'Muggle' Quidditch

            Sports are an important part of our culture and J.K Rowling must have realized this when she was writing Harry Potter.  Jo gave the wizarding world a unique sport called Quidditch.  Quidditch became an important element in most of the books because usually something important happened just before, during, or as the result of a Quidditch match.    That is because Harry started playing Quidditch his first year and it became an important part in his life.  For Harry, it was a constant happiness in a life that wasn’t always easy. 

            Jo created every aspect of this unique sport.   Quidditch teams are composed of seven players.  There are three chasers, two beaters, a keeper and a seeker.   What makes this game magical is that every player is flying on a broom.  The three chasers work together to try and get the quaffle, a ball that is used for scoring points, through the other teams three hoops.   The two beaters use their bats to hit the two bludgers at opposing players and try to knock them off their brooms. 

The keeper’s job is to try and stop the quaffle from going into one of the three rings.  They are like goalies in soccer.  The most important player, who usually ends up winning the game, is the seeker.  Harry is a seeker and his goal is to catch the golden snitch, a tiny flying ball that is extremely difficult to see, to end the game.  Each quaffle in a ring is ten points and catching the snitch is 150 points.   Games can last anywhere between seconds to hours.  It all depends on how fast the seeker catches the snitch. 

Obviously, muggles cannot play 'real' Quidditch, but they have found a way around that.   In 2005, Middlebury College in Vermont started an intramural Quiddtich league.  In 2007, the first intercollegiate Quiddtich match was played between Middlebury College and Vassar College.  Following that game the Intercollegiate Quidditch Association was created.  Since then ‘muggle’ or ‘ground’ Quidditch has soared (no pun intended).  Over 400 colleges and 300 high-schools have formed teams and over half are already active.

 

Due to the popularity around the world, in 2010, the IQA became the International Quidditch Association.  History was made February 16^th,when the first transatlantic Quidditch match was played between Vassar College and the University of Vassa from Finland.  The University of Florida is also getting ready to host the Southeast Regionals Swamp Cup.  The Swamp Cup will take place March 18-20 in Gainsville, Florida, so if you are looking to watch some ‘real’ Quidditch that is the place to be. 

The rules are based off of Quidditch in the Harry Potter series.  From what I understand, every player must be holding a broom at all times.  The golden snitch is a cross country runner and if you are hit by a bludger you have to freeze for a certain amount of time.  You can read more in the actual IQA rulebook.  I wish that my college had a quidditch team.  You can bet that I would be on it before you could say Quidditch.  It is awesome that this is becoming a large phenomenon across the US and also the world.  If Quidditch became an actual sport, I could die happy.   

No More Books :( but more Jo Writing :)

            The day that I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I sat there for a long time looking at all the books.  I had finished the series.  There were no more Harry Potter books coming out.  I was hoping that when I got to the end of the last chapter I would read something along the lines of, ‘just kidding, this isn’t the real last book.  The real one will be coming out soon!’  Or even, ‘ok now I am going to write Harry Potter 8,’ but it didn’t happen.  I read the epilogue, based nineteen years in the future and that was it.  No more Harry Potter.

            I, as well as many other fans wish that she would continue writing about the world of Harry Potter because she could ride that train for the rest of her life.  There are so many things that she could write multiple books for.  Jo could write on Harry’s parents in Hogwarts and afterwards.  The founders of Hogwarts, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and Gryffindor could have their own story.  Jo could write about Dumbledore’s life because he was such an interesting and influential character.  She gave us a glimpse into his life and it was like she was teasing us.  She could do the same with Voldemort.  There are so many more questions she could answer.  The last thing she could potentially write about is the lives of Harry’s children.

            In an interview with Oprah, Jo said that after she had finished writing, she spent so long with Harry that she had to mourn him afterwards.  She also said that she could easily write a Harry Potter eight or nine, but she feels that she is done.   WHY would she tell us that!  That is like dangling a piece of meat to a hungry lion and then taking it away!

            Luckily, Jo is doing something for all of her fans even after she finished with The Deathly Hallows.  She is writing a Harry Potter encyclopedia.   Jo has said she "intends to publish a definitive guide to all of the creatures, characters, places, and other elements that comprise the Harry Potter world."  It should be published in a few years, but no definitive date has been decided yet.  I will be waiting in line for this book at midnight just like I did for the last Harry Potter.  

