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Hello MuggleNet fans! My name is Joshua Smith, I’m a 20 year old journalism student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and an avid Harry Potter fan. I'm delighted to tell you all that I will be writing a weekly column over the summer, on a variety of subjects related to all the Harry Potter books. When I return to school, my column will become bi-weekly. I hope you all enjoy what I have to say, and I welcome feedback via email at Jssmith285@aol.com. Thanks!





The Best Time to be a Fan

Harry Potter fans of today have a unique opportunity that not many of them stop to think about. This generation of readers gets to enjoy Rowling’s works in an atmosphere which future generations of readers will never know. Aside from getting to enjoy the most basic pleasure, reading the books, today’s bookworms benefit from having message boards, chat rooms, and websites such as this act...to feed their addiction to the boy who lived. We get to discuss who we think will die in the fifth book, or whether or not anything will ever happen between Ron and Hermoine. You know that great anxious/excited feeling you get right before you go to bed on Christmas Eve, wondering what is going to make its way under your tree? Today’s readers experience that anticipation dynamic in waiting for the release of each new book, something our grandchildren will never know.
Someone who picks up Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s (or Philosophers for readers in the UK) Stone 20 years from now misses out on a chance to sit outside a bookstore at midnight, wearing a cape and waving a magic wand, knowing they are about to witness the culmination of 2 years of anticipation. They don’t get to talk excitedly in that bookstore line with a few hundred of the biggest Harry fans in their area. They miss out on, among other things, a truly magical (no pun intended) night that no true Potter fan could ever forget.

Readers who’ve been on the Harry Potter roller coaster from the beginning, or even ones that have just caught Harry fever recently (I’m a self-admitted late bloomer as far as HP goes) get to enjoy these wonderful Potter perks, and I urge them to do so. We are reading in a very interesting time (like when people were eagerly awaiting the next Tolkien book from the LOTR series, and writing “Frodo lives!” on New York subway walls when Return of the King came out) and that time carries a once in a life time opportunity. So, I have a simple request of all Harry Potter fans, young and old. Don’t waste this precious opportunity, embrace it. Cherish it. Take advantage of the chance people 20 years from now will only dream of having. You’ll regret it if you don’t

6/14/2003

I would be remiss if I didn’t start this column by thanking all the people who emailed me with their thoughts about my column. Thanks for all the flattering words, and feel free to keep writing me. I also have to mention Dan's most recent column for 2 reasons: first, as always, it was fantastic, everyone really should check it out. Second, I think it will serve as a good point of reference after you read mine. Basically, I'm going to talk about the most burning HP issues that I think will be addressed, at least to some degree, in the fifth book. I’m not going to get into theories or predictions too much, but Dan does. As Dan has predictions on many of the questions I’m going to discuss, I really think you the reader would be well served to read his column.

We know we are going to find out something interesting about Lily Potter, but what, exactly, is a mystery. Obviously we know the color of her eyes is incredibly important, (and if you haven't picked up on that, I suggest you re-read all 4 books before you read the 5th) but why exactly her optical pigments are significant is unclear. Could this link her to Voldemort/Slytherin in some way? Don't forget that Lily's wand being good for charm work is very important too. Could there be a death-eater connection here? Or maybe it plays a role in how the Potters got their fortune? I don't know how much of this will be settled in book 5; however it should be interesting to see just how much Rowling reveals.

We are also going to learn something about the Dursley's that we might not expect. This could be any number of things. Perhaps somebody in the family is developing magic late in life (though I don’t see Petunia as a squib, just a gut feeling) or maybe Dudley lost 140lbs, or Vernon shaved his horrible mustache (and yes I’m being sarcastic). Whatever the new Dursley development is, I think, after book five, that the gang from Privet Drive he will be more received by readers.

Ok, so we all know that there is some ancient magic protecting Harry when he’s on Privet Drive. I’m willing to concede that Arabella Figg is there to protect Harry, but I’m not ready to buy into the Secret-Keeper theory, at least not yet. Dumbledore is too smart for that. Harry’s parents got burned by that charm, so even if Figg is Harry’s secret keeper, I’m positive it’s not Harry’s first, last and only line of defense while he’s at home. There is another interesting dynamic here. Voldemort knows about these safeguards...does that mean he knows how to get around them possibly? If so, that would make Harry very vulnerable over his summer holiday (perhaps this would lead to dementors going to Privet Drive, making Harry cast his Patronus, possibly getting expelled?) Stay tuned on this one, I think it will play out in the early goings of book 5.

