"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling

            The following is a review of the NOVEL “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” by J.K. Rowling. It is NOT a review of the FILMS of the same title. I advise you not to read this review unless you have already read or watched the first six stories in the series as this review contains details from the first six stories that you might consider “spoilers.”

            Harry Potter is a seventeen-year-old wizard. As a baby, he was targeted for death by the evil wizard Voldemort, who wished to kill Harry due to a prophecy predicting that Harry is the only one who will be able to destroy Voldemort. Due to the power of love from his mother, a power Voldemort never understood because he was an orphan, Harry was protected from Voldemort’s killing curse, which rebounded and hit Voldemort, robbing Voldemort of his powers, but not killing the dark wizard. Voldemort fled and was believed finished off for good. Harry was left with his magic-hating Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and Dudley Dursley, who wished to keep Harry from knowing that there were witches and wizards.

            Growing up, Harry’s Aunt, Uncle and cousin treated Harry like garbage, hoping for him to never know he was a wizard. However, when Harry was eleven, he received a letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry inviting him to attend and learn magic. Harry was unaware that he was famous in the wizarding world, and was expected to do great things. He became best friends with Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. He made enemies with Draco Malfoy, a fellow student. He was antagonized by Professor Severus Snape, who had bad history with Harry’s father, James. Harry, Ron and Hermione skirted around the rules in their six prior years at Hogwarts, going on many fantastic and dangerous adventures. They were closely watched by Hogwarts’ Headmaster, Professor Albus Dumbledore.

            In Harry’s fourth year at Hogwarts, Harry witnessed Voldemort’s return to power, but was believed to be a crazy liar by many who fervently wished for this not to be true, particularly by the Ministry of Magic.

            In Harry’s fifth year at Hogwarts, the wizarding world discovered that Voldemort had, indeed, regained his former power and began and was now attacking both the magic and non-magic communities.

            In Harry’s sixth year, Harry had now become believed to be “The Chosen One” who would be able to defeat Voldemort for all time. Dumbledore revealed Voldemort’s past as Tom Riddle to Harry before Dumbledore was murdered by Professor Snape.

            Wizards and witches are considered to be of age at seventeen years old. The Dursley house had been protected by magic as long as Harry was underage, and now the Dursleys had to leave their home for safety and would never see Harry again. The Order of the Phoenix, a group of witches and wizards dedicated to battle Voldemort and his followers, the Death Eaters, were to bring Harry to safety, but Snape relayed these plans to Voldemort, resulting in the Death of Mad-Eye Moody, a former Auror (Dark Wizard catchers), and injury to George Weasley, one of Ron’s twin older brothers. Harry and Ron’s younger sister Ginny had fallen in love.

            Harry had now been given the mission by Dumbledore to defeat Voldemort by destroying Voldemort’s seven Horcruxes, items that held pieces of Voldemort’s soul that prevent Voldemort’s death. Voldemort was somewhat of a sentimental collector, and most of the Horcruxes are items to do with the founders of the Hogwarts Houses or his family. To find the Horcruxes, Harry, Ron and Hermione had decided not to return to Hogwarts for their seventh year and were now to complete the mission left by Dumbledore after his death. The new Headmaster of Hogwarts was not Professor Snape, and several of Voldemort’s Death Eaters had been instated as members of Hogwarts staff. Dumbledore’s will contained several odd items left behind for Harry, Ron and Hermione.

            The three set off after the wedding of Ron’s older brother Bill to complete their mission. Voldemort’s Death Eater Pius Thicknesse was now Minister of Magic. Harry was now Undesirable Number One, and the Muggle born were now considered thefts of pureblood wizards are locked up and denied the use of magic. Harry, Ron and Hermione infiltrated the Ministry of Magic to obtain a Horcrux.

            After a conflict between Harry and Ron, Ron left Harry and Hermione behind. Harry and Hermione decided to travel to the birthplace of Harry, Godric’s Hollow, barely escaping with their lives. They also peruse a tell-all book by journalist Rita Skeeter, “The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore,” revealing to Harry some of the darker and unflattering points of Dumbledore’s life that damaged Harry’s perception of the man he considered his hero.

            Harry and Hermione reunited with Ron to visit Xenophilius Lovegood, editor of the Quibbler, a magazine that strongly supported Harry, who tells the three “The Tale of the Three Brothers,” a wizarding fairy tale about the Deathly Hallows, three items that when all collected could make it’s holders the Master of Death. They learn of the Hallow the unbeatable Elder Wand, an item which Voldemort deeply wants. They also learn that Harry’s Invisibility Cloak may be a Hallow itself. The third Hallow is the Resurrection Stone, an item that returns the dead to life. The three again escaped the Death Eaters twice more, and resumed their mission to destroy the Horcruxes.

            When Voldemort discovered the trio’s mission to destroy his Horcruxes, he returns to Hogwarts, the resting place of a Horcrux and Harry and Voldemort battle at Hogwarts with the fate of the entire wizarding world hanging in the balance.

 

            As far as “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” goes, it was the most different of all the books. The primary reason behind that was the fact that Harry, Ron and Hermione didn’t go to Hogwarts as students. But if you were to read the book having read the other six, you might see my reasoning as to why I think that is important. I honestly don’t think it would have worked otherwise. In my opinion, Harry, Ron and Hermione attending Hogwarts with Professor Snape as Headmaster and Death Eaters on staff just wouldn’t have worked. I just can’t imagine that. Unfortunately, this was my least favorite book in the series. It has nothing to do with the conclusion, rather than just the fact that I felt like there were just too many deaths that made this rather depressing. That is also not to say that I disliked the book. I rather enjoyed it. But if I just had to say that I had a least favorite “Harry Potter” novel, this was it. I did not feel like there was a lot of time wasted on trivialities. The pace felt right to me. There were almost no parts that bored me or I felt dragged on too long, but there were also moments I just wanted a little more details. I appreciated the humor, and Mrs. Weasley had my absolute favorite “Harry Potter” quote. I enjoyed how Rowling ended the series, but there were a few things more at the ending I’d like to know, the fates of several characters. All-in-all, I enjoyed it.

            As for if I actually recommend this book to others, that is a definite yes. If you enjoy fantasy novels and magic, I recommend you to read the series. And don’t say that “Harry Potter” is just a kids’ book. There was some rather heavy profanity at points that I wouldn’t let my kids read until they’d be about eleven, Harry’s age at the start of the series (and I don’t have kids at the moment). And my grandmother started reading “Harry Potter” when she was in her eighties and rather preferred romance novels about things we are not going to talk about on a G-rated blog, so this was a different genre than what she usually enjoyed. I personally grew up with Harry and in my school if you didn’t read “Harry Potter” you weren’t cool, and a writer writing an 800 page book that can get middle-schoolers to read anxiously isn’t common anymore these days. But to say that “Harry Potter” are kids’ books I’d say would be an insult to Rowling.

