Amy, 24, Melbourne, web designer, piano student, Slytherin, nostalgia (and chocolate) addict, and languisher in all things baroque, rococo, and Tolkien.
This is the Harry Potter post I’ve been putting off for ages. 
First there was my niece’s cute party at the end of June…
The whole adorable group!
Death Eater Dave is nostalgic and wishes to be Sorted again, this time with the aid of Blarp the toad.
The Hogwarts Faculty
All gnomes were thrown unceremoniously into these sacks.
“Hello.”
Hufflepuff caught the most, but we found out later they’d also cheated the most!
Kimmy-Hagrid is happy.
He must have scootered through some foliage.
Adam-Snape looking uncommonly delighted.
Prof. Sprout answering trivia. Death Eater Michael appears to be having a hood dilemma in the gusts.
Cupcakes by Kimmy
There was, of course, a very significant event after this, but don’t hold out for any Deathly Hallows Part 2 review or anything, because I am quietly not acknowledging “the end”… I know that’s all very dramatic. Onwards.
At the beginning of August I received my copy of “Dear Mr. Potter“. I flipped through the pages very anxiously to see if my entries had made it in (I sent four pictures including a letter) and was very relieved and excited when I found them (pages 140, 153, & 190), because the editors originally said they would contact everyone to confirm things and I had heard nothing back. I don’t think they must’ve received one of my photos (and it was MUCH higher quality than many of the entries), one that I would’ve rather had gone in than the cheesy old one of my frizzy hair and big grin, but nevermind! I MADE IT INTO A HARRY POTTER BOOK.
Got into Pottermore last week too! Add AvisShadow129 if you’re on there. Ollivander gifted me with this lovely wand:
For some reason the Hat put me in Ravenclaw, but I’m resigned to this fate and approve of the Common Room’s décor. We’re also leading in House Points right now. Here’s a peek for those who are curious:
We are nearing the end of a journey that’s been over a decade long for many fans. With part two of the final film being released in less than three months, some of us are clinging to the hope there will still be other Potter-related events to look forward to! There will eventually be an enclyclopedia, perhaps a visit to the Wizarding World theme park for some, and there are bound to be a few more conventions. But this post won’t be filled with post-Potter separation anxiety or some soppy story about how much Harry has impacted my life (there isn’t one – I can’t explain the obsession beyond claiming this saga to be pure manna for a complete escapist).
I’ve done the typical nerdy things like produce terrible “fanfiction” and “fanart”, hold annual Potter-themed parties, dress up for every release of a book or film, and trawl websites for the last 11 years. But the usual outlet takes the form of collecting anything and everything to do with the obsession. I don’t know why I feel the need to have everything and hoard it, because it’s certainly not about resale value… mostly it’s the fear that somehow I’ll be missing out if I don’t have it, and the competitive streak in me justifies the expense somehow. It’s all still quite important to me and I wouldn’t dream of parting with any of it, but unlike the bulk of my Tolkien collection, most of the Potter items can’t be read over and over, only displayed or stored once gathering too much dust. So this is just a post of a few before and after-type photos, including my collection, a few dress-ups, and some recent conventions where I was lucky enough to have briefly met five actors from the films.
2003-2004
My ridiculous (and excellent) bedroom
Hermione impressions
Order of the Phoenix is released
My sister suffers the effects of a potent Butterbeer brew
The shrine is growing
Hauling everything outside for a bit of scope
2010-2011
Showing true colours
Entry to Dear Mr. Potter, a book full of letters and photos from fans which is in progress
The collection, as of late last year
Stan Ianevski (Krum) and Natalia Tena (Tonks) at Hubwarts
James and Oliver Phelps (Fred and George) at Hubwarts
Photos with each of them
A photo with Tom Felton (Draco) at Supanova
For once I don’t feel like rambling on, because I am having the worst bout of very stubborn eczema in my life, and this is keeping me from doing a lot of things, including caring about anything! And this domain had some server problems a few weeks ago where I lost some content from my database – I managed to restore the posts but not the most recent comments (apologies to those who left them and may not have seen my replies). I have transferred to a more reliable host now but it’s a somewhat tedious process. Posts may be a bit infrequent because I am hibernating, spending a lot on specialist medical bills, and being generally itchy and stressed. I am planning on going to an Easter-themed Lolita picnic on Sunday so I can get some fresh air and attempt to de-stress around some pretty and lovely new (and old) friends. The gentleman purchased me a beautiful dress (in the milk tea colour) that arrived a few days ago and I can’t wait for the opportunity to wear it!
- There is no way I could miss Cecilia Bartoli coming to my own city in a few weeks. There are hardly any tickets left now so BOOK NOW if you want to see her (I only bought one ticket – even the C-reserve seating is very expensive and there are no pensioner discounts). Though Bartoli isn’t to everyone’s taste, especially after concentrating less on the lieder for coloratura (where some of her beautiful sound is often sacrificed with the speed of those passages), this absolute diva and “force of nature” certainly won my heart. She’s never toured in Australia (and who knows if she will again), so for me this will be a night to remember.