Percy Weasley is going to have some very tough decisions to make in book 5, probably about whether to side with the Ministry or Dumbledore and his family. Keep in mind Percy’s idol is Crouch....who incidentally sold out his family in order to increase his stature in the Ministry. Will Percy be faced with a similar decision? Probably. What he will decide is anyone’s guess, but his decision will have major ramifications on the rest of the SERIES...not just book 5. Mark my words.

OotP is going to be full of all sorts of dangerous missions. You have Hagrid and Maxime going to sway the giants to Dumbledore’s side. Dealing with giants has some pretty inherent risks, i.e. getting squashed like a bug. Whether or not they succeed is going to be pretty relevant too, because if the giants were to side with Voldemort... Snape, on the other hand, is going on a far more dangerous mission. I think for the most part we can all agree that he is going to attempt to be a spy on Voldemort for Dumbledore. However, I don’t have the slightest clue how he’s going to do it. He can't just go back to Voldemort after teaching under Dumbledore; Voldy is way too smart for that. There clearly has to be some gimmick in play here, so watch for that.

I apologize for the next two questions I’m going to discuss. There has been a lot written about them, and they’ve been discussed over and over again. However, both are going to play important roles in book five, so I digress. There is going to be a death in book 5, and obviously, anytime someone dies it’s a pretty major part of the book. Consider Cedric for a moment. He was not a central character in the series, and yet his death had a profound impact on the book. Now consider that a central character will die in book 5, and it’s obvious this needs to be discussed. The prevailing talk about it has been who will it be? Well nobody knows for sure, so I'll tell you who it won't be. It won’t be Ron or Hermione (obviously), Colin, Dobby, Dumbledore, Sirius or Lupin. One of the latter two could die in a future book, but it won’t be 5. Just about every other central character is fair game.

Now on to the raging hormones that we will see in OotP. Let's start with everyone’s favorite would-be couple, Ron and Hermione. I could write four pages about this, but let's cut to the chase. I think it’s pretty obvious they both like each other. I remember being 15, and it’s a very awkward age. Asking a girl out when you’re that young is about as easy open heart surgery. (Quick side-note to 15 year old boys: it’s not as hard as you're making it out to be -- the worst she can say is no. Just do it.) So will Ron come out and tell Hermione how he feels (or vice-versa)? Eventually yes, but in book 5....it’s up in the air. Also, don’t look for a Harry/Cho relationship either. Cedric just died, Cho is going to have cold feet for awhile. And I think Ginny would be a better fit for Harry. But these relationships will play a part in the upcoming book, but as to their significance, we’ll have to wait and see.

Some people are looking for an all out battle in book 5 between good and evil, but I think it’s a little premature for that. I think you will see Rowling use OotP as the calm before the storm. Both sides are going to be preparing for battle, rallying the troops (giants, dementors) ect... Fear not however, because there will obviously be some degree of peril, (obviously, somebody dies!) And let’s face it, where Harry goes, trouble follows. So if you were looking for a Braveheartesque war, you might not get it. But who knows, J.K. has done stranger things.

Professor Trelawney correctly predicted Wormtail returning to Voldemort and helping him rise to power. But as Dumbledore tells us, that was her 2nd accurate prediction. Which begs the question, what was the first? We may just find out in OotP, and it ties in with my next segment. But make no mistake, it has significance. Just about every little detail Rowling includes in her books is there for a real person, and this one is no exception.

Dumbledore lowered his hands and surveyed Harry through his half-moon glasses. "It is time," he said, "for me to tell you what I should have told you five years ago, Harry." Please sit down. I am going to tell you everything." The quote we've all toiled over for months now. This is obviously a crucial part of the book. If you go back to the end of Sorcerer’s Stone, which occurred 5 years earlier in HP Land, Harry asks Dumbledore why Voldemort wanted to kill the Potters, and Albus isn’t answering. Could this be what he is about to tell Harry here, and could it have anything to do with Professor Trelawney’s first prediction? It all seems to fit; but again, only time will tell.

We visit a new magical area in OotP, but where and why is anyone’s guess. I really am baffled as to what role the new area will play in terms of the book, but I can give you a run down on where or what the magical place will be. Godric's Hollow, Azkaban, Malfoy Manor, (a raid of some kind?) or possibly Beauxbatons or Durmstrang. Your guess is as good as mine.

