Harry Potter #1 Reread – spoiler discussion!

As I’m sure you’ve all caught onto by now, I’m slightly obsessed with Harry Potter. *Ahem – sarcasm! I have a deep seeded love for this series…… and it’s something I fought for the longest time! When the first book became popular, I was older than most of you. I was in high school, in my mid teens actually. So when people were talking about this “kids book” about a magic school with witches and wizards….. I thought it was lame…… I was too old and too cool for shit like that! The next 2 books were published and everyone was STILL going on about this series and then I heard that they were going to be movies…… and I still refused them! It wasn’t until I saw the book for like 4$ when I decided that I would finally give it a go. I finished the first book within a few hours and immediately ran to the store and picked up books 2 and 3. I was hooked!

I’ve read the first book in the series well over 10 times (Okay, maybe close to 20) but it’s been many years since I’ve done a reread of the whole series! For some reason, fall seems like the perfect time for a reread! I’ve been fighting reading slumps on and off this year and I really needed something comfortable and familiar – this is just what I needed.

Before I get into the meat of this post – THIS IS A DISCUSSION THAT WILL CONTAIN DETAILS AND SPOILERS! So please, if you haven’t read Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, don’t go further!

Just like the movie:
The first thing that I’m always surprised by is how close it is the the movie – as in word for word. Not that that’s a bad thing! As someone who’s watched the movies so often that i’m surprised the DVD still works, it’s a nice feeling actually! I felt like I could see all their facial expressions and the school in the background. And I even thought the lines before I saw them on the page.

More quiddich!
One thing about this series that I missed in the movies was Quiddich. The game is such a huge part of the book series but doesn’t get as much screen time in the movies. I LOVE the quiddich scenes! And the commentary from Lee is absolutely hilarious! I also remember him having a bigger part in the books – and his sass is epic! I love that he would get scolded for his off hand comments and then find a way of insulting without actually being insulting.

Gay Dumbledore?
Years ago when the internet was losing its shit over the fact that Dumbledore was gay, I remembered thinking that there wasn’t any red flags that I could recall. Well, there are actually! His description is quite flamboyant actually! There was talk about him wearing sparkles and a flowery bonnet….. just saying.

The potions task:
The biggest shock every time I read it though? The potion trial at the end of the book! Like I said, I watch the movies SO OFTEN that I replace my knowledge of the books with the movie version. I WISH that the movie version had that scene in it! The potions all lined up with a carefully worded riddle to solve it, all while wondering if you choose the wrong potion if it will mean your death or some other equally awful side effect. Heroine did solve it pretty quickly though. But still – I think it would have made a great cinematic scene! BUT – the real reason I wished it was in the movie – it actually explains how Hermoine and Ron get back into the school after Harry takes the final task. I always hated that part of the movie. I like answers to my questions!

The first two books are very close to the movies so there isn’t a lot to talk about with those. It’s books 3 and on that are going to surprise me because I haven’t read them as often! Is there anything in the first book you don’t remember? Or any pieces of the puzzle that you remember? All I can say is that I’m SO glad I’m finally doing a reread! I needed this!

Until next time, happy reading!