstring, and phoenix feather.  So what does the core mean in regard to the user and the magic?

Both of Ron's wands were Unicorn Hair

Unicorn Hair-- produces consistent magic and is the least likely to turn to the Dark Arts.  They are not known to make the most powerful wands and if mishandled the unicorn hair will die and need to be replaced.  However, they are extremely faithful to their owner.

Draco was also unicorn hair

Hermione is Dragon Heartstring

Dragon Heartstring--typically produce the most powerful wands and they learn quickly.  They also are the most susceptible to turning to the Dark Arts but will not turn that way of it's own accord (that is up to the witch/wizard).  They are prone to accidents and bond with their current owner and therefore won't perform poorly if transferred to another owner.








Phoenix Feather--the rarest of all cores they perform the greatest range of magic, however it takes time for this to show.  Considering they come from a fiercely independent creature they can cause the wand to act of it's own accord (think of when Harry's wand saved Harry at the beginning of the seventh book against Voldemort on it's own accord).  This core also produces wands that are extremely picky as to which wizard it chooses but once it has chosen it becomes fiercely loyal.  They are hard to tame and earn allegiance, therefore it most likely will never work for a witch/wizard other than it's original .

Of course.  Voldemort and Harry both have Phoenix Feather cores...from the same Phoenix. 

 What about the all powerful Elder Wand?

The Elder wand's (which will eventually have it's own Potter Post) core is the tail hair of thestral.  What? not one of the three listed above?  Mr Ollivander did not make the Elder wand, there are other wand makers...and the Elder wands origins are mysterious and impossible to say with certainty who made the wand. 


I hope you enjoyed this small insight into wands!!!

-Jenna Out.