HARRY POTTER 6!!

[blueroses]

....Ok, come on PSers, fess up!!

I can't be the only grown-up who was at the store last night getting my new BOOK 6(!) at 12:01am!! (What a scene--everything from moms and dad to kids galore in costume running around to college-age goth-types to dorky childless HP fans like me!)

Any others? Yay Harry Potter

 

[Kaleigh]

Good for you Blue!!!!! I will buy it today, I need my beauty sleep. My son will read it first, then I will read it. They are great books, not just for kids!!! And I love the movies!!!!

 

[MissAva]

I have Saxon duty at the moment (its Kumon time or i would not be on the comp). But I was invited to a midnight HP party last night. I will wait for my little brother to let me read his. I saw the trailer for the next movie when Saxon and I saw the Willy Wonka movie yesterday...looks spiffy to me!

 

[msb700]

blue: just got my copy a few mins ago! )) (my brother actually went to the book store at 5 am to pick his copy and so kindly offered to pick our copy too!!! meanwhile, i stayed in bed dreaming of how good the book will be

)

i love the books! can''t wait to start reading it

 

[MichelleCarmen]

We''re picking up the book this afternoon. Last night, it would have been insane dragging in the boys (half asleep), but today, we''re going and picking up cookies to eat to help energize us for the inevitably long line.

 

[WTNLVR]

I took the easy way out and ordered on-line. Should get it next week.

 

[sjz]

My sister was in town, and since we were still up at 11PM, we went to Walmart and had our copies by 12:01 PM. We both read the last chapter while standing in line to pay for the book, and knew by 12:05 the identity of the Half Blood Prince...lol. I''ve read the first 4 chapters, and it looks like this book is already setting off at a faster pace than the previous installments. Since my hubby works the night shift all weekend, and my daughter goes to camp tomorrow morning, I''m betting I will have the book finished by Monday at the latest!

 

[Munchkin]

I got my copy early this morning! As soon as I finish my chores

, I can read it! I am SO excited!

Munchkin

 

[icekid]

got mine this afternoon

Bf and I wandered down to Barnes and Noble around 11:30 last night just to people watch a bit, but picked up the book around noon today. Can''t wait to get reading!! I''ve been excited about this all summer..

 

[Lord Summerisle]

picked it up this morning on my way over to my folks for my birthday BBQ. havent had chance to read it yet

 

[Blue824]

I''m glad I''m not the only one. I was a closet HP fan, always sneaking my little brother''s books, until I got to college and realized other older readers also enjoyed it. If I had a friend in Chicago who liked to read it, I totally would''ve been at B&N at midnight! However, none of my Chicago friends like HP, and my brother is 18 and doesnt like to admit to his friends that he likes it and I guess it is uncool for him to do that with his sister....soooo I did it the lazy way and got it from Amazon.com.

However...does anyone else feel like they need to reread 1-5 first? Maybe I should''ve thought ahead and done that already...but I havent started 6 because I''m not sure I want to with out remembering everything clearly from 1-5.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 7/16/2005 8:03:43 PM
Author: Blue824


However...does anyone else feel like they need to reread 1-5 first? Maybe I should''ve thought ahead and done that already...but I havent started 6 because I''m not sure I want to with out remembering everything clearly from 1-5.

I''ve considered rereading the first books, but am not sure if I have time right now, so I''m going right to six. . .we picked our copy up this afternoon and also ate huge cookies from the attached coffee shop PLUS a grilled sandwich. My pants feel tight. . .need treadmill to walk on while reading HP.

Oh, and Harry Potter is called "A Poe" in our household because when the movies first came out, my son was a few years younger and couldn''t say Harry Potter, and since then the name has stuck.

 

[blueroses]

"A Poe"--that is too cute!!!!!

I heard about this website on NPR this week: http://www.hp-lexicon.org/index-2.html It has chapter-by-chapter synopses of all the previous books. (Blue824, I hear you!!! When book 5 came out I had to wrack my brain to remember what had happened in book 4!!)

I am sharing the book w/ my 63 year old dad, so there is no limit on age for HP!!!

 

[blueroses]

Okay, don''t read on if you don''t want spoilers from books 1-5!! (This was in Newsday this week and is tres helpful!!!)

