The kid inside me is squealing

I am a bit of a Harry Potter fan.

OK, that's a gross understatement. I'm not on the various Harry Potter boards and only occasionally head over to J.K. Rowling's site. But I have read all of the books several times and have the first four movies on DVD.

My standard practice before a new movie comes out is to reread that particular book. Before a new book, I'll reread the entire series. In between releases, I'll work my way through the series whenever the fancy strikes.

So with this year's double release (movie on Wednesday, book in another week), you'd think I'd have made it back through the series at least once. But as things have played out, what with the teaching and trying to figure out a major move in 6 months to a year, I haven't cracked open a single one.

Nonetheless, Trillian and I went to go see Order of the Phoenix today. Paid for a babysitter to go see the movie today. Huge crowd, only a few with children in tow. And I enjoyed the movie very much, even if I went into my usual mode of picking out what's missing (even without the reread!). If you've read any reviews, you've probably seen effusive praise of Imelda Staunton's Dolores Umbridge. Rightly so! She is all pink and fluffy icing on an evil cake. And her office is an absolute hoot--all pink and kittens (and since these are wizard representations, they are all purring and meowing). Alan Rickman, as Snape, continues to be a highpoint of every Harry Potter movie, and this time we get to see a sliver of his past and the reason he dislikes Harry and his friends so intensely.

I won't go into a list of the things that were missing, lest I get too spoilery, and I do feel that the movie catches the emotions of the books, even if it does not dwell on specific events for very long.

Now, I am impatiently waiting for the release of the seventh book. Some of my students are also huge fans and requested that their homework for that weekend not be too heavy. Since this is university and an intensive summer course and they have a midterm coming up, however, I won't be able to let up too much. On the other hand, the fact that I won't receive their homework until Monday means I can have my entire weekend free, as long as I grade quizzes and plan for the following week by Friday evening. I'm loving how that works out!

Trillian pre-ordered the book from the closest bookstore. As fate will have it, however, she'll be out of town, visiting her parents with Scooter while I continue to teach. So I have to go pick it up--not sure I'll make the midnight store release, but I'll be there first thing the next morning. And then I will be reading for the rest of the weekend (or, more likely, until late Saturday night). I've been gloating a bit ever since I realized the implications of Trillian's travel plans; she is enough of a fan too that there would be debate over what would constitute fair sharing. Plus there's the whole watching-the-kid thing that can really cut into one's reading time.

At the same time I am eagerly looking at July 21st on my calendar, however, there is also that slight sadness in knowing that when I am done with this next book, I will know how the series ends. I wonder and worry about who will die in this one and know that I will cry even more than I did at the end of the sixth book (late at night as the rest of my family slept). I had guessed correctly on that one, months before the book was released; the moment I pondered that particular character's fate, I just knew I was right. This time, I have the same feeling about one character, but am unsure about the second. Trillian and I just had the "it's Harry, no it's not" debate, and I can't decide if my insistence that he will survive is rational or wishful thinking.

Excuse me now while I return to adulthood and do something like, say, plan for tomorrow's class.