Hallo and Hallows!

So what with the school hols/ visitors/ back-to-school madness I have only felt like I've got enough time/energy /brainpower to blog as of today. It is highly likely I'll start flooding Le Blog with catch-up doings now, but the policy I've just decided on (subject to change) is to blog one thing at a time.

Today I want to talk about Harry Potter, so fair warning to anyone who is not into him! (And while I'm doing that I'll show you some pictures of Cherub modelling the wizardy/Jedi cloak I made for Astrid's 5yo son)



When they released film of The Deathly Hallows, Part 1 last year, I made a conscious decision not to go see it. I knew exactly where they'd end the first film (I was right) and I didn't want to have to wait a year for the resolution. The Deathly Hallows is a great big finale, and is full of big battles and sad goodbyes and important revelations. I felt the need to go through it all in one fell swoop.



So last Saturday, Nell and Climber and I borrowed the Part 1 dvd from the lovely Shula, and locked ourselves into the Lego Grown-Up's Room. (Cherub was banned owing to not having read Book 7 - the rule in our house is Book First- and Fixit was sidelined owing to having to look after the banned Cherub, and also he wasn't that interested.) When it was over we had a little break and then headed off to the local cinema, where we bumped into our very good friend Pea (Astrid's daughter) and her Dad, also come to see it. The kids were very happy to see each other and elected to sit next to each other. Pea's Dad advised them that if they got scared they were to hold each others' hands, at which they both gave shy embarrassed giggles. I sat on the other side of Climber. There were concerns on my part about whether he'd be able to handle it, owing to his hyper-sensitivity. This is a kid who was traumatised by a Mr Bean movie for heaven's sake; although, that was a while ago now. And when we'd been reading the books he was so upset by the death at the end of Book 6 that he wouldn't go near Book 7 for a long, long time. But thankfully, curiousity and a little bit of peer group pressure got the better of him, and he read the book last year. When I suggested that we could see it at the movies together he was quite excited and certain he'd be okay.



And good news, he was okay, at the end, if you know what I mean! During the film, the scenes involving Snape's flashbacks had the two of us sobbing our hearts out, and I could also feel Climber shaking during the Gringott's break out and the final battle. But he came out looking fine, and pleased, and exhilarated, and there were no breakdowns or losses of sleep later either.

Even though I resented Warner Brothers for releasing the 2 movies a year apart, I agree with Pea's Dad about how splitting the book into 2 parts made the Deathly Hallows Parts 1 & 2 much better films. They didn't feel so rushed. Important things weren't left out for the sake of quidditch special effects. The tension was excellent. Alan Rickman is a legend, and was the most inspired piece of casting in film history.



In fact I'd go so far as to say that these 2 films were the best of the series, alongside Azkaban. My only quibble is that they ought to have shown Harry repairing his original wand before he snapped the Elder Wand.

I highly recommend seeing the films as a double feature. What it felt like was the same as the days when each new Harry Potter book was released: after waiting a year and lining up for it on the first day, I'd come home, shut the door on my family and fall into the book completely. For an entire day I lived in the world of Magic, and it was magic. And that was how it was on Saturday too.