The Socerer's (Philosopher's) Stone: The Keeper of the Keys

Note: There may be spoilers

I love how they introduce Hagrid to Harry.  He's a pretty impressive and kinda intimidating fellow, but he's really just a softy.  Growing up, my family had a Harry Potter Trivia type game, and there was a question about what Hagrid did to the gun Vernon turned on him.  The answer was based off the books, but we still had the movie version in mind, so we kept getting that question wrong.

I also love how Hagrid just holds everything in his pockets; cake, keys, dog biscuits, sausages, a tea kettle!  And his blow up at the Dursley's for hiding magic from Harry! It's just, omg yes!!

"I'm a what?" is another sentence I hear with a British accent, though that's probably because that's a fairly iconic scene in the movies.

Until the movies came out, in my head, I usually said "Vol-Dee-Mort", high emphasis on the "dee".  The movies seem say "Vol-De-Mort", and of course, Rowling confirmed it's pronounced "Vol-De-Mor", silent T, because French....

Another great scene: Hagrid trying to turn Dudley into a pig, and just managing to give him a tail!

The Sorcerer's (Philosopher's) Stone: The Letters from No One

Note: there may be spoilers

I love the exchange between Harry, Vernon, and Dudley when the mail comes in, how Harry tries the same move Dudley just pulled on Vernon, but he just tells Dudley to poke him. It's just so funny to me.  I don't have a problem with Harry not opening his letter in the hallway, or saving it in his cupboard for later; I think the shock of him actually getting something kinda blindsided him.

Something happens in my head when I'm reading dialouge.  I usually have an American accent for all the characters in my head, unless they say certain things.  One of these is Harry saying "I want to read it, as it's mine."  I don't know what it is about that line, but I actually hear a British accent.

When the letters start pouring in from the chimney that Sunday, I love how the movie portrays that scene.  I'm kinda sad they missed the hotel part, but it wasn't really needed in the movie.

Well, I thought wrong... the Dursley's do give Harry presents on his brithday.

Sorry for the short post, not much for me to comment on.

The Sorcerer's (Philosopher's) Stone: The Vanishing Glass

Note: there may be spoilers

We now catch up with Harry ten years later. I like how the sun shinning in the morning leads us through the living, through the pictures, and finally to Harry.  We get a recap of what his life was like, being bullied by Dudley, being shunned by his aunt and uncle, and the kids at school, wearing hand-me-downs (know that feel bro), not having an actual room, and owning almost nothing.  Over all, it feels fairly abusive, but it could be worse (meet me back here in book two).

We also learn about his strangle talent for having things happen under certain circumstances, his hair growing back over night, him ending up on the roof, etc.  This chapter also covers my favorite of these occurrences, hence the title of the chapter.  It's so satisfying to see Dudley and his terrible friend get nipped at by a boa.

It's really interesting thinking to the first time you read/watch something, and they reference something/someone, and you don't catch it, because you don't know it's important.  Then you get back to re-reading/watching it, and suddenly you know their importance to the story, like Aunt Marge or Mrs. Figg.  I'm reading these names and thinking, "Oh yeah! I didn't know they were introduced this early!"

So, this actually has been brought up recently (at least, I've seen it more recently), on whether the snake Harry releases is Nagini.  Re-reading this, I actually thought so too, for a few minutes.  I forgot what exactly made me think not, whether I read something online, or just thought it through.  I really like how it seems this is just another "weird wizard" moment for Harry, like talking to animals is a magical thing, but we learn in the next book that he "inherited" it from Voldemort.

I always thought that the green light in Harry's memory could've been explained as a stop light, and never understood why Harry never made that connection.

The Sorcerer's (Philosopher's) Stone: The Boy who Lived

Note: there may be spoilers!

Here is where we meet many of the important characters in the story; the Dursley's, Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Hagrid.  We also get a quick reference to Sirius, who we won't hear about again until Azkaban.  We follow Vernon Dursley through a particular day where most of the wizards believe that Voldemort is dead, ending with Harry being placed on the Dursley's doorstep during the night.

You can tell they Dudley is going to be a terrible kid when he's older, as his parents believe his temper tantrums are cute.  Vernon only thinks about selling drills and having a normal family.  Petunia only cares about making Dudley happy and being normal.

I really like how Rowling sets the mystery.  You have all these strange occurrences happening, but so far no explanation as to what is going on. She drops hints and clues to keep you interested, relaying that The Dursley's would know that something magical is happening, but choosing to ignore everything.

What's interesting about being American is learning about other cultures by checking out their media.  I'm also an anime fan, and part of that love come from what part of Japanese culture they put into their anime and manga.  In this case, Vernon is watching the news, and they reference Bonfire night.  First reading this, back in third or fourth grade, I probably didn't even register that they were talking about a holiday.  Now that I'm an adult with the internet and other things/people to talk to about things, I now know about Bonfire night, or Guy Fawkes Night, which is November 5th, and where the movie/comic book V for Vendetta was inspired from (Remember, Remember, the Fifth of November).  It's usually celebrated with fireworks, so it makes sense that Muggles could mistake falling stars for fireworks.  I know from personal experience that people with fireworks can get a little excited and shoot them off early, as example from the most recent fourth of July.

My favorite part of this chapter is imagining Dumbledore as he shut down all the lights on the street.  They captured his likeness very well in the films, even when they got the new actor.  There's quite a bit of exposition between Dumbledore and my favorite teacher, McGonagall.  Dumbledore has a point of trying to not let Harry get too full of himself before he can take it.  Kids are very selfish creatures, and any amount of leverage they get they'll take.  But I'm sure it was much better for him to be with the Dursley's.

The chapter ends with a sleeping baby Harry, unaware of how terrible the next ten years are going to be.

The Journey Begins!!

Hello Everyone! Tsuki Tora here! And I'm starting a blog!  This came about when a few months ago, I realized that, even though I've read all the Harry Potter books, I've never marathoned them.  Sure, I've marathoned the movies in the weeks leading up to the final movie (more to catch my then boyfriend, now fiance, up, since he hadn't seen any).  I was reading through the first book, when memories of what it was like first reading it came across my mind, and knowing some things from later books, and comparing them to the movie, I just really wanted to share my thoughts.

Now that I'm on the second book, I really thought a blog would be a good way to go.  I'll be going chapter by chapter, referencing some things in future books, or movies, or any memories I have about it (like not being able to pronounce Hermione or Voldemort until the movies came out.)  This may be slow going, since I only seem to read during my lunch break at work, but I'll try to get one chapter out per day.  Now, without further ado, here's my journey through the Harry Potter series!!

EDIT: This will be a kind of stream of conscience as I read through.