            Okay, I’ve been going on for quite a while, so let’s get to business: my numeric score. I score on a scale of one-to-ten. One is horrible, don’t read; ten is read this book right now. I’m usually very hard to please as my prior readers will know, so a good score from me is a very good recommendation. That said, this book falls a little short. So unfortunately, for me, I rank it at seven. I enjoyed the book, but giving it any higher just doesn’t feel right to me. But I will state, this review is all my opinion. You can take or leave my view, you’re more than welcome to disagree with me, and if you want to, feel free to respond to this post to tell me how you feel about “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” or just anything “Harry Potter,” I’d love to hear from you.

            So, as we bring this to a close, I’ll just say I’ve done dozens of book reviews (mostly Marvel comics), and I write short fiction and nonfiction, free-verse poetry, essays, editorials, and plenty of other content, feel free to check anything I post. I post on a common enough basis, so you can keep checking back for more content from me, and ‘til next time, Tim Cubbin… out! 

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling

 

            The following is a review of the NOVEL “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” by J.K. Rowling. It is NOT a review of the MOVIE.

            Harry Potter is a sixteen-year-old boy, who also happens to be a wizard. He lives with his magic hating family Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and cousin Dudley Dursley after his parents were murdered by the most evil dark wizard of all time, Lord Voldemort. He attends the magic school Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and is going into his sixth year. His best friends are Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. His worst enemies are fellow student Draco Malfoy and Professor Severus Snape.

            Lord Voldemort was diminished of his power after attempting to kill Harry and having his spell bounced back at him. He has since returned to his full strength. Harry was witness to Voldemort returning to power, but for the past year been accused of lying and possibly insanity. Now the Ministry of Magic has seen the restored Voldemort, and Harry is now believed to be “The Chosen One” who will end Voldemort once and for all.

            The Wizarding World and the Muggle World have been separated, and the muggles are unaware of the true existence of witches and wizards. Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge has been replaced by Rufus Scrimgeour. However, Voldemort’s follower, the Death Eaters, have been attacking the muggles, and Britain’s Prime Minister has been made aware of this, after the mysterious occurrences.

            Draco Malfoy has been given a task by Voldemort. Draco’s father Lucius has been arrested for being a Death Eater and now resides at Azkaban, the wizards’ prison. Draco’s mother Narcissa makes the Unbreakable Vow with Snape for Snape to protect Draco and make sure Draco succeeds in his mission.

            Hogwarts’ Headmaster Albus Dumbledore arrives at Harry’s home of Number 4 Privet Drive to take Harry from the Dursleys to spend the rest of the summer before the Hogwarts term begins with the Weasley family’s house, the Burrow. Dumbledore takes Harry on a mission along the way to convince Horace Slughorn, a former teacher at Hogwarts, to return to his post. Harry succeeds. Dumbledore also tells Harry that Harry will be having special lessons with Dumbledore, but for what exactly they will be, Dumbledore has not disclosed.

            At the Burrow, Ron’s older brother Bill is preparing to marry witch Fleur Delacour, a fact that many of the other Weasleys are less than thrilled about. Harry also realizes he is developing romantic feelings for Ron’s younger sister Ginny.

            While shopping for school supplies at Diagon Alley, Harry, Ron and Hermione observe Malfoy entering the dark magic shop Borgin and Burkes and making an unsavory deal, what it is, they are not sure.

            While returning to Hogwarts on the Hogwarts Express train, Harry finds Slughorn developing interest in several students who have famous ancestors and inducting them into the “Slug Club,” and Harry, Hermione and Ginny are all brought into it.

            Harry has expected Slughorn to be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, a post that seems to be jinxed as the past five Defense Against the Dark Arts Professors have never lasted more than a year. However, Slughorn is the new potions Professor, and the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor is Snape. Snape has been a Death Eater, and claims to be reformed, something Dumbledore has forgiven and has placed his trust in Snape. Because of his past history, Snape had been placed as Potions Master, despite wanting the Defense Against the Dark Arts teaching position.

            The first five years at Hogwarts prepares students for their O.W.L.s exams. After the O.W.L.s, students move on the N.E.W.T.s level to prepare for their desired career. Harry wants to be an Auror, a dark wizard catcher, but his potions grade was not enough for Snape to accept him as a N.E.W.T. student, so Harry’s dream seems like it will not happen. However, Slughorn accepts Harry’s Potions grade and accepts him as a N.E.W.T.s student. Not having expected to be taking Potions, Harry had not purchased the new Potions textbook. Harry takes one from storage, a book which has been marked with notes on potion making by a person who called themselves the Half-Blood Prince. Harry follows these directions and becomes the top Potions student, Slughorn believing Harry to have inherited Harry’s mother’s talent.

            Harry starts his private lessons with Dumbledore. Dumbledore uses a device called a Penseive to show Harry memories pertaining to the history of Tom Riddle, the boy who would become Lord Voldemort.

            Harry has been promoted to be captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, a team which he must now assemble. Harry accepts Ron as Keeper, but Ron suffers from nerves and his performance is often spotty.

            While visiting the wizard village Hogsmeade, student Katie Bell comes into contact with a cursed necklace and almost loses her life, ending up in the wizard hospital St. Mungo’s.

            As Harry’s lessons with Dumbledore progress, Dumbledore shows Harry an incomplete and altered memory from Professor Slughorn, and Dumbledore tasks Harry with obtaining the true and complete memory from Professor Slughorn, a task that proves to be more difficult than Harry expected it will be. This memory may be the key to defeating Lord Voldemort.

            Despite Hermione’s objections, Harry keeps the Half-Blood Prince’s book, which ends up saving Ron’s life. It also contains spells that turn out to be rather dangerous.

            Dumbledore locates an object that is essential to defeating Lord Voldemort, a task that turns out deadlier than anyone would ever expect, and in the process, Harry discovers the true and shocking identity of the Half-Blood Prince.

 