Well, those are the biggest questions I could think of going into OotP. As you all know, the book comes out in a few days, and I’m sure we are all very anxious to read it. I hope you all enjoy it, and I hope it lives up to the hype. The wait is almost over, and in a few short days, many questions I’ve brought up will have been answered, and new ones will arise. I can’t wait.

6/16/2003

To kick things off, I just want to say I hope you all enjoyed book five, and had fun at all the midnight parties if you went to one. I know I did. Now I'm going to talk about all of the questions we had answered in book 5. My next column will discuss all the questions that didn't get answered, and some of the new questions it brought about. Now on to business.

The thing everyone is going to want to talk about first is the death, so here it goes. I'll admit I didn't see it coming, and did predict that Sirius would in fact NOT be the one who died in book five (as some of my mailers so kindly, and some not so kindly, reminded me). In my defense, I did say he could die in a later book, but admittedly , I did not see it coming. JK did a wonderful job of planting many red herrings, leaving hints throughout the book insinuating that it could be Hagrid, MaGonagall, Mr. Weasley or Hermoine that got the axe, but in the end, it was Sirius who kicked the bucket. How much more of this can Harry take? I'm not totally convinced we've heard the last of Sirius, but I am sure we won't see him alive in any capacity ever again.

Some very interesting things were revealed about Petunia in book 5. I'm not buying for one second her story about how she heard about the dementors and Azkaban from James. She also seemed to know exactly what it meant that Voldemort had returned, which leads me to believe she is not a stranger to the wizarding world. It was also pointed out that her eyes were extremely different from Lily's, which I think will be significant, but how I am not sure.

Perhaps the most important part of the book was the prophecy made by Professor Trelawney to Dumbledore. It certainly has major ramifications on the rest of the series, as we learn that nobody other than Harry can kill Voldemort. Quick side note: consider how brave it was of Dumbledore to duel with Voldemort when Albus knew it was a fight he could not possibly win. Anyway, we now know that Harry and Voldemort can't co-exist, one of them has to kill the other. This to me really gives credence to the thought that Harry may not live throughout the entire series (if he were to die, obviously it would be at the end of book 7). Dumbledore also mentions a room in the Department of Mysteries which contains a power that is more wonderful and terrible than death, and he also says Harry has this power in him in staggering qualities. What the power is exactly is never identified, however, I think it is clear that it is this power and not Avada Kerdava that Harry will have to use to kill Voldemort.

It is revealed in book 5 that Snape's mission is spying on the Death Eaters. It does not say how he does it, only that it's his job. Perhaps his proficiency in occlumency has something to do with why he is able to spy on the Death Eaters without being caught, but who knows. The only thing we do know is he couldn't just run back to Voldemort and pretend he has been faithful to him all these years, so I think we will learn a lot more about Severus duties in the next two books. (Emerson's Note: Maybe he's taking the Polyjuice Potion and impersonating Crouch Jr? It never says Voldemort knows Crouch Jr was killed.)

Ginny Weasley and Neville Longbottom made enormous strides in OotP. Ginny filled in as seeker for Harry, and did very well (another side note, props to Ron who doesn't get enough credit for helping bring Gryffindor it's second straight Quidditch Cup). Neville was probably the most impressive student in DA and was equally impressive and brave in fighting Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries. Ginny was also very good in that respect, proving to be very adept at DADA spells and hexes. I think you are going to see both of these characters have increasingly important roles as the series goes on.

We come to learn everything about what's protecting Harry while he's at Privet Drive. Aside from Arabella Figg (who's a squib!) and Mundungus Fletcher helping to watch over him, Dumbledore cooked up an ancient spell using Lily's blood (which runs in Petunia's veins) to make sure Voldemort can't touch Harry while he's with the Dorsey's. Major props to Petunia for taking Harry helping protect Harry. She is becoming a cool(er) character, and who would have believed that.

