30 Days of Books, Day 27.

[The most surprising plot twist or ending.]

Call me crazy, but I was pretty surprised when I found out Aunt Petunia had written to Dumbledore, begging to be admitted to Hogwarts. In Philosopher's Stone, Petunia shrieks about Lily, admitting that she knew all along that Lily and James - and Harry, by default - were magical.

"How could you not be, my dratted sister being what she was? Oh, she got a letter just like that and disappeared off to that - that school - and came home every holiday with her pockets full of frog-spawn, turning teacups into rats. I was the only one who saw her for what she was - a freak!... of course I knew you'd be just the same, just as strange, just as - as - abnormal - and then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up and we got landed with you!"

Knowing Petunia's attitude towards the wizarding world, I didn't expect that she'd wanted much to do with it. I didn't even consider that she would have been close to Lily. She was "proud to say that [she] was perfectly normal, thank you very much".

However, in Deathly Hallows, all was revealed.

Petunia wanted to be a 'freak' as well.

She caught her sister's hand and held tight to it, even though Petunia tried to pull it away. "Maybe once I'm there - no, listen, Tuney! Maybe once I'm there, I'll be able to go to Professor Dumbledore and persuade him to change his mind!""I don't - want - to - go!" said Petunia, and she dragged her hand back out of her sister's grasp. "You think I want to go to some stupid castle and learn to be a - a -"Her pale eyes roved over the platform, over the cats mewling in their owners' arms, over the owls fluttering and hooting at each other in cages, over the students, some already in their long, black robes, loading trunks onto the scarlet steam engine or else greeting one another with glad cries after a summer apart." - you think I want to be a - a freak?"Lily's eyes filled with tears as Petunia succeeded in tugging her hand away."I'm not a freak," said Lily. "That's a horrible thing to say.""That's where you're going," said Petunia with relish. "A special school for freaks. You and that Snape boy... weirdos, that's what you two are. It's good you're being separated from normal people. It's for our safety."Lily glanced back towards her parents, who were looking around the platform with an air of wholehearted enjoyment, drinking in the scene. Then she looked back at her sister, and her voice was low and fierce."You didn't think it was such a freak's school when you wrote to the Headmaster and begged him to take you."

But, obviously, Petunia wasn't accepted.
I don't know why, but I often wonder that had Petunia held the mild interest in it that her parents held, rather than the desire to do what Lily did, and the jealousy that stemmed from being left behind - would Harry have grown up differently?

Who knows. Silly question, anyway, when the books are fabulous as they are.

Note: Quite obviously, all that text above is copyright of JK Rowling. 

30 Days of Books, Day 15.

What's that you're saying?
Two blog posts?
I'm nutty, whatever. Also, I somehow slept for three hours during the day. This has designated me the role of You Must Wait Up For The Washing Machine To Finish, and while I patiently await the ceasing of metallic whirring, I'll write for you guys.
Bet you're all so grateful.

Also, on the last post there was something known as Percy The Internet Monster Has Been Eating My Formatting With A Side of Worcestershire Sauce. I'll fix that when I wrestle the sauce bottle from Percy and lock him back up where he belongs (which is endlessly tormenting the Bieber fans over on Tumblr).

[Your favourite male character.]

Rockin' one pretty suave intense stare.

Ah, Remus Lupin. How I adore thee.
I first fell in love with your scruffy persona as I reached page 59 in my copy of Prisoner of Azkaban. How could I not? I realise I was only in grade 4 at the time, and could not possibly understand love. But I still loved you. Maybe it was the suitcase, maybe it was the awesomeness of being able to sleep through absolutely anything three teenagers concocted, then continue sleeping while Neville whimpered in the corner, only to wake up as Dementors sailed on through a train. And when you woke up and hoarsely commanded everyone to be quiet, then sent those Dementors packing?
My chubby nine-year-old fingers curled with suppressed glee at the introduction of such a great character.
You continued in exuding excellence for the remainder of your time in the novel. You were the prefect, but still had the touch of mischievousness that classed you as a Marauder. Who could forget your immortal line delivered to Severus Snape, composed on a tattered, magic-filled, parchment map?

Mr Moody presents his compliments to Professor Snape, and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business.

Reading about you as a fifteen year old intrigued me. I was probably eleven at the time (awaiting the Hogwarts letter that never came; eight years on, I still live in hope that the owl was perhaps attacked by an eagle - common over here - and never finished the journey), and I'd also just gotten my first notable crush. Don't worry, Lupin, he wasn't nearly as cool as you. He didn't deliver witty comments, post-exam no less, about his werewolf status:

"Give five signs that identify the werewolf... think I [managed to get all the signs]," said Lupin seriously, as they joined the crowd thronging around the front doors eager to get out into the sunlit crowds. "One: he's sitting on my chair. Two: he's wearing my clothes. Three: his name's Remus Lupin."