            I do have to say that this ranks up there as one of my favorite novels. I know a lot of people that think “oh, Harry Potter’s a kid’s book.” In all honestly, I disagree. My Grandma (Rest in peace) started reading the “Harry Potter” series when she was in her eighties. (Sadly she passed away after only four books were published.) I knew teachers and staff when I was in college who were older and read Harry Potter. (Doctor Lutz, I DO NOT want to hear your take on Quidditch, thank you very much.) I will say that I grew up with Harry. I was in elementary school when “Philosopher’s Stone” came out, didn’t start reading until “Prisoner of Azkaban” came out, and by then, if you didn’t read “Harry Potter,” you were not cool. And Rowling is one of the few authors who can get kids to read a 600 page book. But I can look back on these books as a thirty-four-year-old and still heartily enjoy them. On top of that, there were a few words here and there that a little kid SHOULD NOT be repeating, but we won’t go there, this blog is G-Rated. Yes, these books are books kids can enjoy, but they appeal to adults as well. Rowling never dumbed “Harry Potter” down, she didn’t talk to the readers like we’re idiots, didn’t use little kiddie words as substitutes for adult words. I just think she wrote “Harry Potter” as high-quality, fun, exciting, interesting, and compelling books, each with their own mystery which unravels as you read the books, with surprise twist endings. The identity of the Half-Blood Prince rather surprised me, and I’m a writer myself who writes twists and turns, and I feel like I probably won’t rank anywhere near the popularity Rowling gets. But to me, to call “Harry Potter” kid’s books is just not accurate. I get also that certain religions and beliefs find these books to be sacrilege and blasphemous (I’m Catholic and I don’t feel that way), but if a person enjoys fantasy books, these are good reads. Honestly, if you’ve seen the movies and enjoy them, I feel like the books are so much better and worth the long hours to put into reading them. I always felt the books went at a perfect pace, didn’t linger too much on unimportant aspects but contained all I needed to know. I’ve honestly read “Deathly Hallows” at least eight times and still return to these books every once and a while, I enjoy the books that much. Not every writer can do that for me. I will say that if you want to read “Half-Blood Prince,” read the first five books in order or you will have no idea what you’re reading, Rowling didn’t repeat too much out of the first five books, so it’s essential to read all of them. And in all honesty, I feel like this review does not do the book justice. So if you’ve been reading my “Harry Potter” reviews and never read the books and enjoyed my reviews, you should totally be reading the books. And totally read “Deathly Hallows” if you’ve read “Half-Blood Prince.” (I can’t possibly see why you wouldn’t.) But, if you want to disregard me, feel free to. This review is all my opinion and I totally accept that you may not agree with me, and I totally think that’s fine. We all have our own opinions that we are allowed to have, so please, and I totally mean this, feel free to disagree with me, and you can even Tweet or comment or whatever you can do to let me know how you feel about “Harry Potter.” (No one’s done that yet and I really wish somebody would.)

            Now, I’ve been going on for over 1,500 words and you may be getting bored with me if you’re still here (and if you are still reading this, you are THE BEST!), so I’ll get down to the nitty-gritty: my numeric score! Every book review I do, I give the book a numeric score. I score out of one-to-ten. One means if you actually read this whole review, I think you wasted your time reading this and don’t even look at the cover. Ten means that if you’re reading this review and are interested in this book, buy it, ask for a friend to lend it to you, go to a library, just get your hands on the book and read it ASAP. As you can probably tell, this is not getting a low score as I’ve had nothing bad to say about this book. BUT! I just can’t quite give it a ten. I give it a nine. There’s just something, je ne se quoi, holding me back. I would honestly love to give it a ten, but I just can’t. I just don’t think it’s perfect.

            So, I’ve been babbling enough about this now, I’ve been typing for over an hour-and-a-half (these reviews literally take hours), my wrists are griping, I can’t feel my fingers, so let’s wrap this up, shall we? Okay, so, you’re here at the end with me. If you liked this review, keep coming back for more. I have literally done dozens of reviews of books on this blog (mostly Marvel Comics related) and have much more planned. I’ve already written reviews of the first five “Harry Potter” books (if you haven’t read them and liked this review, just go on back), and in a couple of weeks I’ll be reviewing “Deathly Hallows” so keep checking back for that. I also write short fiction and nonfiction from time-to-time, I write poetry, I have B’ings (if you don’t know what they are, just read one and you’ll totally hate me), I write essays and editorials (being a certified journalist but not actually working in the field), and other stuff. I post pretty frequently, I have two other projects sitting on my desk right now, expect them in the next three or four days, keep looking for that, you can probably find something else to like on this blog, so stay tuned, and as always, ‘til next time, Tim Cubbin… out!

"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" by J.K. Rowling

            The following is a review of the NOVEL “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” by J.K. Rowling and NOT a review of the MOVIE of the same title.

            Harry Potter is just your average, normal, everyday fifteen-year-old boy… well, except that he’s a wizard. He attends Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and is getting ready to enter his fifth year after the end of holiday. His two best friends at Hogwarts are Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. His greatest rival at Hogwarts is Draco Malfoy, who is always flanked by his cronies Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. He is in Gryffindor house, as well as with Ron and Hermione.

            As a baby, he was targeted by the most notorious dark wizard of all time, the evil Lord Voldemort, who attempted to murder Harry to prevent a prophecy for coming true. Harry was able to somehow mysteriously survive Voldemort’s attack, and the spell meant to kill Harry rebounded and hit Voldemort, and he was reduced to next to nothing. Harry was a legend in the magical community as “the boy who lived,” and Voldemort’s name was feared to be spoken. The failed curse left a lightning bolt scar on Harry’s forehead.

Harry was sent to live with his awful Aunt Petunia Dursley, her husband Uncle Vernon, and their son, Harry’s cousin Dudley. For years they tried to stamp out the magic from him and neglected to inform Harry that he is a wizard. When he was eleven years old, he was accepted into Hogwarts and has been a student there since.

At the end of his fourth year at Hogwarts, he witnessed Voldemort’s return to power. Unfortunately, the Ministry of Magic does not wish to accept this, and Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge has used the newspaper The Daily Prophet to smear Harry’s once well regarded name. Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore has believed Harry’s story and is now treated as unbalanced, insane, crazy, what-have-you and his once reputable reputation has been dragged through the mud along with Harry’s.

As Harry’s fifth year of Hogwarts approaches, he is at a park with his cousin Dudley when they are suddenly besieged by two dementors, the awful creatures who serve as the guards at the wizard prison Azkaban, who eliminate all happiness and can suck out souls by performing their “kiss.” Harry uses the Patronus charm to drive away the dementors. But underage wizards are not supposed to use magic outside of schools, especially in front of muggles (non-magical folks). Harry had already been reprimanded for magic being performed at number four Privet Drive (which had been performed by the house-elf Dobby and not Harry himself) and is told he is expelled from Hogwarts and must attend a disciplinary hearing in front of the Ministry of Magic. He manages to squeeze out of the expulsion, but still must attend the hearing.

Harry is punished by Uncle Vernon and is locked in his bedroom. Harry is sprung by wizards Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody, Remus Lupin, Kingsley Shacklebolt and witch Nymphadora Tonks and brought to number twelve Grimmauld Place, the headquarter of the Order of the Phoenix, a group of adult wizards and witches who are an anti-Voldemort army. This also includes Ron’s parents Arthur and Molly Weasley and Harry’s outlaw godfather Sirius Black (accused of a crime he didn’t commit, falsely named one of Voldemort’s followers the Death Eaters, and an escapee from Azkaban). Hermione and Ron have been living there over holiday with Ron’s parents and Sirius, who is hidden away there, as well as the house-elf Kreacher, the servant of the Black family. Grimmauld Place is the Black family home, which rightfully belongs to Sirius.

Harry attends the hearing and is acquitted of all charges, but Dumbledore, who testifies in Harry’s favor, has been unusually distant towards Harry, a fact that quite upsets him. Harry is also upset when Ron and Hermione are appointed Gryffindor’s new Prefects, a power of authority at Hogwarts. Harry had been hoping to be Prefect and is miffed that Ron was picked instead of Harry.

Harry returns to Hogwarts and discovers that the Ministry of Magic is now interfering at Hogwarts and has appointed Ministry worker Delores Umbridge as new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor and teaches the subject as theory rather than action. Harry, Ron and Hermione also must prepare for their Ordinary Wizarding Level (O.W.L.s) tests, something magical students must take to determine qualifications for their careers after graduating from school.