There were a few new interesting characters in OotP. Nymphadora Tonks was pretty awesome, and very enthusiastic. Her ability to change her appearance will come in handy later in the series I think; she won't just be using it to change her hair color. The real Alastor Moody did not disappoint, he was very cool, and just as anal retentive as we were expecting. Professor Umbridge was, well, just plain evil. I loved to hate her, and was so ecstatic watching as she got hers at the end of the book. Kreacher the house elf was also just plain evil. Is it vindictive to hope he gets presented clothes, and then gets hit by the Knight Bus on his way out the door, causing him to die a painful death? Am I going to0 far here? (Emerson: But he's funny!) I think not, Kreacher stinks. I think the most interesting new character was Luna Lovegood. Aside from her faithful devotion to a useless newspaper, she was very intriguing. Keep in mind that she has a lot in common with Harry (a possible love connection?). I think we can expect to see a lot more of Loony Lovegood in books 6 and 7.

Those were the most pertinent questions answered by book 5. But the beautiful thing about book five was that it was like a good politician....It said a lot, and held your attention, but it didn't give a lot of straight answers. It left you with more questions than you had when you began. I'll deal with some of those questions in my next column. See you then!

7/14/2003

I've gotten a lot of emails recently concerning the "great and terrible power" hidden inside the Department of Mysteries. Many of you seem to think that it is a heart that resides there. I disagree with this, but I think you are on the right track. A heart is not a force, maybe think the force we are talking about here is love. But I wonder if this maybe has anything to do with vaunted "Green Flame Torch" we've heard about. A torch that supposedly dispatches evil and rewards good. It makes a lot of sense, but we will have to see. [Emerson's Note: If JKR hadn't already said that title was just made up by fans, it would be a good theory.] Either way, this force in the DoM is going to have relevance later in the series, maybe Harry uses it to defeat Voldemort? Who knows, but I think the force in the DoM is indeed love.

While I was re-reading OoTP, I had to ask myself….where on earth is Wormtail? He's hardly ever seen or heard from, apart from Snape's Pensieve. Where is he? What is he doing? He is conspicuously missing during the battle with the Death Eaters in the Ministry of Magic. I'm fairly sure he's up to something sinister, only I'm not sure what. I'm sure we will find out later in the series, but I'm a little nervous about what it might entail. (Possibly the death of another character, oh no!)

There is still a lot to learn about the Evans sisters. We were expecting a lot of new information about Lily, but we didn't get it. We learned nothing about any about the significance of her eyes (possible connections to death eaters, Voldemort, ect.) but that has to be coming, it just has to be. Quick side note: It should be interesting to see how Lily falls in love with James, who acted like a royal jerk in Snape's memory. And as for Petunia, where do I begin? We knew we were going to learn something about the Dursley's, and we did learn that Petunia knew what she was doing when she took in Harry. But I was left to ponder just how much she knows about the wizarding world. Is she a squib? It was obvious she knew something of the magical world she detests, as she knew about the dementors, and seemed to have a grasp on how awful it was that Voldemort had returned. Keep your eye on her.

Harry sees Thestrals for the first time this year, which makes you wonder...why didn't he see them before? Didn't he see his parents die? I'm fairly sure we will never see a live Lily and James Potter during the series, but the fact that Harry is just now seeing Thestrals makes me suspicious about how exactly Lily and James died. Its obvious Voldemort killed them, as they came out of Voldy's wand when Harry and the Dark Lord battled in book 4. Maybe I'm way off here, and Harry's parents died exactly the way we thought, and Harry just didn't see it with his eyes. But maybe not. [Emerson's Note: Another good theory, but in the Q&A chat at Albert Hall, JKR said that you can't see them until the death "sinks in," and implied that it was a teeny mistake on her part, but she wanted to work it into the story. So perhaps we're overanalyzing.]

If you think back to CoS, we are introduced to the Polyjuice Potion. At the time we think we are being introduced to it so that Harry and Ron can goad Malfoy into telling them who is opening the chamber. However, it is being introduced to us so that we recognize it in book 4, when Barty Crouch uses it to dupe everyone into thinking he's Moody. The same thing happens in book five with Nymphadora (I love that name!) Tonks. We learn she is a metamorphagus. This is not brought to our attention so that we know she can change her hair color at will. Learning from the past, it seems there will be another metamorphagus, or an existing character is one, that plays an important part in the series. It should be interesting to see how that plays out.

Harry has a lot of bombshells dropped on him in OoTP. With Sirius's death, and the knowledge that he, and only he, can defeat Voldemort, it's safe to say Harry has a lot on his shoulders. How will he cope with this? His life is already stressful enough. Much like Aragorn in LotR, I think you may see Harry not want to accept his fate. He may not want to have to be the one that fights Voldemort. But eventually he'll accept it, he has to.