- Today was quite busy with the first piano lesson of the year and many other errands, but once home I enjoyed more of Attenborough’s Life, and got on with more picnic planning. Funds will need to be managed carefully for me to arrange it well, and also to get to Hubwarts! Yes, Melbourne’s getting it’s very own Harry Potter convention soon! Only James and Oliver Phelps have been announced as guests so far, so I’m hanging out for more info. and will probably only get a day ticket this time, after being rather unimpressed with what a $450 ticket covered at a previous Hub convention. Staff were pretty good, though, and they manage the privacy issues (and potential for fangirl craziness) rather well.
- I’m enjoying Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies for the DS of late – it’s a role-playing adventure, the latest in the series, and at first looks the same as a lot of other Japanese games, but the story is absorbing and the graphics make good use of the console. I’d been getting my cute on with Cooking Mama 3 but this game quickly distracted me from it.
Good night!
Concept art of what we can expect in 6 months...
I figured that my reluctance to dissect Deathly Hallows Part 1 is what’s keeping me from updating. I feel the need to update in order, and to do it about all the events (small, large, exciting, or strange) that I want to remember or share somehow. I’ve been prioritising more, dieting, exercising, working, and that’s kept me from wasting hours on gaming or eating chocolate! But I have always been put off by analysing films, or coming out from a theatre and having people discuss it instantly. Personally, I am being transported when I watch a film and it takes me some time to digest it all and come back to real life. I don’t like that to be interrupted by conversations or thoughts that bring me back before I’m ready. Essentially, I don’t like the fantasy to disappear straight away, or for something I may have just emotionally invested a lot into to be brought back to reality by people’s judgements.
But I’ll list some highlights and thoughts regardless, since enough time has passed for me to stop being so precious!
- I saw it at a midnight release with 8 friends, then about 20 hours later again, and again on November 21. I have wanted to leave a few more weeks between another showing, because I probably overloaded myself with emotions, and my Slytherin uniform should also be more complete by then…
- Heaps of people were dressed up at midnight (I love seeing people tackling the less conventional outfits!); the underlying rapport and excitement was there. For once though, I think we were all too sad and confronted with the dark ending to applaud. We are apparently becoming known as the Harry Potter generation. If only it had been as cool ten years ago at school…
- Where Half-Blood Prince significantly departed from the book in so many ways (though probably the most entertaining film so far), this came right back to the source and it really made a difference. It felt authentic, the performances felt authentic, and very little was left wanting. A few things fans thought were important and not included are probably going to appear on the DVD as deleted scenes, but even at 2 hours 20 minutes there wasn’t really anything I thought unnecessary. Perhaps some areas went by too quickly, not letting us really take thing in, and other parts dragged (at least in the context of a film). But then, I’m of the fan calibre that would be quite happy to see it all in endless real-time.
- I felt the gravity of the isolation and new responsibility of the trio; we don’t really know what’s happening out there, time is passing, we’re out of touch with the wizarding world. This film seemed to be about adapting to that, and about overcoming relationship problems. I feel we have really been set up for a great climax and finale, that almost everything has been covered, that there is less need for fun and comic relief, that Part Two will be finally driving at the core of the whole war and story, the choice between Hallows and Horcruxes, and of Harry himself.
- Ron’s destruction of the locket is joining my other favourite film moments ever, along with Gandalf vs. Balrog, Gandalf vs. Lord of the Nazgûl, and so on. Everything about the scene was perfect, surreal, and exactly as I’d always pictured it.
- For the first time I remember, I felt a real dislike for Voldemort. Most of us automatically hate him as the enemy, while some get flippant and think that it’s ‘cool to like the baddie’, almost fondly referring to him as ‘Voldie’. Seeing the desecration of Dumbledore’s tomb come to life on screen has really given me reason to detest him fully, especially with Fiennes’ perfect portrayal of the utterly heartless (and somewhat soulless) villain.
- Most people are saying they can’t wait until July 15, but I just want it to drag on forever. I have tried to think of some things I can do, as the mania sort of wraps up, that sufficiently sum up the obsession, and how much the last decade has revolved around it for so many of us. Usually I hold some small party each year, but now I’m creating a sort of hand-made Harry Potter encyclopaedia; it will be fully hand-written and illustrated in ink, in a custom leather journal from http://www.epica.com (the place that supplied the books for J.K. Rowling’s hand-written auctioned copies of Beedle the Bard). This will be a long and unhurried project, something that can be added to at any time, and something to occupy me in the lead-up to the final film, or afterwards when we become a bit starved of events in the Potterverse. I also attempted to drag out my entire collection but have found no room or area of yard large enough to actually display it or photograph properly, it’s grown so large. We don’t have a very good camera, otherwise it might be cool to take a visual sort of itinerary of everything!