Umbridge takes every chance she can to put Harry in detention, which clashes with his completing his homework and his Quidditch practices (a wizarding sport played on broomsticks).

Hogwarts groundskeeper and Care of Magical Creatures professor has been mysteriously absent.

Umbridge has been gaining power at Hogwarts and is named Hogwarts High Inquisitor and passes rules that inhibit the activities of students, as well as able to pass judgement on other Hogwarts professors, placing Divinations professor Sybil Trelawney on probation.

Ron is appointed as keeper on Gryffindor’s Quidditch team, despite his nerves getting the better of him, and is picked on by the Slytherins (another house in Hogwarts) for his lack of proficiency and consistency.

Hagrid returns, having gone on a mission for the Order in a failed attempt to form an alliance with the giants before the Death Eaters, appears to continuously and mysteriously sustain injuries he refuses to inform anyone of how he got them.

Hermione suggests that Harry, who has proven himself proficient in magical abilities, be the secret teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts where students can actually perform magic. Many students accept that idea, and the group names themselves Dumbledore’s Army.

Harry has long had a crush on fellow Hogwarts student Cho Chang, who had been dating Cedric Diggory the previous year, is now willing to be Harry’s girlfriend since Cedric was killed by Voldemort’s followers.

Harry has been having dreams of wandering a dark corridor in a place he is unfamiliar with, and his scar (which has a mysterious connection with Voldemort) has been hurting worse than ever since Voldemort’s return to power. Harry has a dream of an assault on Arthur Weasley that turns out to be a vision as Arthur Weasley was indeed attacked by a snake, and brought to St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries right as Christmas holiday begins.

Dumbledore realizes Harry’s connection with Voldemort may be feeding Voldemort information about the Order and is forced to study Occlumecy with Professor Severus Snape, (who has had a grudge with Harry since Harry’s first day at Hogwarts due to Snape’s history with Harry’s parents) to block Voldemort from entering Harry’s thoughts.

After Harry, Fred, and George (Ron’s older twin brothers now in their seventh and final year at Hogwarts) fight with Malfoy, Umbridge invokes a lifetime ban from playing Quidditch and confiscates and locks up their brooms.

Upon finishing taking his O.W.L.s, Harry has a vision of Voldemort holding Sirius in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic, and Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny Weasley (Ron’s younger sister, who had a crush on Harry at one point and now jumps from boyfriend after boyfriend quite frequently), and fellow students Neville Longbottom, and Luna Lovegood travel to the Ministry of Magic to rescue Sirius, defeat the Death Eaters, and stop Voldemort from obtaining a prophecy that could spell the end of Harry Potter.

Personally, this was my favorite “Harry Potter” novel. It was also the longest of all the “Harry Potter” books, and a lot of important things happen in this book, which is why it is my favorite. I would love to tell you my reasons for loving this book, but honestly, I probably already given a lot of spoilers, and sharing my reasons why would just give too many more.

I know there are naysayers who will claim the “Harry Potter” is just for kids, and I respectfully disagree. If you open the book and look at the praise page with blurbs left by reviewers, Stephen King wrote a praise. Yes, Stephen King, the famous horror writer. He loved the “Harry Potter” books. And there is the inclusion of profanity and some of the descriptions are actually quite gruesome and even scary. I’d go into it, but this blog doesn’t allow me to post them, I’m sorry if you were hoping to read that from me, well, then read the books yourselves. And on a side-note, my Grandma started reading the “Harry Potter” books before she passed away (this book itself wasn’t published until after she passed) and she was in her eighties. When I was in college, I knew a staff member at a snack shop in her seventies who read the books. And the film adaptation of this book was rated PG-13. I’d honestly say that if a person likes fantasy novels, the “Harry Potter” books are good reads. And I also have to say that this book was actually a moderately difficult read (being eight-hundred-seventy pages and some chapters taking close to forty-five minutes to read) and takes quite a lot of commitment to get through. Also, people who only go for “Harry Potter” by watching the movies, they are missing a lot (and while this was the longest book, it was the shortest movie and so many good parts got cut out). I’ve also read these books at least ten times each, and I’m thirty-four years old, I never get tired of them, and each time I pick up more details, and if I really like a book series, I will read them several times, and that doesn’t happen very often because I’m hard to please, especially how many time I’ve read these books in particular. So obviously, you’d see I recommend the series. And the movies don’t do justice to the books, I’d rather read the books than watch the movies, but of course there are time constraints so that isn’t practical.

Well, I think I’ve said enough of all of that, so I’ll just jump into the most important part of any of my reviews: the numeric score. I score on a scale of one to ten. One being the worst, ten being the best. If you’ve read some of my previous reviews (you may notice the seriousness my reviews have become now and don’t try to joke around anymore), you may notice I say how I’m hard to please (I literally just said it in my past paragraph if you’ve failed to notice). So if I give a book a good score, then maybe you should think about reading it yourself, but I leave that up to you. I will say if you want to read this book, you must read the first four books first or you will totally not understand it (and don’t try to cheat out of it by only watching the first four movies and not reading the books, then decide to read this book without reading the first four books because there are threads that just do not connect). And I do feel these book are worth reading to any fantasy novel fan. But I digress, you just want my score. So I’ll simply just give it to you: TEN! This is one of my all-time favorite books and I never get tired of reading it.

Okay, well, I think I’ve kept you reading long enough. If you’re up to this point still, you are THE BEST! I hope you’ll continue checking out my work, I love doing this. I’ve written literally dozens of reviews (mostly Marvel, I’m sorry to say) and I occasionally post short stories, poems, essays, editorials, and a few other things, so I’m a little diverse in my material. You can expect two more reviews coming up this week (this is Monday, May 2, 2022) one tomorrow, one Friday, and maybe I’ll throw in a few things more for you in the next few weeks, so if you liked this review, keep looking for more. So I only have a few more words: until next time, Tim Cubbin… out! 

"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" by J.K. Rowling

            The following is a review of the novel “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” by J.K. Rowling.  It is NOT a review of the film adaptation.

            Hey guys, this is From the Mind of One Tim Cubbin! I’m Tim Cubbin, and I’ll be writing a review about “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” by J.K. Rowling, which I already said I’d be doing, but still, had to put it in context!

            Honestly, I’ve been overworked today, what with spending five hours in and out of the office writing a review of “Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters” that I just don’t feel up to my usual snarkiness, so I’m doing the review with only a little of my personality, plus, you don’t want to read about me, you want to read about Harry Potter, so I’ll skip ahead to the task at hand, and if you want to read me at my best, totally read my review of “Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters,” but for now, Harry.

            I’ve written dozens of reviews, including the first three Harry Potter books (“Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s/Sorcerer’s Stone,” “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,” and “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”), so please feel free to read those as well, and you can also expect to see reviews of the other Harry Potter books as well in the near future. I often try to keep a similar template to my reviews so everything gels together, so here’s what we’re going to do: I’m going to finish my introduction monologue (which I actually hate writing, believe it or not, even though every one of my reviews has one), then I’m going to talk about the major characters, giving a little description of each of them. Following that, I’m going to give you the synopsis of the book, the story, with as few spoilers a possible (if any). Then I’ll give a critique of the book, my thoughts and opinions, what I liked, what I disliked, things like that. Then I’ll give the book a numeric score (more on that when we get there). Following that, I’ll tell you if I recommend the book and to whom in particular. Then I’ll give a closing monologue (hate those too), telling you what else is on this blog, then you’re free to go… that is if you haven’t bailed out on me by then (and I will say to you those of you who read all of my post, you are THE BEST!).