Aaaah, the relationships in OotP. We were promised raging hormones, and we got them. (Emerson: Did we?) Harry and Cho didn't really have a "relationship" relationship, but they did have a little fling. There weren't too many more developments in the Ron-Hermione situation, however, I think they might actually be secretly dating (not much evidence for this, just a feeling.) You could make a case that Luna Lovegood likes either Harry or Ron. There is evidence both ways, leaning more towards Ron. Ginny seems to be dating now, and I'm not ready to rule out a relationship between her and Harry. There are clearly tons of romantic possibilities lying ahead in future books.

Those are most of the questions I was left pondering after reading book 5. I'm not sure what my next column is going to be about, so if you have any ideas, feel free to email me with your suggestions. I'm sure with your help I'll come up with something interesting. See you in a week!

7/21/2003

First, I'd like to thank everyone who sent me ideas on what my column should be this week. I'll use plenty of those ideas in the future, so don't be offended if you don't see your idea up here today or next week. I'm a little behind on my email right now, but if you wrote to me, I'll do what I can to write back.

So, a lot of us were expecting a Ron/Hermione romance in book five, and at first glance, we didn't get it. But when I was re-reading the book, I was struck with a crazy, impossible, implausible idea. Maybe Ron and Hermione were dating, only in secret. Absurd you say? Well maybe, but there is a surprising amount of evidence to back it up.

Why would they date in secret? Harry is their best friend, why wouldn't they want him to know? Well consider Harry's mood in this book. In the beginning, he's already mad at Ron and Hermione for keeping information from him. But more than that, he's mad that they are together, having fun, doing all sorts of non-Privet Drive activities without him. If he were to find out they were dating, wouldn't that make him more angry? He might see this as a confirmation that they were in fact having all sorts of fun without him. Ron and Hermione know Harry is angry and confused, and the last thing they want him to feel is left out. If you accept that, it seems almost realistic that they wouldn't tell Harry if they were in a romantic relationship. Now to the evidence.

"...Ron and Hermione, who, though he often saw them whispering together and casting anxious looks in his direction..."(pg 119, OotP). Harry thinks that they are talking about his impending trial which could lead to his expulsion, but he never actually finds out what they are saying. Maybe they are talking about Harry’s trial, but it doesn’t seem entirely unlikely that they would be doing boyfriend/girlfriend things, and they are shooting anxious looks towards Harry because they don't want him to find out about it.

There are multiple cases were Hermione jumps to Ron's defense in this book. When Fred and George are making fun of Ron right after he becomes a prefect, Hermione sticks up for him. When they are giving him a hard time about Quidditch, Hermione criticizes them for it. Harry is Ron's friend, why isn't he always coming to Ron's rescue when he's being ridiculed? Why is it that Hermione gets all upset when he is getting teased? Again, this leads me to believe that Ron and Hermione are more than friends.

On the other side of that token, Ron and Hermoine are constantly bickering (more than usual that is) about little things that seem to not matter. The readers of mine who have dated can attest to the fact that those are the things couples argue about. It's not usually big things that cause this bickering, it's little, seemingly unimportant things that do; it's the proverbial straw breaking the camel's back.

Let's start with Hermione kissing Ron on the cheek right before his first Quidditch match. First, notice that she doesn't kiss Harry. Now some of you may think this kiss is just between two friends, and he needs support and she's trying to wish him luck. Maybe. Some may notice that Ron is puzzled by this, and that if they were dating, he should be anything but puzzled. Fair point. However, if they are dating in secret, it would come as a surprise to him that Hermione kissed him right in front of the one person they are trying to hide their relationship from. I'll agree that she is kissing Ron to try and ease his nerves, but I don't think she'd do it if Ron was just a friend.

When Hermione tells Harry that he's not a bad kisser; it touches a nerve with Ron. "How do you know?" he says. Well, if nothing else, this clearly shows Ron's feelings for Hermoine. Why would he care that Hermione knew how good Harry was at kissing (presumably by kissing him herself) if he didn't in fact have a crush on Hermione? I think he's just being overprotective of his girlfriend in this instance, the same way he's overprotective of Ginny (something I can fully appreciate). Another small piece of evidence: consider Ron's Christmas gift to Hermione (perfume.) That just seems like something you'd give a girlfriend as opposed to a friend.