*****
*****

The story so far -- Harry Potter I through V
By Deepti Hajela
The Associated Press

Synopses of the first five Harry Potter books, by J.K. Rowling.

"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer''s Stone" (September 199

The world meets Harry Potter, a young English orphan with bright green eyes, unruly black hair and an odd scar on his forehead shaped like a lightning bolt.

Harry, whose parents died when he was 1, lives with the Dursleys -- his awful aunt and uncle and their bully of a son -- who tell him that his scar is a legacy of the car crash that killed his parents.

But on his 11th birthday, Harry gets a visit from Hagrid, groundskeeper at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and learns the truth: His parents were a witch and wizard. They were killed by the most evil wizard in the world, Lord Voldemort, who tried to kill Harry when he murdered Harry''s parents. But Voldemort''s curse rebounded, weakening him and leaving Harry with the scar.

Harry goes off to Hogwarts to study wizardry for the first of seven years. He makes friends with Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger and headmaster Albus Dumbledore, and draws as his enemies Draco Malfoy and Professor Severus Snape.

He learns many wizardry secrets -- from playing Quidditch to transfiguration spells. But he also learns something else -- that Voldemort is not dead but alive in spirit, and is looking to regain his physical form (and wreak a little vengeance on young Potter while he''s at it).

Voldemort has taken over the body of Professor Quirrell, and is looking for the Sorcerer''s Stone, which he needs to make a potion that will prolong his life. Harry and his friends thwart Voldemort and the evil wizard''s spirit flees to plot another day.

"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" (June 1999)

It''s the end of summer and 12-year-old Harry is at home with the Dursleys. He''s somewhat down, wondering why he hasn''t heard from any of his friends. The reason is revealed by a weird visitor, Dobby the house-elf, who is enslaved by the Malfoy family.

With his batlike ears and huge eyes, Dobby has sneaked away from the Malfoys to warn Harry that he is in much danger and must not return to Hogwarts. Dobby has been blocking Harry''s mail to make the young wizard think that his friends don''t like him anymore.

But Harry returns to Hogwarts anyway -- in a flying car with Ron. (Take that, Whomping Willow!)

Things are weird at Hogwarts -- and dangerous. Harry hears voices that no one else can, and people start turning up in a petrified state. The hidden Chamber of Secrets has been opened, and a monster is attacking students who come from nonmagical families.

Harry and his friends discover they''re dealing with an old mystery, and when Ginny Weasley, Ron''s younger sister, disappears, Harry finds the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets and goes to look for her. What he finds is the spirit of young Tom Riddle, an old Hogwarts student who put his spirit in a magical diary that Ginny has been using. Riddle''s spirit takes a keen interest in Harry, who learns it was Riddle who ultimately became Voldemort.

Harry defeats the spirit by destroying the diary. And before returning home, he engineers Dobby''s freedom from the Malfoys. (Eeuww, a stinky sock. Don''t ask.)

"Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" (September 1999)

Harry, now 13, is on his best behavior at the Dursley home, hoping he''ll be able to get his awful uncle to sign a permission slip for school field trips. He promises not to annoy Uncle Vernon''s horrible sister during her visit. But she''s SO horrible that Harry blows her up like a balloon and she floats away as he flees the house.

Harry expects to be punished by Hogwarts because he has used magic around the nonmagical. Instead, he is sent to an inn to wait out the rest of his vacation. On the eve of his return to Hogwarts, he finds out why: Sirius Black, an alleged supporter of Voldemort, has escaped from Azkaban, a prison for wizards and witches. Everyone is worried that he''s on his way to Hogwarts to finish off Harry.

It''s a tense year at Hogwarts, with new, scary guards and more classes for Harry and friends. Harry also thinks he sees omens of death.

Black finally shows up. But it''s not Harry he''s after -- it''s Scabbers, Ron''s pet rat. It turns out that Scabbers is a transfigured Peter Pettigrew, a Voldemort follower who committed the crime for which Black was wrongly imprisoned. And it was Pettigrew who told Voldemort where he could find Harry''s parents all those years ago.

With Pettigrew back in human form, hopes are high that Black will be exonerated. Black is actually Harry''s godfather, and offers him a home away from the Dursleys. But Pettigrew escapes, and Black has to go on the lam to avoid being sent back to jail.