I'll admit it - hearing about Nymphadora Tonks' interest in you made me a little queasy. Not that she's a bad person, of course. It was just at that moment that I had to learn some hard truths.
Namely, that you and I were not to be.
How could I compete? Not only could she have shocking pink hair and purple eyes, she could also transform into whoever you wanted her to be. I, unfortunately, had the power only to lose weight, and even that was something I did begrudgingly. And she was an Auror. I, meanwhile, was a high schooler who worked part time in a bookstore.
One thing seems cooler than the other.

Anyway, then your cowardice made you seem more human. My unrequited love didn't falter; I still waited in the wings, lurking about in case you decided that Tonks was too high maintenance with the hair-changing and the child-bearing (such a nuisance) and that you needed someone simple.
Of course, you died. That put the kibosh on our wedding plans more than you going back to Tonks did.

However, before you died, you managed to have some Lupin babies with Tonks. Teddy Lupin.
... sorry, Lupin. You'll always be my favourite, but I think I'm going to romantically pursue your son (in the most literary of ways). You don't mind, do you?

Notes to this post:

• I am not really in love with Lupin. At least, I'm fairly sure I'm not. I haven't fallen in love with a literary character before as I believe such a thing is physically impossible. Then again, in this world people also marry segments of the Berlin Wall. ["To the world, the Berlin Wall was a symbol of oppression. To Eija, it's her husband."] Regardless, this post is purely in the name of lulz and whatnot, and so if you stumble on this post - feel free to regard me as a lunatic. Just... not for being in love with Lupin.
• But Lupin still is my favourite character.
• I still have not gotten over David Thewlis being cast as Lupin. Worst casting choice ever, guys. I'm sure Mr Thewlis is perfectly agreeable, but LUPIN WAS MEANT TO BE AMAZING IN ALL WAYS. This included the whole smoulderfactor. 
• However, I believe Luke Newberry as Teddy was absolutely inspired, and for that, casting directors, you are forgiven a thousandfold.

Well, the wash has finished. 

Goodnight, and I hope my rambles amuse.

EDIT: You must read that article. It is fascinating. Confusing beyond all belief - I don't think I really want to know how one has a 'full, loving relationship' with a wall - but... it's certainly a read.

POST DH2 EDIT: I officially revoke all forgiveness, David Yates. You took away my Teddy Lupin. Not only did you kill Lupin (okay, that's JKR's fault, but... you could have made him not try and hold Tonks's hand, make it easier on all the Lupin fangirls), but you got me all excited about Luke Newberry AKA Perfect Teddy Lupin, and then? "Oh. Right. Uh, I'll put him on the DVD for you. I think. Soz."
Uncool, David Yates. You made me sadfaced.

30 Days of Books, Day 2.

[A book you've read 3 times.]

Flipping difficult.
Flipping, flipping, difficult.
I don't really read books from beginning to end more than once. I'm one of those abhorrent folk who flick through books once they've been read and go for my favourite moments.
Anyway, consulting my bookshelf for the most dog-eared, ruined copy of a book, I have found a book I most certainly know I have read three times over.

And I don't care what America says.
This is the right cover.
*insert immature nyah*

Hands down, this was my favourite Potter novel of them all. I can't quite figure out why, but there's a weird sense of joy I get from it. Maybe it's that, while reading the novels, I feel it's here that Rowling really gets into the swing of the novels, that pure sense of adventure that hurtles through the last five books in a clearer fashion than Philosopher's Stone and Chamber of Secrets.
Maybe it's the lack of Voldemort. I adore Voldemort (not in a creepy way; I'm not a huge fan of murderers but my writer-side emerges to go "That is one epically designed character" and froth), but there's something refreshing about Harry having to deal with another foe that's not Voldemort, and having to deal with things not being as they seem.
This is the novel that kicks things off for me. Yeah, the Horcrux did appear in CoS, but Pettigrew escaped in this one.

It will happen tonight. The Dark Lord lies alone and friendless, abandoned by those who once followed. Tonight, before midnight, his servant will break free and rejoin his master, and with that servant's help, the Dark Lord will rise again, greater and more terrible than ever before...

And from that, Voldemort ran free.

People may howl at me, but for all the beauty that the other novels possess, the intelligence and the respect for reading that are contained in the pages, I feel that this novel portrays them in the most accessible way. You can tell that Rowling understands the importance of words, and you become aware that she's passing those words down to the children who need to understand it as well.
I read this book when I was 8.
I'm still reading it today and being inspired.

For Christians out there who declare that Harry Potter is inappropriate reading, there is no instance where Rowling intends to turn children into witches and magic-folk. I'm a Christian myself, and I see no more problem with this series than with Lord of the Rings, or C.S. Lewis' Narnia series. The world Rowling has chosen to tell her tale in isn't a conventional one, but how else do you teach kids to take notice of things? 
The themes she portrays are no more different than any other YA novel - or adult one, for that sense.
She writes about confusion, about loss, about hurt, about pain.
She writes about friendship, unspeakable joy, and seizing the day.
She shows children that there are tasks that you're called to do, and no matter how big they are and how small you are, you CAN accomplish them.
And above all, it's a battle. About good vs evil, and about good triumphing in the end.
Isn't that what we all want?


Fantastic, amazing, and oh-my-gosh-all-the-sneaky-references-froth.