So there you have it, that's most of the evidence I can come up supporting a Ron/Hermione secret romance. There are other little bits and pieces of evidence here and there, but I think I got most of the big stuff. Next week I'm going to do an entire column on Mark Evans. See you then!

8/18/2003

In OotP, we find that Dudley beat up a 10-year-old kid named Mark Evans. We learn nothing else of young Mr. Evans during the whole book, and yet, the one line about him, in my opinion, has major significance on the rest of the series. There is no doubt in my mind that he is, in one way or another, related to Harry in some way. Many of you were quick to point out that Harry had to go live with the Dursleys because they were his "last living relatives." That may be true, but Mark Evans wasn't alive when Harry had to go live with them, so he couldn't exactly be a living relative, now could he? Using this information, however, you can rule out that Mark is Lily's child, because she was dead before he was born. So, unless Lily can somehow conceive and give birth to a child from beyond the grave, she is out as mother.

So, now that we have established that Lily can't be Mark's mom, we are left wondering who it is our little mystery man belongs to. Natural progression leads us to Petunia, being the only character in the book that ever had a last name of Evans (or so we think; more on that later). Well, I think it's unlikely that he's Petunia's child for the following reasons.

A) She obviously didn't have him with Vernon, or he'd be living with them.
B) Petunia doesn't seem like the type of person to cheat on her husband...and if she did, how would she hide a pregnancy from him?
C) On that same token, she couldn't have had him before she met Vernon, because he'd be older than Harry and Dudley, which he isn't.

So then, with seemingly all the Evans accounted for, it would seem that it's impossible for Mark to be related to Harry, right? Wrong.

Recently, there has been a theory around about Severus Snape. If you re-arrange the letters in his name, you can come up with Perseus Evans. I want you all to go back and consider the memory from Snape's pensieve in OotP. As he's being ridiculed, Lily Evans rushes to his defense. She seems stunned when he calls her a mudblood. Not angry so much, but taken aback. Could this be because they are related, and she knows for a fact that Snape himself is a mudblood? I know it would surprise me if someone I knew to be a mudblood called me one. Is it at all possible that Snape changed his name going into school to distance himself with the Evans family and feign being a pure-blood so he could be in Slytherin? Is it far-fetched? Sure, but not impossible. Also, bear in mind that Snape is around 35, which would mean if he had a child at 25 years old, the child would be 10...like Mark Evans. Also remember that JKR said that students aren't privy to information concerning teachers and their spouses, so it's also possible that Snape is married. My guess is somehow Mark is related to Snape (probably his son), and that Snape is therefore related to Harry. It sounds crazy, but stranger things have happened. My guess is we will be seeing Mark entering Hogwarts next year, and we will learn all about him.

I'm very excited to introduce a new section of the Pensieve this week. As I am a movie buff, every week I'm going to leave a movie quote at the end of my column. The first person to correctly email me with the movie the quote is from, the name of the character who said it, and the name of the actor/actress who played the character will receive 5 galleons for MuggleNet Interactive. Here is the first quote:

"If we all go for the blonde and block each other, not a single one of us is going to get her. So then we go for her friends, but they will all give us the cold shoulder because no on likes to be second choice. But what if none of us goes for the blonde? We won't get in each other's way and we won't insult the other girls. It's the only way to win."
Good luck, and I'll see you next week!
8/31/2003

First of all, congratulations to Ms. Anita Rodgers, who was the first to correctly guess the answer to the movie trivia! The quote was from A Beautiful Mind, said by character John Nash, played by Russell Crowe. Anita, email Emerson with your mugglenet.com email address, and he'll take care of your 5 galleons. Thanks goes out to all those who sent in an answer.
I think we were all impressed with the evolution of Neville Longbottom and Ginny Weasley in OotP. However, I think we only experienced the tip of the iceberg. Both of these characters are going to have integral roles in the rest of the series. Let's start with Neville.