Hmm, I just turned 24. Must distract myself from ageing concerns by blogging more!
The aforementioned ‘pirate cruise‘ was a grand success, and countless dangerous adventures were had on the high seas! By that I mean that we sailed for a few hours through calm and still water, climbing the rigging, drinking punch and ARRRRing at any passing speedboat. The majority of us headed back to a pirate-themed tavern (a bogan pub disguised in jolly rogers and old canvases) for a drink or fifty. My motion sickness normally extends to any vehicle I’m not in direct control of, but the stomach blessedly held out that day. I have a great reverence and wonderment at the ocean and simply drawing close to it normally gets me quite excited; there’s nothing I’d love more than to be able to sail with dear Winter (should she ever read this) while she guides us over the breast of Ulmo.
My 14-year-old niece is here for a few days while it’s school holidays. She’s rolling a new character on LotRO while Adam and I drool over the thought of the World of Darkness MMO — it’s in very early production stages since White Wolf merged with CCP Games (makers of Eve Online). We have been playing Dragon Age constantly, romancing all possible characters and creating general drama. I’m going to play it again as an evil bastard next time… Every strictly non-multiplayer game makes us yearn to play it together, while most MMOs end up infuriating us through the very liberal allowances made in players’ ingame behaviour and speech. There is little to be done but ignore it, and attempting to spar in wit with said trolls and imbeciles is completely useless. It’s sort of a lesser version of on-road stress — I have a great deal of contempt for an enormous percentage of drivers. Where I live, young men use their high disposable incomes to purchase vehicles along the lines of Commodores, Falcons, and high-powered utes. Their female counterparts are usually found in Lancers and Excels. All of them drive as if they have a not a whit of care for the safety of themselves or anyone else, their aggressive tendencies are completely intimidating and their insecurities in their manhood are obvious. It’s an example of how doing the right thing (not speeding or behaving stupidly on the road) still earns dangerous aggression and one-upmanship. I believe risky driving and super high speeds should be kept exclusively on a racetrack for people who can prove their licenses were earned through, say, more than 10 hours of supervised driving? Don’t get me wrong though! As much as the romantic fancy of travelling everywhere via horse and carriage endears us, I love to drive. We have a humble, dark red, 10-year-old Corolla and it meets all our transport needs perfectly. It’s attractive, economic, light, just the right size for us, safe, and had the extra creature comforts that my faithful little ’80 TE Gemini (Lord rest its soul) didn’t. But, mmm, the purr of the Aston Martin DBS V12 (drooled over before ever seeing Casino Royale [here we have a momentary pause for the mind to wander into Eva Green territory], thank you)… my thoughts on it are usually summed up as, “aurally defecating on all the singlet-toting hoipolloi that hoon up and down our road or screech around in nearby carparks.” That’s right, bogans. Your V8 and your modding and your tyres and exhaust pipes and infernal revving and ogling at passing female drivers isn’t the least bit impressive. In fact, you disgust most of us. Things Bogans Like always has me snorting and snickering away at all the silly ‘things’ easily recognisable in bogan culture, and I’m afraid my time spent there last night brought to the surface a few pet peeves. Nevermind.
Well, after that interesting segue (I’m noticing an increasing trend in these segues, especially ones under-laced with a bit of cynicism) I’ll touch on a few light-hearted matters before a rousing round of Mario Kart on the DS.
Father brought home a 42-inch Panasonic plasma T.V. the other day. He’s all but a technophobe until recently so this is a really impressive feat for him: a NEW television! We pulled out the N64 and christened it with Goldeneye, Blackadder Goes Forth, Deathly Hallows Part 1 trailer (more on that in a second) and so on. I finally got a new printer also, a Canon Pixma MX860, and it is beeeeaaauutiful. I exercised it by printing out and playing ‘Consider, Fond Shepherd’ from Acis & Galatea, and Schubert’s Impromptu No.3 in G flat.
On a whim two days ago we also finally tilled the overgrown vegetable ‘garden’, added new compost/manure/fertiliser/mulch and planted a heap of seedlings. Hopefully in a few weeks I’ll have a bit to show for it, but I’m most excited about the garlic and other herbs. It will be nice not to have to buy them in future. Also, if my plans for living off the land (as much as possible) are ever to transpire then I might as well practise in the soil already around me.
All I want to say about that Harry Potter trailer is that, in true rabid Potterphile fashion, I had to leave the room immediately after to shudder and weep at the thought of the dénouement of it all. That’s what happened at the end of the Return of the King, at any rate. I was inconsolable for a while, completely overwhelmed, and then had to go home to process it all. The image left is reminiscent of both horrifying moments as two great wizards fall from a great height to their doom. Both series (and characters) have had a rather enormous impact on my life and while I could say a lot about either, I usually tether the intensity within my own head and restrain my obsession to collecting.
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