— I am already 3\/4 of the way through, thanks to my hour-long commute out and back to Michele’s yesterday. I wish it wasn’t going by so fast!!!<\/p>\n
— Harry’s a moody bastard in this one, isn’t he? I guess true adolescence has begun.<\/p>\n
— I want to punch Professor Umbridge in her fat toady face. She is, by far, the most hateable hateful character in this series.<\/p>\n
— I love how Hermione basically coaches Harry through his blossoming romance with Cho – explaining to him how girls think, and interpreting Cho’s odd behavior for Harry. “Here’s what that meant … what she’s REALLY saying is …” We all should have a friend like that of the opposite sex.<\/p>\n
— Poor Sirius Black. Trapped in his horrible childhood home with that despicable house-elf and the shrieking portraits of his awful ancestors.<\/p>\n
— In general – this book is quite depressing. The vibe at Hogwarts is oppressive, frightening … and Harry, for the first time, is on the outside. He was the golden boy in all the other books – sure, he had dangerous stuff happen to him – but he was pretty much always indulged and admired (Snape notwithstanding). I like that he really has to struggle in this book – even though it’s not a pleasant experience for him. It’s going to be a good character-building thing, I’m sure. But still – the mood of the book is very dark. Much darker than the other books.<\/p>\n
— Fred and George Weasley continue to just crack me up. Especially the joke candies they invented that make you projectile vomit one moment and then stop vomiting in the next moment. I laughed out loud on the train when they were demonstrating how the candies worked in the Gryffindor common room. Like – Harry’s trying to study, but all he can hear is the sounds of vomiting over in the corner, and then wild cheers. Hahahahahaha<\/p>\n
— Poor Hagrid. Hagrid’s really having a tough time in this particular book.<\/p>\n
— Here is where I am at in the book:<\/p>\n
Harry is taking extra classes with Snape so that he can protect his brain from Lord Voldemort. He continues to have dreams about the long corridor – but he doesn’t know what it means yet. It is not yet apparent what Voldemort is up to – although the Death Eaters have escaped from Azkaban. Harry’s scar hurts him almost constantly now. He’s having a really rough time making it through the day. He has a small romance with Cho going on – which he finds really exciting and scary and awkward. Professor Umbridge is sending out educational decrees every 2 seconds … and Dumbledore continues to ignore Harry. Harry is really alone in this book. From the very beginning. He’s really on his own.<\/p>\n
— Oh, and I absolutely love that a group of them have created a secret society to have Harry teach them Defense against the Dark Arts. I just love it.<\/p>\n
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