            Right, then, let’s hop to it! Our major characters:

            Harry Potter: He was orphaned as a baby, surviving an attack from the most powerful dark wizard of the time. He lived with his Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and Dudley Dursley until he turned eleven and learned he was a wizard and went to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to study magic and find his place in the magic community. He is now in his fourth year at Hogwarts. He has been sorted into Gryffindor House.

            Ronald Weasley: Harry’s best friend, also a Gryffindor. He comes from a family of wizards, with five older brothers and a younger sister, all of whom have attended Hogwarts. His family is extremely poor and Ron gets most of his belongings secondhanded. He is also in his fourth year at Hogwarts.

            Hermione Granger: Harry’s and Ron’s friend. Also a Gryffindor. She comes from a family of no magical background, but is the smartest witch in their fourth year.

            Draco Malfoy: Harry’s worst enemy at school, does everything he can to be mean to Harry, Ron and Hermione. Fourth year Slytherin.

            Arthur and Molly Weasley: Ron’s parents, very fond of Harry.

            Cedric Diggory: Seventh year Hufflepuff, smart, popular, and good looking, the whole package.

            Cho Chang: Fifth year Ravenclaw, Harry’s crush.

            Fred and George Weasley: Ron’s troublemaking twin older brothers, both sixth year Gryffindors, trying to set up joke products.

            Neville Longbottom: Also a fourth year Gryffindor, very forgetful and not very good at Potion-making but excels in Herbology.

            Parvati Patil and Padma Patil: Fourth year twins, Gryffindor and Ravenclaws respectively.

            Albus Dumbledore: Hogwarts headmaster.

            Severus Snape: Hogwarts Potions professor, hates Harry.

            Minerva McGonagall: Hogwarts Transfiguration professor.

            Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody: Hogwarts Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, former Auror and paranoid.

            Sybil Trelawney: Hogwarts Divinations professor.

            Rubeus Hagrid: Hogwarts Care of Magical Creatures professor, friend of Harry, Ron and Hermione.

            Poppy Pomfrey: Hogwarts nurse.

            Fleur Delacour: Beauxbatons student, Ron’s crush.

            Olympe Maxime: Beauxbatons headmistress.

            Viktor Krum: Durmstrang student and Quidditch star.

            Igor Karkaroff: Durmstrang headmaster.

            Ludo Bagman: Head of Magical Games and Sports at the Ministry of Magic.

            Bartemius “Barty” Crouch: Head of International Magical Cooperation at the Ministry of Magic, boss of Ron’s older brother Percy, stickler to the rules.

            Rita Skeeter: Reporter for the wizard newspaper The Daily Prophet, Hermione’s nemesis.

            Tom Riddle/Lord Voldemort: The most powerful Dark Wizard of all time, lost his powers and body after failing to kill Harry as a baby.

            Peter Pettigrew/Wormtail: Voldemort’s servant.

            Dobby: House elf at Hogwarts, disliked by other Hogwarts house elves for being paid.

            Winky: House elf to the Crouch family.

            Okay, I think that’s everyone important, forgive me if I forgot any. Now, time for the synopsis: Harry, Ron and Hermione get ready to return to Hogwarts for their fourth year. Harry, the Weasley family and Hermione attend the Quidditch World Cup. While there, Lord Voldemort’s followers the Death Eaters attack, and Voldemort’s Dark Mark appears in the sky. Winky the house elf is found with Harry’s wand and is disowned. Hogwarts has been selected to host the Triwizard Tournament, a competition between the magical schools Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Each school is to have one champion. Entrants must be seventeen and must put their names into the Goblet of Fire. Cedric Diggory, Fleur Delacour, and Viktor Krum are selected, but Harry’s name also comes out of the Goblet of Fire. There are mixed reactions among the students and heads of schools, but being selected by the Goblet of Fire is a binding magical contract, and Harry must compete. The Triwizard Tournament consists of Three Tasks that will occur over the course of the school year. The paranoid ex-Auror Mad-Eye Moody is hired as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor and his methods are unorthodox to say the least, dangerous to say the most. Journalist Rita Skeeter villainizes Harry in the papers, including Hermione in the smear campaign against Harry. Harry must deal with dragons, merpeople, and a hedge maze, as well as find a date for the Yule Ball. Harry also comes face-to-face with a revitalized Lord Voldemort.

            Okay, now for my own personal thoughts. “Goblet of Fire” is actually my second favorite “Harry Potter” book (we haven’t reached my favorite yet) as so much happens and I felt it was where Rowling really found herself in the series for the first time. The book is over 700 pages (each book had seemed to be longer and longer page wise, and people were almost expecting the last book to be over 1,000 pages, which actually never happened), and yet it didn’t feel long to me. I didn’t feel like it dragged on. However the Blast-Ended Skrewts did detract a little from the story and maybe twenty pages could have been shaved off due to it. I enjoyed Harry and Ron’s fudging Divinations homework of misfortunes and ill fates that pleased Professor Trelawney, and yes, upon gazing upon space there was a Uranus joke (which are pretty much often funny, and in this case I laughed, I know, so immature). The riddle of the Sphynx in the hedge maze was, in my opinion, brilliant. And I felt the frequencies of humor was appreciated, and yet the seriousness took dominance. I’ve always liked fantasy books, and I was ten when “Philosopher’s/Sorcerer’s Stone” came out, so I literally grew up with Harry, and in school, if you didn’t read “Harry Potter” you weren’t cool. I’ve read this book at least fifteen times, but find I often return to the series for certain reasons, and I never get bored with it.

            Okay, now we’re up to my numeric score. I score my reviews on a scale of one to ten. One means throw it in the garbage after the first chapter, ten means keep it in a place of honor. You can probably guess I’m giving this book a good score, and yes, I always know where my “Harry Potter” books are at all times (they’re in a nook in my office). So, all said and done, I score it at an eight. I truly loved the book, but the skrewts were a bit much and there were a few other very little points that didn’t gel with me, but these were relatively minor.

            I’m sure right now you’re expecting my recommendation, which I do thoroughly give. As far as fantasy books go, I feel these rank very high up. And for those of you who think Harry Potter is just for kids, I can’t change your mind, and I even didn’t read all of them until I was in college and had friends I talked to about it. My college actually played new movies on Saturday nights that were just out of theaters but not on DVD, and when they aired “Order of the Phoenix” the room was packed tighter than a can of sardines (I know, I’m old, but I had to come up with something appropriate and that’s what instantly sprang to mind, I heard it as a kid). I think Rowling wrote high quality work when she wrote “Harry Potter.” I only hope when my books get published I could find a tenth of her success. Of course, if you’re going to read this book, don’t start here, read the whole series or you will be totally lost as they continue directly into each other (and don’t think you can cheat by watching only the first three films before reading this book because so much was cut from the movies and references were not all parallel to the books).