            Along with writing the Harry Potter series, she also wrote some small books based off of the series.  These include Quidditch Through the Ages, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and The Tales of Beedle the Bard.  Qudditch Through the Ages, is written as if were a book taken from Hogwarts itself.  It explains the history of broomsticks and the evolution of Quidditch.  Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is the most complete A to Z book of magical creatures.  The Tales of Beedle the Bard, is actually a wizarding fairy tale book that is mentioned in The Deathly Hallows.

            As of right now, Jo said she is in the works with several new projects.  In an interview with BBC she said, "I don't know when you'll get to read it.  I've got several things going on at once. So it's hard to know which will be the first to actually appear in print, but yeah, I'm writing hard."  I for one cannot wait to read what she comes up with, but I don’t believe anything else she writes will trump Harry Potter.  It was her diamond in the rough.   However, since she is my idol I will continue to read what she writes.  I just wish they were all Harry Potter related. 

            .

Before Movie :D During Movie :/ 5 Minutes After Movie :( 10 minutes After Movie :)

                  Every time a Harry Potter movie comes out in the theatre, I always get extremely excited.  The amount of hype that goes into promoting the movies gets me every time.  From the high-resolution stills that have me guessing to the new trailers that leave me jumping in my seat.  However, even with all of the hype, for the last several movies I have found myself disappointed afterwards.  Either because they left out or messed up my favorite part from the book or royally screwed up some important plot line. 

                  Don’t get me wrong, the movies are amazing, but there is always that tiny bit they mess up.  However, that tiny scene they screw up is usually an important or pivotal part of the story.  That can drop my excitement level from over 100 percent to in the negatives.  For instance, when I saw Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix, there is one part in the book that I was looking forward to the most.  The scene was where Harry entered the memories of his most hated teacher, Professor Snape.  In the memory, Harry witnessed his parents when they were young.  Harry’s dad and his friends were having an argument with the younger Snape, which ended up with Snape getting de-pantsed. 

                  I remember sitting in the theatre in anticipation for that scene and when it finally came, it was gone before I could blink.  The whole scene was only about 15 seconds.  I sat there in disbelief that they could destroy such a scene.  Not only is it funny, but it happens to be a very important scene that explains so much in the end.  

 

                  Another thing that the Harry Potter movies do is screw up is death scenes.   So far they have messed up two and it looks like they are going to mess up another.  In Order of the Pheonix, Harry’s Godfather Sirius Black, gets killed and it was done badly.  Sirius was the closest thing that Harry had to a real family and they don’t make it seem that way.  Partly because the movies don’t get you as emotionally attached to the character as they should. The other part is because Harry was supposed to explode at Dumbledore in his office because he was partly to blame.  That scene would have given the movie the emotion needed to portray Harry’s feeling of losing such an important person to him.  It would have given it a lot more impact.  Instead, he sat in the office for ten seconds and sat there like an empty shell.  

                  The second death scene that they screwed up was Dumbledore’s, which I couldn’t fathom because the scene before it was perfect.  The cave scene right before looked like it was ripped directly from the pages.  I was so giddy with excitement, but I should have known it was too good to be true.  What happened afterward is what killed my high.  Harry was supposed to be magically bound and hidden while Dumbledore was facing his doom.  However, in the movie he just stood there hidden and watched.  There is no way, absolutely no way that the Harry Potter from the book would have done that.  Plus, to top it all off, Harry saw Snape before he even went up to the tower and did nothing.  Then, after Dumbledore fell to his death, there was supposed to be a big battle scene.  It didn’t happen.  They didn’t even give Dumbledore his funeral.   I couldn’t believe it.

                  After I saw Deathly Hallows part 1, my hopes for the final film lifted.  I began to hope that it will be just as good to the book as the first part.  However, my hope is slowly fading.  I keep seeing new stories where the creators talk about the movie and I saw one that other day that almost killed my hope completely.  They are changing the way Snape dies.  Snape is in my top favorite character list and if I don’t cry when he dies, I will walk out of the theatre.  Plus, his death is an extremely important part in the plot.  Snape is supposed to die in the Shrieking Shack, but they are changing it to a crystal house.  The way the art director was describing it, it seems that Harry will see Snape’s death from a distance.