As for Harry, he returns home to the horrible Dursleys.

Ron gets a new owl.

"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (July 2000)

Book 4 opens with the story of how the aloof, obnoxious Riddle family died.

Then the scene shifts to Voldemort, whose original name was Riddle. Voldemort has met up with Pettigrew and is hatching another plot to bring himself back to a physical form and full power. The plot requires blood and death -- preferably Harry''s. An evil minion at Hogwarts is in place to help the wizard get his hands on 14-year-old Harry when the time comes.

Harry, meanwhile, has joined Ron and his family at the Quidditch World Cup finals. Once back at Hogwarts, Harry is entered in a dangerous magical competition with two other wizard schools. He survives, but another Hogwarts competitor doesn''t.

Harry ends up temporarily in Voldemort''s clutches, although the evil wizard''s plan doesn''t go quite as he had hoped. Harry and Voldemort end up in a duel, and the ghostly forms of those Voldemort has killed come back to aid Harry and help him get away.

Once back at school, the minion is revealed, and Dumbledore realizes that Voldemort is ripe for trouble. Dumbledore tries to persuade the Minister of Magic to take steps to stop the evil wizard, but the minister does not believe him. So Dumbledore starts making preparations of his own to combat the battle he anticipates.

Harry and company leave Hogwarts at the start of summer knowing they will soon face an extraordinary fight. And Harry sets the Weasley twins in business, giving them the money he won from the tournament so that they can open their own joke shop.

"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (June 2003)

This book is the longest in the series to date, and it makes full use of all the pages, with chock-a-block details, adventure and action.

Harry is 15, and often acts like the teenager he is -- moody, angry, easily irritated. Of course, you can hardly blame him -- he knows Voldemort is back but hardly anyone believes him. Harry and the Order of the Phoenix, a secret society fighting against his Huge Evilness, can only operate in secret. Really secret for some -- Sirius Black is essentially under house arrest, unable to leave the order''s headquarters because he can''t afford to be seen.

Once Harry returns to Hogwarts, things continue to get worse. The Ministry of Magic is interfering in classes by using a particularly odious new instructor; Harry keeps having these strange dreams, he''s got his fifth-year exams to worry about and for some reason he can''t figure out, Dumbledore isn''t really talking to him.

Meanwhile, there is a bright spot: Hermione and Ron, prefects for Gryffindor House, persuade Harry to start a secret club to teach students defense against the dark arts.

Toward the end of the year, Voldemort tricks Harry into making a visit to the Ministry of Magic on the pretense of saving Sirius from torture. But Voldemort is really after some information that only Harry can get for him, the truth about the connection between the two of them. It turns into an all-out battle between Harry and friends and the Voldemort supporters, with Sirius as a casualty. Dumbledore comes to the rescue (for now) and finally (FINALLY!) tells Harry why Voldemort first came after him, and offers a glimpse of the dark future in store for him. (Hint: Between Harry and Voldemort, it''s not going to end pretty.)

The rest of the wizarding world finally realizes that Harry was telling the truth all along, and everyone starts to gird up for the final battle.

 

[hlmr]

My book was on my doorstep (courier delivered from Chapters) when I returned home this evening.
I ordered it online with a gift cert I received in March.

Heather

 

[Blue824]

Blue -- Cool!! Thanks for posting that, its just what I needed to refresh my memory!! hehe, saved me a few days of reading and now I can happily start 6!!

 

[JCJD]

We pre-ordered it a month ago from Barnes & Noble, but it hasn't arrived yet. So when we went to Target to return some gifts, the husband talked me into buying it there and returning the B&N copy to Target when it arrives so he can start reading it right away. He promised me he'd write thank you notes before and after each reading bout, but he's been reading all day with no notes written..... Silly boy. To think, when book 5 came out, he refused to touch the Harry Potter series! I practically had to force him to read Book 1, and now he surfs HP websites!

 

[Kamuelamom]

blueroses, thanks for posting the synopsis since I have no clue about this series. All I know is that JK Rowling is brilliant and is a millionaire many times over.

And I also know that we were one day too early last night when we (my son, actually) went looking for #6.

My little son kept telling him, "no, Dev, it's not till the 16th" but did he listen?