Before OotP, Neville was everybody's favorite loveable loser. He always tried hard, but seemed to never get the job done; and, he seemed to fold under pressure. This was clearly not the case in Book 5, and there are numerous reasons why. First, he knows that Voldemort and his Death Eaters are back. Neville naturally wants revenge for what happened to his parents, so this is all the more incentive for him try to become a better wizard. However, I don't think Neville was that bad in the first place. Bear with me on this. Before this book, the only subject Neville was good at was Herbology. Coincidentally, that's one of the only subjects that doesn't require the use of a wand (outside Divination, which is a crap-shoot, and Potions, where Snape terrorizes poor Neville). Subjects where the use of a wand was required, Neville struggled in. Why? Well, I believe it was because he was using his father's wand (as we find out in OotP). We find out very early that the wand chooses the wizard, and when you use another person's wand, you don't get the same results. I think Neville, armed with a new wand in the next book, is going to kick some major butt. Don't forget: the Sorting Hat put him in Gryffindor for a reason. Make no mistake, there is going to be a new Neville in town.

Now, on to Ginny. She, along with Neville, flourished in Book 5. She showed an incredible amount of guts and determination, whether it be in playing Quidditch or taking on Death Eaters. Fred and George talked almost adoringly about her bat-bogey hex. She does very well in the DA (Neville did as well) and refuses to back down in dangerous situations, despite many people asking her to. More importantly, she's dating, which means she conquered her obvious crush on Harry. This is significant because now she doesn't have to hide under the table every time Harry is in the room. Ginny is clearly on her way to becoming a very powerful witch. And, I also have to agree with my counterpart Dan Hoppel, when he says that Ginny and Neville will end up together. It makes perfect sense.

Now, on to this week's movie quote. This week's is a lot tougher, but it's from one of my favorite movies, so here it goes. "The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone when you're uncool." Remember, I need the name of the movie, character, and actor/actress who played the character. Good luck, and I'll see you all in a week!

09/05/2003

First I'd like to apologize for the tardiness of my column. I thought I was in the clear when I got my computer up at school, but, alas, a virus ran through the whole campus system, and my computer got messed up pretty bad. But now I have everything squared away, and I see no reason why I can't meet my bi-weekly deadline from now on. So without further ado...

Politics played a major role in OotP. The Ministry of Magic's steadfast refusal to accept Voldemort's return complicated matters throughout the entire book. Now they have no choice but to accept that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back, and that opens up a whole new can of worms. And, it leaves the Minister himself in quite a bind.

Obviously, the Ministry is now going to join the fight against Voldemort. They tried to vanquish him in the past, so there is no reason to think they won't. Cornelius Fudge, however, is going to be under some major heat. He avoided going to war against Voldemort despite direct evidence that he had returned. (Let's save all the "sounds like the opposite of Dubya" jokes until the column.) People are obviously going to be upset with him, which leaves him with two choices.

1. He admits his mistake, and does everything within his power to rectify the situation.
2. He can try to cover his back with cover-up stories and conspiracy theories. (Seriously, I know it's tough.... Keep the Bush jokes to a minimum.)

If Fudge gets kicked out of office however, that puts a whole new spin on things. He's very power hungry, as we all know, so I don't think he'd be very happy about giving up his post as MoM. Some of you wrote me about the possibility that he would join Voldemort and the Death Eaters if he got the boot. I don't think he'd do that, and here is why. We know he's power hungry, and if you hang out with Voldemort, there is no power to be had. Voldemort is the top dog in that circle and always will be. And you run the risk of untimely death if you don't do as he says. So, I don't think that's an option for Fudge. What he might try to do is be a hero. He may think that if he is the man who brings about the destruction of You-Know-Who, he will regain his prestige and rightful place at the top of the Ministry. We know the only person who can destroy Voldemort is Harry; so, if Fudge does attempt this, we all know how it will end.

There is one other thing that struck me about Fudge in Book 5. He just didn't seem... normal. Don't rule out the possibility that the real Fudge is dead and somebody is taking the Polyjuice Potion to impersonate him. There are two major things that support this argument. First, how on earth did the Death Eaters get into the Ministry of Magic so easily in Book 5? Did they walk right in the front door? Granted, Harry and his friends got in pretty easily too, but it's just fishy. Second, Wormtail is conspicuously missing throughout the entire book. It's entirely possible that he was pretending to be Fudge (much like Crouch pretending to be Moody).

I must apology for the lateness of my column. I just went through a lot in school, but things seemed to have calmed down and should stay that way until my finals in December. So, you should see a fairly regular "Pensieve" from now on. On to business.
Nobody really knows for sure how long it is going to be until Book 6 comes out. It could be awhile, so I came up with a list of things to do in an attempt to kill some time before the release of the 6th book.

