Well, it's about that time again. The time in which all Potter-heads and Muggle-maniacs make their way to the local bookstores to pick up the next — and sadly, the final — Harry Potter novel. I have been an ardent fan since 1999, the year before Goblet of Fire was released. This is a look back at Harry Potter, and perhaps the experiences I've had are similar to those that of many other Potter fans.
Harry Potter became my first "obsession," I guess you could say. Being in the midst of adolescence and finding Harry Potter to be a commonality among people my own age, I quickly clung to Harry's story, and the successive movies. Though the movies are by no means as good as the books, they're sufficient enough for Potter-heads to get their visual fix.
And as with most book/movie/television series, there arises a sort of romance in them, or several possibilities. I came to think that Harry and Hermione would naturally end up together — this was before Goblet of Fire came out, and even after that. Of course, I first read this book in 7th grade when I was 13 years old and had no real idea how romance worked between even literary characters. I had just sort of accepted it as a fact.
When I, as all Potter fans, waited for three years for Order of the Phoenix, we had to preoccupy ourselves with theories and the endless search for hints and spoilers of J.K. Rowling's own website or HP Fan sites (Mugglenet, Leaky Cauldron, what-have-you), as well as Fan-Fiction sites. Once OotP came out, I was still convinced that Harry and Hermione would be together, because obviously, Cho was out of the way and Ginny was dating someone else. Of course!
Well, in the two years we waited for Half-Blood Prince my insatiable thirst for Harry Potter's romantic persuasion led me to read even more fics as well as websites, with their own ideas as to why and how Harry would end up with Hermione. I have to admit, I became fixed on this aspect of the book. This also led to my cousin, punkinart, and I creating a Shipping War site (which prescribed to the very likely Harry/Ginny relationship) and a contract.
Yes, a contract. The infamous "HMS Pumpkin Pie (H/Hr)VS HMS Orange Crush (H/G)Official Contract."
Well, the first parts of this contract stipulated that whatever relationship existed upon the LAST page of Half-Blood Prince was to be rewarded with $25. As for HP7 (as we knew not the title), the there were several possibilities. We were under the notion that Harry would indeed end up with someone in Half-Blood Prince, and while he did in fact date Ginny, they were not together at the end of the book — thus, no money was exchanged.
Article comments
1 - Natalie Bennett
This article has been selected for syndication to Advance.net , which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States, and to Boston.com. Nice work!
2 - Miss Cordy
Hey Jessica! I didn't know you wrote for BlogCritics, too!! Awesome.
- Courtney Sanders