--- In mariannesalanrickmanclub@yahoogroups.com, laura_krycek <no_reply@y...>
wrote:
> As of about 10:00 last night, I have completed "Harry Potter and the Order of
the Phoenix".
> Before I share my few spoiler-free words about the novel, I'll share the
circumstances leading up
> to it.
>
> Last week, my friend Justin (who I got to like HP last year, and he finally
read them last summer)
> took me to a new little bookstore down the road, where he reserved his copy.
Unfortunately,
> they said, all of their copies had already been reserved, but I was welcome to
come to their
> exclusive party on Friday night (costumes encouraged). I was disappointed, of
course, but
> determined to go to the party. Justin and I later went to Wal-Mart, where I
asked the managers if
> they were getting HP (to find out when it would be on the shelves), to which
they responded
> that they DIDN'T KNOW if they were getting the book or not. C'mon, people!
Get with it!
>
> So, Friday afternoon, Justin and I go to Wal-Mart again, where we each bought
3 yards of black
> fabric and he bought some red hair dye. We went back to my place, where he
dyed his hair
> (and I re-dyed mine to make sure it was vibrant). He devised a way to drape
his fabric about
> him so that it looked cloak-like, too lazy to actually sew it. I, however, in
one hour, without a
> pattern and solely making it up as I went along on a sewing machine I'd never
used before,
> managed to whip myself up a pretty nice cloak(granted, all of the edges are
raw, so if I want to
> use it again, I'd need to hem them all). I wore a flowered dress I made myself
last year with a
> coral broomstick skirt over it, teased and curled my hair, and wore some major
dangly earrings,
> and my cloak, and we went as Arthur and Molly Weasley. It was fun. They had
cookies shaped
> like rats (chocolate mint, with almond ears, chocolate chip eyes, and licorice
tails) and "pumpkin
> juice" (orange sherbert punch). Strangely, there was only 1 Harry (and he was
a pretty good
> one, too), but there were 2 Dumbledores. Other notable costumes included
Hedwig and a
> ghost. A few people came without costumes, but claimed to be "in disguise" as
Muggles.
>
> At five til' midnight, the man who owns the store went across the street to
the police station,
> where the books were locked up for safekeeping. Two cops came back with him
(crowd
> control, but I think also they wanted to be there). They counted down until
midnight, when they
> finally opened up the boxes and cameras flashed as they held up the first book
and began
> calling out names. I lusted after every copy I saw pass by me, and Justin kept
comforting me.
>
> But lo, what is this? They had 5 extra copies! Justin started frantically
whispering to me about it,
> because he heard the employees discussing it. I went up and asked them if they
had extras,
> and they said "We might... we're discussing that right now." And then, at
their next-to-last copy,
> the woman at the counter turned to me and said "Do you want this?" and I said
"YEAH!" and
> pulled out the money I had grabbed off of my dresser before I left, and get
this: the book cost
> $25 and tax -- I had exactly $26 with me! How meant to be is that? I plotzed.
I wanted to
> dance all the way home, but my earrings were too heavy and kept bouncing. I'd
been
> rereading the rest of the books for the fourth time during the previous week,
and I had about 100
> pages left of GoF, so I read those that night and starting OotF the next
morning.
>
> What can I say about it? Through a lot of it, I felt like I was reading a
fanfic, but I think that might
> be partially due to the fact that it had just been so long a time. I mean, I
started reading the
> books a couple of weeks after GoF came out, so this was my first new HP. It
was quite
> exciting. I laughed, I cried, I screamed right out loud, I wanted to smack
various persons (but that
> always happens to me with certain characters). There are still more questions
that I have already,
> though, that we won't know until book 6. Some of them are just minor things,
but I still don't want
> to ruin even the tiniest thing for anyone out there. I'm not all about that,
seeing as I'm the one
> who is always the victim of spoilers that no one warned me about or left
spoiler space (namely
> with TV shows I used to watch), so I get mad at any kind of unmarked
spoilerific stuff, even if it's
> a guess and it's a wrong one. One thing I'll say: some eeeexcellent Snape
moments that I
> hope all make it into a future movie! Anyway, I just wish I had something HP
to take the edge of
> my whetted appetite! Already can't wait till the next movie!
>
>
Laura***************************************************************************\
******Sounds like you had a great time as well. And going as the Wealeys how
brilliant was that! I've always secretly dreamed Mrs. Weasley would be the
chacter I'd get to play in the movie. All those kids with red hair, what a hoot!
And that wonderful magical house....we all could use some self cleaning
pans!Tee,Hee!