            So I think I’ve gone on for long enough. I’ll just tell you I have plenty of content on this blog. I live and breathe Marvel, so I review a lot of Marvel books, but I do reviews of other books, as well as writing short nonfiction, poetry, essays, and editorials, so feel free to check out more of my posts. I’m actually posting two posts about Marvel’s “Civil War II” tomorrow and this has been my second post today. I am highly active, so expect plenty more from me. And until next time (I hope you’ll be with me for a next time, and if you do, you are THE BEST!), Tim Cubbin… out! 

"Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" by J.K. Rowling

 

            The following is a review of the novel “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” by J.K. Rowling and NOT the film adaptation.

            Hey, all, welcome to From the Mind of One Tim Cubbin! I’m your guy, Tim Cubbin!

            Okay, if you’ve been here before, y’all know how this works. If not, I’ll explain a little about how this review works. I review pretty much everything I read, and I’ve just reread the novel “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” for, in all seriousness, like the twentieth time. I love this book, I love all the “Harry Potter” books, and having started this blog over a year ago and having read the book within this parameter of running this blog, reviewing this book is a must. I have also, in fact, reviewed “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s/Philosopher’s Stone” and “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,” so reviewing this book is basically a must. And yes, this book was written in 1999, over twenty years ago, but it still holds great entertainment value. And if you’ve read my other two “Harry Potter” reviews and are here now, you are quite a “Harry Potter” fan and just want to read an honest review by a true “Harry Potter” fan himself and someone who is not a professional critic (however I am an certified journalist, but that’s not the point) and will actually give a fair review.

If you’ve read one of my reviews before, you know I try to keep several consistencies in how I style my reviews, many of the same basic things. So, here’s how THIS particular post shall work. I know, you’re bored with me at this point and are saying “Tim Cubbin, get to the review already,” but stay with me for a few more sentences, but once we get past this, first off, I’ll tell you the synopsis of the book with as few spoilers as possible, then I’ll give you my own personal opinions on the book, then I’ll give the book my numeric score of the book (if you don’t know my scale score, we’ll get to that when… well, when we get to that), then I’ll say goodbye and then you are free to go about your merry way and break the chains of our bond to this post. Now, I’ll stop boring you and actually get to the reason I’m writing this review.

Okay, Harry Potter is a thirteen-year-old wizard and student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. His best friends are Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger and fellow students at Hogwarts. A wizard mass murderer, Sirius Black, has escaped from the “inescapable” wizard jail Azkaban. He betrayed Harry’s parents to the evil wizard Dark Lord Voldemort and is the reason they are dead, and he is now after Harry to finish Voldemort’s job and return Voldemort to full power. Harry lives with his despicable Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon and cousin Dudley. After inflating his “Aunt” Marge, Harry flees the Dursleys and comes face-to-face with the Grim. Harry stays in the wizard shopping street Diagon Alley before starting his third year at Hogwarts. Hermione purchases a cat named Crookshanks who takes a mad-on against Ron’s pet rat Scabbers. On the Hogwarts Express train, Harry, Ron and Hermione meet their new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor Lupin and learn that creatures called Dementors, the guards of Azkaban, are now stationed at Hogwarts. They feed on happiness and cause Harry to recall the deaths of his parents. Harry, Ron and Hermione attend their classes, such as the new class Divination, taught by a fraud psychic named Sybil Trelawney and Care of Magical Creatures taught by Rubeus Hagrid, groundskeeper and ally of Harry, Ron and Hermione, but Hermione has double-booked classes and seems to disappear and reappear at odd moments. In Hagrid’s first lesson of Care of Magical Creatures, he introduces his students to creatures called Hippogriffs, and Harry’s nemesis Draco Malfoy is attacked by the Hippogriff Buckbeak, who is then sentenced to execution. Professor Lupin begins to try to teach Harry to create a Patronus to defend himself against the Dementors. Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, is in his last year at Hogwarts and is determined to win the Quidditch Cup before he graduates. Fred and George Weasley, Ron’s twin older brothers and mischief-makers bequeath to Harry the Marauder’s Map to help Harry sneak into the wizard village, Hogsmeade, to which Harry does not have permission to travel to. These are all the basic plot points to the novel I can disclose without spoilers, but I will say that not all is as it seems.

Okay, my own personal thoughts. While it is not my favorite “Harry Potter” book, I still love it. Rowling truly knows how to build mysteries, excitement, humor, fun and action into her works, and I have never been disappointed by her works. I will say my favorite scene is where Professor Lupin has his third year students face off against a Boggart, a creature that can shapeshift into the nearest living thing’s worst fear and can only be defeated by laughter, and Neville Longbottom, a blundering Hogwarts student who is most afraid of Hogwarts’ Potions Master Professor Severus Snape, forces to Boggart Snape into Neville’s grandmother’s clothes. I also loved the plot twists, most of which I NEVER saw coming. As an aspiring novelist myself, I hope I can create such a sense of surprise in my readers that Rowling placed upon me as I ingested this book.

Alright, now to my numeric score. I score my subjects on a scale of one to ten. One means I barely managed to force myself into reading this book once, ten meaning I will totally read it again. You probably know where I’m leaning towards at this point, considering how many times I mentioned I have read this book. Some of my prior readers who have read reviews of mine on stories other than “Harry Potter” know I am very hard to please, and I don’t just give out great scores like candy on Halloween, so if I give a good score, then this book is probably pretty darn good. So, all said and done, I give this book a nine. This book was almost perfection for me, but I just can’t quite give it a ten. There were points that I lost interest in, and some of the major things Harry gets away with are just unrealistic considering the little things I got in trouble for when I was in school at the age of thirteen. But I thoroughly enjoy this book every time I read it, and I will totally read it again in a few years I just love the “Harry Potter” franchise that much. I will say that you ABSOLUTELY, SHOULD NOT read “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” if you have not read the books or seen the movies “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s/Philosopher’s Stone” and “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” or else you will totally not be able to follow everything, this is a SERIES and EVERY book or movie in the series MUST be read in order in this series, it’s VERY important!

Well, I think I’ve bored you long enough. This review has been longer than some of the articles I wrote in my journalism classes I had that much to say, and if you’ve read this WHOLE review, seriously, you are THE BEST! And, yes, I will review the other “Harry Potter” books in time, so keep a lookout for them soon. Feel free to look at more of the content on this blog, I am an aspiring writer and certified journalist, I write all kinds of things on this blog and I promise I will keep on churning out new material in time. I’ll say goodbye for now, but until next time, Tim Cubbin… out!

"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" by J.K. Rowling

            Hey, gentle reader (a reference from my recent review of “Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon and Groot – Steal the Galaxy,” which you can feel free to peruse if you so desire if you like this review and want to see more of my work, for which there is PLENTY)! This is a review of the million-year-old novel “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” by J.K. Rowling. I stress NOVEL, and not FILM, and this is NOT a comparison review. Anyway, so millions of kids and adults have read this book from 1999 (million-year-old was a joke, by the way, not funny probably, just a little exaggeration for fun, I know, not funny), you might have even read it, too. I’ve read the book at least twenty times, I love it that much, but that’s jumping a little ahead from the standard composition of my reviews.