Noooooooooo, he did not... and of course, I had no clue.

 

[mrssalvo]

my oldest daughter is reading her copy right now

she hasn''t been able to put it down all day

 

[fire&ice]

Bought it Saturday. Started reading on Sunday - the moment I finshed re-reading Order of the Phoenix. "Order" was great - there was sooo much I forgot. I''m just hoping that this one lives up to it. I did not like the first chapter. It put it too close to reality.

Big Harry Potter fans in this household.

 

[OldBride]

I received mine on Saturday via Amazon. I actually ordered two, since I wasn''t about to fight with my 20 year old son over it (he''s a junior at UCLA, in case you''re thinking he must be a dimbulb). I spent all of Sunday with Harry and finished the book. It was excellent, but very dark, and unfortunately, we won''t get to the end of the story for another two years!

 

[dazedland]

I got mine this afternoon! I ordered through Amazon, but it wasn''t going to be here until between the 25th-30th and I couldn''t wait any longer! I wish I had my other books here, the Website with the synopsis will definitely come in handy, I can''t remember what the impervius spell does? I''m already on page 129 and already dreading that I know I will finish it by this weekend and have to wait another two years for the next one! Is there only one more for sure? My fiance told me the books are for little kids, now I have another reason why PS is an even more perfect place!

 

[JCJD]

Well, we received our pre-ordered copy yesterday, JUST BEFORE HUBBY FINISHED THE BOOK!! And how many thank- you notes has he written? ZERO. Boys......

 

[sjz]

I finished the book Monday morning at around 4AM. I stayed up late three nights in a row to read it, and now I am going to go back and read GOF and OOTP again. I want to get them done before November, when GOF movie is released. I''ll probably end up reading HBP again then, too. I probably won''t be pulling anymore all nighters to get them read, though.

I''ve got another book on my nightstand that I need to read as well. It''s Illuminati by Larry Burkett. Anyone read that one?

 

[dazedland]

I just finished it, and now I am depressed

It was such a good one though! Only two years or so until the next one

I have to start another book that will cheer me up.

 

[sjz]

Date: 7/21/2005 2:14:48 PM
Author: dazedland
I just finished it, and now I am depressed

It was such a good one though! Only two years or so until the next one

I have to start another book that will cheer me up.

Were you dissapointed in the identity of the Half-blood Prince? I was, because that was a character that I had always hoped would end up redeeming himself. But in a way, it all fit, didn''t it? Hopefully the next book will end up making up for the losses in this one. Two years is going to be a long time to wait!

 

[icekid]

Date: 7/21/2005 2:14:48 PM
Author: dazedland
I just finished it, and now I am depressed

It was such a good one though! Only two years or so until the next one

I have to start another book that will cheer me up.

haha, glad to hear that I wasn''t the only one who felt sad when I read the end. It was good! But... sad

I think my bf thinks I am nuts for being sad about a harry potter book!!

 

[Blue824]

Alright...has anyone else finished reading? I''m sure they have, I *just* made myself finish...I''m like a week behind the rest of my friends...it was so sad! I stopped at a certain point because I didnt really want to know if what had happened was truly what happened! I definitely teared up at a few points though, I''m a dork. So now what? Wait another two years for the next book?

Thats why I didnt rush through this one, took my time.

 

[Rockchick]

Date: 7/27/2005 1:31:57 AM
Author: Blue824
Alright...has anyone else finished reading? I''m sure they have, I *just* made myself finish...I''m like a week behind the rest of my friends...it was so sad! I stopped at a certain point because I didnt really want to know if what had happened was truly what happened! I definitely teared up at a few points though, I''m a dork. So now what? Wait another two years for the next book?

Thats why I didnt rush through this one, took my time.

yup I finished last week, its so sad

I''m re-reading it, just to make sure that I haven''t missed anything. Guess we just have to wait...Part 7 is the last one right?

 

[Rockchick]

Date: 7/21/2005 3:41:56 PM
Author: sjz

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Were you dissapointed in the identity of the Half-blood Prince? I was, because that was a character that I had always hoped would end up redeeming himself. But in a way, it all fit, didn''t it? Hopefully the next book will end up making up for the losses in this one. Two years is going to be a long time to wait!

yes very! thought he would be someone else.. aah well