(Non-potter fans please get away from here.)

SPOILER ALERT.

FINISHED IT. ALL 607 PAGES OF THEM.

Exactly 17 hours after i get my hands on the coveted book on 7.20 a.m, i only put them down on 1.20 a.m , and that is, after 9.30p.m – 11.30 p.m break of the fourth movie installment of Harry Potter.( this is another story altogether, just you wait).

Unputdownable is an understatement. Not only because of all the cliffhanging questions are finally answered, the book itself is a brilliant gem. Rowling did a commendable job wrapping the much loved Harry Potter series, complete with a Hollywood ending. And I’m not saying that just because I’m a professed Potter fan, in fact, I do have some grouses concerning Rowling’s premise especially in her previous two books. (Harry Potter and the Order Of Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince).

The former I found it too coincidental, too dreary and focuses too much on angsty, angry, selfish Harry untill i felt like saying ” Get on with it!”. And, Dumbledore’s always looming if any genuine , solid help is needed. The latter have the best laughs, mainly from the characters but theres too much character and lengthy descriptions up until the book becomes unnecessarily long. Again , theres that deep down feeling of “takpe, takpe, Dumbledore will come to save the day”.

Naturally,when Dunbledore dies, fans were in the state of shock, how on earth Harry’s going to save the wizarding world from Voldemort’s wrath if the only person who can beat him died? We know from the previous books that of course, the truth will prevail and Voldemort will be beaten but we have always thought that Dumbledore is somehow in the perspective.

But this book, is like a fresh tonic. Harry is all alone. He’s not permitted to tell anyone about Dumbledore’s orders except to his two best pals. And they embark on a bone-chilling journey with real danger, genuine suspense moments, and razor thin near misses. Harry is given no help at all, and he has to trust his instinct wether a presented opportunity is indeed an opportunity or a trap. No Dumbledore, no Order of Phoenix, just Hermione’s sense and wit and Ron’s blind guts

Not all is lost when Harry refused to divulge his plans to the adults and other members of DA. This is when things got interesting as we can see that slowly, their reliance upon Harry (and Dumbledore for that matter since he’s already dead) subsided, and we see how each one of them; disbanded Order of Phoenix, former DA members (Dumbledore’s Army) form their own strength and brazenly fight Voldemort in their own special way, with or without Harry and in this case,its usually without.

I love Rowlings take on human emotions, it’s realistic. She shows that people are not simply categorised as black and white.There’s many grey areas. What you see on the surface isnt really what you get. And even the best of friends lose trust with one another , and sometimes kiss and make up might just do the trick (wink, wink).

SUMMARY OF WHAT I FOUND IN THE BOOK THATS WORTH READING

1. Harry is in dilemma, he has two choices on the methods to vanquish the Dark Lord; wether to search and destroy the bits and pieces of Voldemort’s soul ( Hocruxes) so when it come to showdown, he wont be able to rise again(like he did when he was purportedly destroyed when he tried to demolish Harry)

OR

find the three powerful Hallows that can conquer death and to come in possession of them inexplicably means that one have the most powerful weapon in the whole wizarding world( to beat Voldemort)

2. Rowling shed the whole lucky streak image Harry have been enjoying. No more Harry being at the right place and the right time and presented with help just at the most crucial moments.Most of leads and breaks Harry’s having are all traps faked by Dark Lord. He got busted everytime n0w, no more close counter. Thank God he has Hermione, who function as his consciense. Thrilling stuff.

3. Snape emerges heroic (come on, we all know this already, we just dont know why Dumbledore trust him so much). Hint : people do anything for your loved ones

4. Everyones get a bit of major action apart from being conveniently alongside Harry in previous books, including Neville Longbottom.

Those who dont get the book yet, please, please get them fast. I could not contain my excitement.

The Dark Side of Harry Potter

1.When i just finished watching the cinema version of fourth Harry Potter installment, i walked out a mad woman. Fuming, because the movie had distorted the seemingly perfect world of Harry Potter that i had engraved so lovingly in mind. I thought i was watching some B-grade indie movie untill i was awakened by the splitting image of Dolores Umbridge. She was real, that Umbridge, she was the exact image of Dolores Umbridge that i had imagined from the book, that “Tch,Tch” interruption sound, that twitchy smile, that effort of staying composed and proper even though rattled, the act of drinking a cup of tea while punishing rebels, that walk, i mean that… walk. It was all so..Umbridge. I personally thought that the only thing lacking was the lack of a ‘toad-like face’ described in the book.

Sadly,the same thing cannot be said about the other elements of the movie, Emma Watson was overacting, Cho Chang was flooringly pathetic, the only one with an improved and clean act was Daniel Radcliffe. He might have benefited from the Equus theatre stint after all..

The script was patchy and downright horrible ( they changed the scripwriter), the music score was …is there any? This movie was supposed to be a magical feast, not some Sepet-like movie. Theres nothing wrong with Sepet, just like you cannot approach a Harry Potter movie with a Yasmin Ahmad style, get it?

A Harry Potter movie should be over the top, wondrous, fantasy-like and all those elements that made you go ” wow, this is how it looks like in real life”. And here i was, barely dozing off, and even thinking of the fact was enough to make me reel. Me? Sleeping through a Harry Potter movie?

I WANT TO KILL THAT DAVID YATES BLOKE!

Rowling, hear me yell! Get David Yates off anything Harry Potter related and get back that scriptwriter.

” Wit beyond measure, is a man’s greatest treasure”- Rowena Ravenclaw

P/s: Readers, please leave your take on the final book in the comments area. The writer would love to share your excitement together.