            Anyway, logically, to do a review, a synopsis would be a good thing to use, so we’ll start with that. Now, I’m going to do something a tad bit different than most reviews, and go chapter-by-chapter and just tell you the chapter title and what it means and try my best to keep a minimal or even no spoilers. There are eighteen chapters to this book, so expect to be reading this for a while, and if you want to, you can read this in a few doses if you want to take a break, but this will still be fun.

            Chapter One: The Worst Birthday. Harry Potter lives with his obnoxious Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and Cousin Dudley who treat him in ways that would be impolite in my G-Rated blog, but we’ll say rather badly. They always forget his birthday because they just don’t care, and instead of a birthday party, Uncle Vernon is throwing a dinner party to make a big selling deal for his company that sells drills so he can make a lot of money and buy a vacation house in Majorca. Harry is instructed to completely stay away so the potential buyers won’t mix it up with Uncle Vernon’s disturbed nephew. Harry notices an odd thing appear in the garden, but it is scared away.

            Chapter Two: Dobby’s Warning. Dobby the house elf shows up in Harry’s bedroom to tell him not to go back to the wizard school Hogwarts this year because something really bad is going to happen and Harry has to stay away from this to save his life. Dobby then gets Harry in trouble when Harry ignores this warning.

            Chapter Three: The Burrow. Harry, in trouble, is kept locked in his room. Harry’s best friend Ron Weasley and his troublemaking brothers Fred and George break Harry out and take him to their family home the Burrow for the rest of the summer.

            Chapter Four: At Flourish and Blotts. Harry and the Weasleys go to Diagon Alley to purchase their school supplies. At the book store Flourish and Blotts, Harry and the Weasleys run into Draco Malfoy and his father Lucius, as well as Gilderoy Lockhart, their new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts who narcissistically has written their new books about all the wonderful things he has done as a wizard.

            Chapter Five: The Whomping Willow. Harry and Ron are blocked from making the train to Hogwarts and instead steal Ron’s father’s flying car to get to Hogwarts. They crash into the Whomping Willow, a tree that fights back.

            Chapter Six: Gilderoy Lockhart. Harry, Ron, and their friend Hermione Granger sit in Lockhart’s first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson where the narcissist gives a test about everything in his books, then unleashes Cornish Pixies that terrorize the class, then cowardly runs off expecting Harry, Ron and Hermione to fix his mess-up.

            Chapter Seven: Mudbloods and Murmurs. Harry hears a dirty word for a witch or wizard who come from muggle (non-magical) families, then starts to hear a mysterious voice that no one else can hear.

            Chapter Eight: The Deathday Party. Harry, Ron, and Hermione attend a party celebrating the anniversary of Gryffindor House ghost Nearly Headless Nick’s day of death.

            Chapter Nine: The Writing on the Wall. A message about the Chamber of Secrets is painted on a wall near a defunct bathroom.

            Chapter Ten: The Rogue Bludger. Harry is attacked by a Bludger while playing the wizard sport Quidditch that is fixated on him and ends up in the school infirmary where he finds out about a petrified student.

            Chapter Eleven: The Dueling Club. Lockhart holds a Dueling Club to show the students how to fight wizard style, and proves to be completely inept at dueling.

            Chapter Twelve: The Polyjuice Potion. Harry and Ron take a potion that transforms them into Slytherins Crabbe and Goyle to see if Malfoy is the one who opens the Chamber of Secrets.

            Chapter Thirteen: The Very Secret Diary. Harry finds a magical diary that shows Harry that the gamekeeper Rubeus Hagrid is the one who unleashed the Slytherin monster on Hogwarts fifty years prior.

            Chapter Fourteen: Cornelius Fudge. The Minister of Magic arrests Hagrid and takes him to Azkaban wizard prison, as well as firing Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore.

            Chapter Fifteen: Aragog. Harry and Ron find out that giant spider Aragog was not the Slytherin monster and Hagrid is not the Heir of Slytherin and are attacked by a horde of giant spiders.

            Chapter Sixteen: The Chamber of Secrets. Harry and Ron find the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets and enter.

            Chapter Seventeen: The Heir of Slytherin. Harry confronts the Heir of Slytherin and faces off with the Slytherin monster.

            Chapter Eighteen: Dobby’s Reward. The story wraps up and something good happens for Dobby the House Elf.

            Whew! Wow, thanks for getting this far! Anyway, now comes the important part: my score. Usually my reviews contain my thoughts on the book, the accessibility of the dedication needed to fully appreciate the book, and my numerical score of the book, and so you shall get all. First off, as I said before, I love this book and have read it at least twenty times. I found the book well written. The story kept me interested, I hardly wanted to put it down, but being a busy blogger I had to take breaks, plus I’m reading five things at once to review just for the sake of keeping the blog interesting, but I digress. The whole mystery of the Heir of Slytherin and the Slytherin monster was started relatively early in the book, ran through the course of the rest of the book, and had a satisfying culmination that completely paid off.

            As far as accessibility to reading this book, seriously, just read “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” the first book in the series, obviously, but if for some reason are reading a second book in a series without reading the first book, I don’t have anything positive to say to you about that, so let’s not go there. Or, if you just want to be lazy, watch the film of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” then this book will be accessible to you as well, but a film is NOT a novel, so there will be gaps and inconsistencies if you do this.

            Now, the moment you’ve been waiting for: my numeric score. I scale on one to ten, one being worst, ten being best. My regular readers will know I am VERY hard to please, I have given A LOT of bad ratings over the course of this blog for the past year. Now, this is VERY, VERY rare, but on my numeric scale, I rate this book at a ten. I’ve already established the reasoning for this score, so I think that nothing more needs to be said on this matter.

            Wow, this was long! Thanks for reaching this point in this review, you are THE BEST! So I’ll now free you from your bond and say, Tim Cubbin… out!

"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling

 

            The following is a review of the NOVEL “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” by J.K. Rowling and NOT the feature film (I am in the United States of America and am aware that any of you reading this review in another country probably know this as “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” because for some reason Scholastic felt that “Philosopher” wouldn’t be as catchy as “Sorcerer” in my home country).

            Anyway, I know this novel was published in 1997 and probably 75% of today’s children have at least SEEN the MOVIE, and 33% of today’s children have read the book, so y’all probably know the story, but I’ve been on a reading binge and read the book (in all seriousness) about forty-seven times and reviewing a lot of what I read, so here we are, and if you’re reading this, seriously, thank you for giving me this chance to review the novel!

            Okay, we’re going to go over this with spoilers, so if you haven’t read the book or seen the film yet, I’d advise you to stop reading this (we’ll get to my personal thoughts towards the end of this review, so bear with me here).

