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Musings #6: HBP Galore
by Matthew Vines
December 10, 2004
This morning, I logged onto JKRowling.com and was rather shocked to see a news update. After taking a cursory glance at it, I read the line "my third child races Harry's next adventure into the world" several times over to ensure that my eyes had not deceived me. After coming to the conclusion that I had read it correctly (and receiving confirmation from several of my friends who were present at the time), I hyperventilated for several minutes and was unable to contain my joy throughout the rest of the day.
JKR strongly implied that she is aiming for a summer of 2005 release for HBP, which is an entire year earlier than I've been expecting. Wow. Now that she's said that, it would just be cruel of her to make us wait any longer than next summer. The other updates to the site, though not nearly as exciting, are still lovely treats for those of us who have been waiting (rather impatiently) since the beginning of October for some new F.A.Q. updates!
Although I thought that Neville and Luna might end up together, I'm not devastated by the termination of this theory, and hopefully this didn't worsen anyone else's day! Giddiness ensued after reading that Harry will leave the Dursleys early this year "for a much pleasanter reason than a court case," simply because Jo has stated numerous times that things go downhill in the next two books, so having at least something go well for Harry is exciting.
I must admit that I had completely forgotten who Gideon and Fabian Prewett were, and for all of you that forgot as well, here's the excerpt from Order of the Phoenix in which Moody mentions them: "...Gideon Prewett, it took five Death Eaters to kill him and his brother Fabian, they fought like heroes..."
The news that Hermione was actually twelve during her first year at Hogwarts was a bit of a surprise, as I had always assumed that she was younger than the majority of her classmates and exceptionally bright. Although this doesn't make her any less intelligent, it does make one wonder why she was so easily affected by Ron's snide remarks in Sorcerer's Stone - usually the kids who are older than most people in their class tend to be a bit domineering and seemingly impervious to scorn. But then again, this isn't applicable to everyone (though the bossy bit definitely is).
And the new F.A.Q. poll:
1. How many chapters will Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince have (subject to editorial changes, of course)?
2. What is the significance of Neville being the other boy to whom the prophecy might have referred?
3. Will Ron ever manage to become more than just good friends with a girl?
Question #2 is currently in the lead with 66% of the vote, followed by #3 with 22%. I voted for #3, partly because I want to receive an affirmative response and partly because, unlike the second question, she would be forced to provide a "real" answer. Rather than merely giving a vague response that doesn't fully answer the question (as I assume will be the case with No. 2), she would have to at least lean toward "yes" or "no." Alas, alack, Number Two seems to be destined to win.
Although I'm sure JK Rowling appreciates all of her fans, getting every Harry Potter fan a Christmas present would be quite a challenge. However, now that she has a website, this isn't quite so far-fetched. Not only am I hoping, but I'm also expecting that the door leading to the Room of Requirement will open on Christmas Day, revealing something major about HBP (perhaps a release date?). As Christmas is a fairly important date in the book series, this is quite plausible. The only drawback is that anywhere from 30 to 50 percent of fans who would normally log on the Internet don't get online on Christmas. However, it appears as though she's trying to work her way around that problem by putting hints around her website that will cause people to visit it on Christmas out of sheer curiosity. For example, there is an Advent Calendar on the "Extra Stuff" page - every day at midnight (U.K. time), a tiny door on the calendar opens and a small blue candy can be seen on the inside. A typical advent calendar counts down the days until Christmas by opening one door every day until the 25th arrives. Thinking along this pattern, either another small door will open on Christmas or the door leading to the Room of Requirement will. I don't know about you, but I definitely would prefer the latter!
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