Spreading the Magic

The deluge has let up for the time being, so I'm going to get an entry in before it resumes. My roomie and I are reading GOF in preparation for the release of HBP, so I'll probably get three or four chapters in today. I know logic dictates that I should be re-reading OOTP, but I refuse. I hate that book. CapslockofRAGE!Harry grates on my nerves, and while I think Umbridge was a goldmine villain, I am also of the opinion that time spent reminding us for the forty-third time that she looked like a toad or had a "sweet" voice could have been devoted to the DA or Harry!rage in better context. It was an unwieldy, rushed mess, and it shouldn't have been, because the individual elements were great-Ministry slimeballs, teacher unity in the face of encroachment, the DA, treacherous Ravenclaws, bouts of whoopass in the Ministry, fallible!Dumbledore, and Phinneas Nigellus, the anteSnape Slytherin Headmaster of yore.

I still haven't decided where I'm going for the Potter Party. Right now, I'm leaning towards the Barnes and Noble at the mall because there is a fleabag motel within rolling distance, and I have two copies reserved there. Harry Potter and the No-Tell Motel, what could be seedier? "Harry Potter is like unto fornication," I hear the fundies rage. You're right, and it feels so good to turn those naughty, naughty pages. Makes me all tingly, in fact.

Once I get my copies, I might wait for the handouts to end and see if anyone who wanted one and couldn't manage would like one. I have no need for two; the only reason I have two on order there is because when I went to check on the status of my pre-order, the saleswoman said, "Hm. That doesn't look right," and ordered it again. I know what a bummer it is not to score one on release night. When OOTP hit stores, I stayed up all night, got in the truck at six in the morning, and scoured the town in search of Harry. I found a copy at Target at eight in the morning, scuttled home, read until two in the afternoon, and fell into a coma shortly thereafter.

I just know some idiot parent will have promised their young child Harry without first securing the object in question, and come release day morning, the dolt will be dragging the screaming child from the bookstore, empty-handed, yelling at the child for being disappointed and pissing at the bookstore for "not meeting demand". I have no love for children-I find them irritating and undisciplined-but I also remember what it was like to have been promised something, only to be told, "oh, well" later, and I don't think it does any harm to let a child know that sometimes good things just happen and life isn't one constant butt-kicking. Maybe I'll wear my Slytherin shirt when I do it and tell them I'm a member of The Society for the Promotion of Beneficent Slytherins.

Yes, it's silly, but when I was a child, I was always fortunate enough to have good things happen when I was at my lowest. Security guards at wrestling matches would walk up and hand me posters; zookeepers would bring out baby animals for me to see; the old scientist at Mote Marine Laboratory would let me pet Snooty the Manatee; people in Bath, England would send me tea free of charge, and my favorite rock god let me visit him twice. I always thought it was God saying hello. Maybe it was just because of the chair. Whatever the reason, those moments always felt good, and they gave me the hope to keep getting up in the morning.

If I can do that for somebody else, it'll be the best $17.98 I never meant to spend.