            Harry Potter is not your ordinary ten-year-old. Odd things happen when he gets emotional. If he gets chased in school, he ends up on the school roof. If he gets a bad haircut, his hair grows back overnight. If he gets mad at a zoo, he sets a python free (which he can actually communicate with). Of course, he thinks all these things are just coincidences. His parents were killed in what he believes was a car crash and was left with his despicable Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Cousin Dudley. He is treated like garbage and is forced to live in a cupboard under the stairs of the family house.

            One day, Harry is forced to fortuitously bring in the mail. As he does, he sees a letter addressed to him, precisely to “The Cupboard Under the Stairs,” and makes the fool mistake to try to open it in front of his family. His Uncle Vernon is able to intercept it before Harry can open it, shows it to Aunt Petunia and the two spaz out (does anyone say “spaz” anymore? If not, say another word like “freak”). Uncle Vernon destroys the letter hoping this will settle things. More letters come to “The Cupboard Under the Stairs,” so he is reluctantly moved to Dudley’s spare room. Still letters come in all different ways while Uncle Vernon tries to quell this problem, so his solution is to run away to escape the letters, which doesn’t really work. On Harry’s eleventh birthday, Rubeus Hagrid arrives at a cottage on the sea and informs Harry the odd happenings are because Harry is a wizard. His parents actually died protecting Harry from the dark wizard Voldemort, who then tried to kill Harry. He miraculously not only survived but repelled Voldemort, almost destroying him (I’m not going to use the word “killing” because that just does not describe what happened, but we’ll get to that more in a few paragraphs), with the memento of a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead. Harry also finds out he has been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

            Harry is brought to Diagon Alley to shop for his school supplies and is introduced to the wizard world, finds out he is famous, and visits Gringott’s, the wizard bank and sees Hagrid take a mysterious package from a secure vault for the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Professor Albus Dumbledore (a vault which will be broken into AFTER the package is removed).

            A few weeks later, Harry is brought to King’s Cross Station to take the Hogwarts Express from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, but it seems to not exist (which Uncle Vernon relishes as a way to ditch Harry). Harry then meets the Weasley family; Ron, Fred, George, and Percy who are all going to Hogwarts with Harry. Harry befriends Ron on the train, and they arrive at the massive castle which is the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They also meet Hermione Grainger, who they immediately dislike as a snobby know-it-all. They meet the boy Draco Malfoy, who becomes Harry’s rival at Hogwarts. Upon arrival, they are sorted into a house that will be their home in the castle outside of class (Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Slytherin). Harry, Ron and Hermione are all sorted in Gryffindor. They begin classes like History of Magic with Professor Binns; Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall; Charms with Professor Flitwick; Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Quirrell; Herbology with Professor Sprout; flying with Madame Hooch; and Potions with Professor Snape, who takes an immediate dislike to Harry due to the history of Snape and Harry’s father.

            Harry is selected as Seeker to Gryffindor’s Quidditch team after displaying remarkable flying talent.

            On Halloween, a troll is let into Hogwarts. Harry and Ron come to Hermione’s rescue and the three finally become best friends. They find out about a three-headed dog named Fluffy who guards a trapdoor in the Third Hall Corridor (which is supposed to be forbidden).

            Hermione goes on to save Harry’s life during a Quidditch match where a curse is cast seemingly be Professor Snape.

            At Christmas, Harry is given his father’s Invisibility Cloak, which aids them in their nighttime wanderings around Hogwarts. They learn of Nicolas Flamel, who created the Sorcerer’s/Philosopher’s Stone, which produces the Elixir of Life which prolongs one’s life (obviously) and deduce the Stone is what Fluffy is guarding. The protagonists believe Snape wishes to steal the stone for himself (and later Voldemort). Harry also discovers the Mirror of Erised, which shows one’s deepest desire (as Erised desire is a palindrome).

            Hagrid receives a dragon egg from a stranger in a card game at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmead, which hatches into Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback, who is taken off by friends of Ron’s other brother Charlie, who is studying dragons in Romania, having been a Hogwarts graduate. Harry, Hermione, bumbler Neville Longbottom, and Malfoy are busted and sent to detention with Hagrid in the Forbidden Forest, where a unicorn is killed. A unicorn’s blood prolongs one’s life, but also curses them. Harry sees a figure (who turns out to be Voldemort) in the Forest, assumes it to be helping Snape, and the Heroes learn the Stone is protected by an enchantment from each Hogwarts teacher. The three attempt to find the Stone before it is stolen and given to Voldemort to return him to life. They sneak through the trapdoor, beat the enchantments, and Harry finds that the one who wants the Stone is not actually Snape, but Professor Quirrell. Quirrel now shares a body with Voldemort. The Mirror of Erised gives Harry the Stone, and the power of Harry’s mother’s love protects Harry from Quirrell/Voldemort. The Stone is recovered and destroyed, and Harry survives the experience, awaiting his next encounter with Voldemort.

            The competition between the Hogwarts Houses for the House Cup is supposedly going to Slytherin, but points are awarded for Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville for all their work protecting the Stone, and Gryffindor wins the House Cup. Hagrid obtains wizard photos from friends of Harry’s family and presents Harry with a book of photos of his parents in their younger years. The students then take the Hogwarts Express back to their homes for the summer to prepare for their next year at Hogwarts.

            Okay, complete synopsis out of the way, there are a few things I wish to discuss further. The first being Harry’s rule-breaking. Harry breaks the rules at Hogwarts many times, and is yet awarded each time. A spot as Seeker of the Gryffindor Quidditch team after flying and catching Neville’s flung Remembrall, when the students are told to remain on the ground or they will be expelled from Hogwarts before they can say “Quidditch.” Harry flew and was rewarded rather than expelled. And the points Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville receive at the end for their work in protecting and obtaining the Stone were all given for breaking the rules and beating Slytherin for Gryffindor were all given for stupid reasons such as the best played game of chess, cleverness, courage, and standing up to one’s friends, which really should NOT HAVE BEEN AWARDED! Expulsion would be enacted at a REAL school, but convenience of a hero protagonist has to be taken into consideration.

            Now the point you’ve been waiting for, after reading this review as long as you have: my score. Well, this isn’t my absolute favorite Harry Potter book, but it ranks pretty high in my favorites list. Now, my ratings run from one to ten. One means “STAY AWAY!” Ten means “If I personally know you, I will NOT SHUT UP UNTIL YOU READ THIS BOOK!” I rate this at an eight. I enjoyed this book thoroughly and have reread this book forty-some-odd times and always pick up something new each time, so it never seems a chore to read this book (but it is the shortest Harry Potter book). I’m going to tell you that if you’ve never seen the movie, and it doesn’t go against your religion, I totally recommend it to you for your viewing pleasure. And if you love the movie and actually like reading, totally read the book. Now I know I just spoiled the entire story, but what I gave was really just the skeleton of the book, there’s still plenty of muscle and skin left, so if you like this review, watch the movie, read the book, somehow take it in as you will probably not be disappointed by the actual thing.

            Now I know I’ve gone on for like, twenty minutes, but if you reached this point, THANK YOU SO MUCH! You can expect many more reviews on this blog, more of my B’ings series, more editorials, short stories, poems, I’ll have so much for you soon!

            For now, Tim Cubbin… out!