1. Re-read Books 1-5. Yes this is very obvious. It's a big time investment to actually go back and read thousands and thousands of pages, especially since, like me, most of you have read all the books 40 million times. Despite this, you'd be surprised how often you'll pick up something you never noticed before. Maybe you'll notice something that seems unimportant, but will have major relevance in Book 6 or 7. There is always a benefit to re-reading the books.

2. Watch the first two movies over again. There are less benefits to this as you are probably not going to pick anything up (if you do it's usually something that's not said, rather than something is said), but there is plenty of entertainment value nonetheless. If you own the DVDs there are a ton of extras like interviews with the cast members and stuff like that, so there is literally hours upon hours of fun in there, and it's definitely an effective tool at killing time.

3. Play the video games. Just like with the movies, there aren't a ton of benefits, but the games are an enjoyable time. I've played a couple, and they are okay. In a rush to make as much money as they could, the producers of these games missed a golden opportunity, though. For those of you who are fans of The Matrix trilogy, the video game "Enter the Matrix" gave you some deleted scenes and provided a little insight about some of the characters. For LotR fans, the video games give you a sneak preview at scenes from the latest movie before it comes out. To the best of my knowledge, the Harry Potter games don't do this, and it's a shame.

4. Go see Prisoner of Azkaban in theaters. Make a whole big night of it, because this has the potential to be the most fun HP related activity you take part in before the release of the 6th book. See it with a bunch of friends, and have an open mind. This movie is going to be unique to the others because it has a new director, who undoubtedly has a new interpretation of the books. I'm sure J.K. Rowling wouldn't let it stray too far from the books, so it should be interesting to see how it all comes out.

5. Read Galadriel Waters book. And don't stop there. Galadriel Waters wrote a fantastic book on the mysteries of Harry Potter, and you all should read it. There are tons of other books out there about HP (like Quidditch Throughout the Ages) that give background into the world of Harry Potter. These are useful things to know, and will enhance your knowledge and understanding of the series.

6. Keep up with the fan sites. I'm sure you all come on here only to read my column, but if you look around, there is actually a lot of other cool stuff on here! It's an invaluable source for news regarding HP, and there are cool games and stuff to occupy your time. Mugglenet Interactive always offers something interesting as well.

7. Post your thoughts on message boards. There is nothing like a healthy discussion, after all. But keep in mind, different strokes for different folks. There is no need to berate anyone for having a different opinion than yours, or asking what you think is a foolish question. On that note, when the book comes out finally, don't post spoilers on message boards; a lot of people don't want to see that stuff. Let's keep it clean and fun. That makes it a good time-filling experience for everyone.

8. Keep on the lookout for TV interviews. These usually start popping up when the release of the book draws near, but every now and then you get lucky and catch your local news doing a piece on HP. When you start seeing JKR on TV, that's when you know the book is coming. Don't just limit yourself to the TV, either. If you see something on a news site, or any non-Harry site for that matter, check it out. You never know what kind of info is there. You may just have found a diamond in the rough. And if you do, be sure to inform the crack Mugglenet staff so we can share it with everyone else.

9. Throw a Harry-themed party. I'll admit this is probably for a younger crowd, but it can still be a good time. Invite a bunch of friends over, dressed in Harry attire, drink pumpkin juice, each cockroach clusters (probably not with actual cockroaches though, but if you are brave….), play some Harry trivia games and pop in the movies. It sounds a little corny, but with the right kind of people involved, it could be a very good time. And last but not least…

10. Midnight party at your local bookstore. When you do this you'll literally be killing your final Book 6-less hours. This is the best time you'll have that involves Harry all year. The midnight party is like Christmas Eve. You already know what you're getting, but the anticipation is half the fun!

Well, I hope you enjoyed my little list. Enjoy doing any or all of the time-killing techniques, and hopefully they will make the wait to Book 6 a little more bearable. This week's winner of the movie trivia is Trevor Bordelon. Congrats, Trevor! Send your Mugglenet account name to Emerson to claim your 5 galleon prize. This week's quote is

"I have to believe in a world outside my own mind. I have to believe that my actions still have meaning, even if I can't remember them. I have to believe that when my eyes are closed, the world's still there. Do I believe the world's still there? Is it still out there? ... Yeah. We all need mirrors to remind ourselves who we are. I'm no different."
Good luck, and see you all soon!
11/14/03