                  How can they do that, Harry is supposed to be right there when Snape dies.  Close enough that afterwards, Harry can get to Snape and his memories before he dies.  I just don’t understand how they can do this, but I cannot pass judgment on it until I see the movie.  Since the Deathly Hallows is filled with death, it makes me nervous to get my hopes up for the movie. There is also a few other things that I noticed in the trailer for the Deathly Hallows that makes me doubt it, but I know in the end I will get my hopes up.  Hopefully, the film can prove me wrong and I can leave the theatre happy.    

8 Movies with 4 Different Directors = Potentially Problematic

        It seems that when Hollywood attempts to make a big screen adaption of a popular book, the movie is never better than the book.  This is the case with all of the Harry Potter movies.  Don’t get me wrong, I love all of the movies, but they always seem to get screwed up in certain ways.  Being a Mass Communication major, I understand that taking books that are an average of around 500 pages and putting them into a two and a half hour movie is difficult.  However, Steve Kloves, the screenplay writer for every Harry Potter movie, screwed up quite a bit. 

                It’s not all to be placed on his shoulders though because throughout the seven movies so far, there have been four different directors.  Chris Columbus started off the franchise by bringing the first two Harry Potter’s to life.  He did an excellent job, there is little I can say that I don’t like about the first two installments.  He chose excellent actors, took Hogwarts and brought it to life and stayed pretty on target to the books. 

Then Alfonso Cuaron came in and changed the look of the Harry Potter movies.  He added a giant bridge and clock that are now in every movie that a lot of Harry Potter fans dislike.  Also, Richard Harris the original Dumbledore, passed away so they had to choose another one.  Michael Gambon was chosen to replace Harris and that changed the feel of the movie.  Harris as Dumbledore was exactly as I envisioned him.  He had the gentle nature, voice, look and demeanor that was Dumbledore.  Gambon’s Dumbledore cannot hold a thing against Harris’s version.  Gambon just doesn’t have the right it factor for Dumbledore.  He plays Dumbledore too aggressive.  Cuaron also changed Professor Flitwick’s character into something completely different and essentially made him a band teacher.  

  

Cuaron only directed the third Potter movie, next Mike Newell took over.  He was probably my favorite director.  I think that he did a great job with the fourth movie, but Klove’s made a few mistakes writing the screen play.  I wish Klove’s would have made the maze during the third challenge as it was in the book.  That is with different magical obstacles, instead of the maze just trying to crush them.  That was lame, but I guess time restraints were the problem there.  This is also the movie where we first actually get to see Lord Voldemort!  Newell choosing Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort was an excellent decision.  The ending when he got his body back, was amazing and dramatic.   All in all, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is up there as one of my favorites.

Like Cuaron, Newell only did one movie as well and then David Yates took over.  Yates was the smart one.  He kept going until the end of the franchise, which is what I would have done.  Why would you let something as awesome as directing Harry Potter go?  I would have taken it and done every single movie. However, if I was directing, I also would have had the book on set with me every day and referred to it whenever I needed too.  J.K Rowling should have dropped the books on Klove’s desk and been like here’s the deal, this is your script, just make it work.  No rewrites, no additional scenes, dialogue is all in there, get going.  Yates in my opinion has taken to many liberties with the movies.  He has added at least one scene that was never in the book and put them in the movies.   That valuable time could have been used to add things from the actual book! 

Order of the Phoenix is the movie I dislike the most, even though I love them all, if that makes any sense.  There were just too many things wrong with it.  I could go on for a long time.  However, he did make up for it with The Half Blood Prince.  Even though there were a lot of things wrong with that movie as well.  However, The Deathly Hallows part 1 was by far his best. For the most part it was true to the book.  Though, that may be because they split the last book up into two parts.  

That was an excellent idea on their part.  There was just too much stuff in the last book to put into two and a half hours.  They should have done that with every book!  Actually, what they should have done is just made four hour movies.  I would sit there for that long for Harry Potter and I am pretty sure most of the other millions of Harry Potter fans would as well.   At least make a non-fan short version and a super-fan long version.  That would be amazing!

It seemed that as the movies progresses and got more and more adult in content that the movies began to slip.  The film makers were still trying to market them to children, instead of staying true to the books.  Columbus should have stayed for the entire franchise, then there wouldn't have been so many shifts in style and opinion.  The movies would have been eight pieces that create a whole system of epic proportions.  Or to put it simply, Gestalt.