The unknowable chapter

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Chapter 21

Just what exactly happened in this chapter to move the story forward? Felt a little like another day, another COVID-19 news conference with little to no status change.

• If Harry's progress to get Sluggy to talk was going any slower, it would be moving in reverse.
• I do agree with Hermione. Harry will have to persuade the old professor to spill it about Voldemort and Horcruxes. No spell or trickeration will work.
• Harry does learn that Dobby and Kreacher have followed Malfoy to the Room of Requirement, aka the Unknowable Room. But Harry can't find the door and learn anything. So not much progress.

A wise man once said: If you can't find a door, look for a window.

• Snape is as grouchy as ever toward Harry and Ron. What deep, intellectual answer was he looking for about the difference between an inferius and a ghost? Probably nothing. Just showing his superiority again.
• I do wonder who Myrtle was looking for in the boys room. Seems like Harry and Ron should have been more inquisitive.
• Quite a mysterious encounter with Tonks. We wonder along with you, Harry. Why does she need to find Dumbledore?
• Invisibility cloak and marauder's map sightings are always fun. Scaring Goyle half to death was funny. But another dead end.

Questions, questions, questions.

Was this chapter a big set-up for the next couple chapters, the rest of the book? We need answers and something big to happen soon. Will I get my wish?

Spy game

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Chapter 19

Some plot moments you just see coming. Some also have a little unexpected twist, which keep you reading.

• Saw it coming: Ron wants to break up with Lavender. Didn't see it coming: He's trying to weasel out of the relationship by pretending to be asleep. smh
• Saw it coming: Hermione is worried. Didn't see it coming: So much so that she's being unusually quiet. 😲
• Saw it all coming: McLaggen is a one-man wrecking crew against his own team, especially his captain. Know-it-alls are destined to fail. 🅵
• For sure saw it all coming as soon as he showed up: Hagrid can't keep a secret and can't stop talking about it. 🙊

Then there are the full-blown, magic-wand-waving plot twists that apparate the story forward. Every chapter does this. I had just about given up on a way for Harry to keep tabs on Malfoy. Those mangy little house elves actually have a greater purpose.

Satisfaction comes in knowing that Kreacher has to obey Harry even though he doesn't want to. And more satisfaction comes in knowing that Harry has closed every possible loophole (at least it appears that way) Kreacher could use to disobey. Dobby, however, needs no convincing to do his master's will.

Theories abound about what Malfoy and Snape are up to. I'm going with Harry's theory in regards to Malfoy. No doubt he is up to evil. My trust in Snape, however, has not wavered. I'm sticking with the loyal-to-Dumbledore theory. I might be proven wrong, but this is fiction and I have nothing actually at stake.

This does mean more frustrating scenes with house elves fighting, Kreacher saying rude things and Dobby literally beating himself up. But that's the price you pay for a clever plot twist.

Both sides in this war of good magic and evil magic are deep into the spy game now. Who can we trust?

Those are the plot moments we don't get to see coming.

The rebellion grows

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: Chapter 18

This is a long book, so I hope all of this stuff about Quidditch and Harry's infatuation with Cho is leading us somewhere. Otherwise, can we cut to the chase?

Geez, I'm starting to sound as whiny as Ron. Anybody know an anti-whining charm? Wave your wand in my general direction if you do.

I guess I should've learned a long time ago that these side stories usually add up to something later. Dobby showed up again and provided a place for the clandestine class to operate. So thumbs-up to Dobby.

Little Ginny Weasley is beginning to show herself as a clever one. She came up with the name Dumbledore's Army, a stroke of genius. And she was doing well with the disarming charm. She might have a real future in the D.A.

Maybe she's been watching and learning from Harry's cleverness, which was again proved by the reminder that he beats Voldemort - not with some incredible spell - but with simple things like a disarming charm. Zacharias Smith didn't see it coming any better than V did. He's looking for a silver bullet that will vanquish Voldemort. The answer lies in lots of knowledge, common sense and resourcefulness that you can use to adapt to any situation. Voldemort wants to be grandiose, so use that against him with simple things. He doesn't see those things coming. Attack when he expects you to run, and his anger will handicap him.

If Harry's students apply themselves in this class, the Army will grow in strength.

You don't know how pleased I was to see the Marauder's Map back in use. For Harry, he should carry that with him like I carry my wallet, keys and cellphone. It is one of his greatest resources, and my favorite prop.

The truth comes out

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Chapter 35

I can't prove it, but I knew something was up when Mad-Eye Moody was suddenly a Death Eater. I know unexpected things happen in this story, but that just didn't fit. It's like I was channeling Dumbledore. Neither of us was surprised when he turned out to be an imposter.

Of course, I didn't know it was the junior Crouch. That was quite a tale he got to tell of how he escaped Azkaban and showed his loyalty to Lord Voldemort. He cursed Mad-Eye and took his place with the old Polyjuice Potion trick. (Drinking something with somebody's hair in it is not something I could do. Gag me with a spoon.) He incapacitated his father, later killed him, turned him into a bone and buried him like a dog would. Then he turned the Triwizard Cup into a portkey. That's one busy bad guy.

And poor Winky was made an accomplice. Dobby won't be happy.

I just had a thought. Because Harry saw all of those Death Eaters, will he have to go into witness protection?

Shall we dance?

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Chapter 21

Are the house-elves of Hogwarts any relation to the Keebler elves? Can they bake cookies?

Sorry, before we get to the question of whether elves should have free-agent status, I suppose we should address the screaming or howling egg. I have no clue. All it made me think of was a howler. That's all I've got.

So Dobby is getting paid. It doesn't appear that the other elves have ostracized him for it. I wouldn't be surprised if after a while of seeing Dobby with freedom that the others won't start to ask for money.

Apparently, Dobby might be one to provide intelligence on enemy movements. It's not surprising that he called the Malfoys bad dark wizards. But what about Winky's slip about Bagman being a bad wizard? Might be that Crouch just doesn't like him, or it might mean something dark. The light of truth will shine eventually.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Chapter 22

The Yule Ball. Now this is starting to sound like my high school days.

The pressure to have a date. Friends telling you who to ask. Getting up the nerve. Being turned down. Acting like you don't want to go, but all the time really wanting to go.

Amid all this figuring out who is asking whom to the ball, Hermione raises a good point once or twice. Harry does need to start working on what the egg is revealing about the next task. He shouldn't put all of his eggs in the basket of figuring it out at the last minute.

In the end, everyone finds a date for the ball. Not everyone gets their first choice, but at least no one will go alone.

And that includes Hermione. She won't divulge her date because why? Probably because it's someone they would either make fun of or be jealous of.

Viktor Krum, perhaps.

More clarity is good

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: The movie

No extended version this time. I was informed that one exists, and it's not that we don't have it, it's that we don't have it yet.

Because I am reading the books one after another things tend to run together, but this movie seemed easier to follow than the first.

I do like how the moviemakers jazz up some of the action scenes. When Vernon fell from Harry's window into the bushes, I LOL'd. The ride to Hogwarts in the car was far more death-defying. Harry hanging from the door called for something magical to happen, but Ron gets credit for the save. And the Mandrakes were larger and uglier than I imagined.

Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy was perfectly cast. He can sure play the evil character. He was awful in "The Patriot," and I'm told he's a great Captain Hook in "Peter Pan." I haven't watched that yet.

Lockhart in real life was just as phony as he was in print. Well played.

Dobby, well Dobby, was annoying as he should be. I would think Malfoy would be glad to be rid of him, but he probably enjoyed having someone else to be mean to.

Finally, the killer snake was about what I expected. But when Harry heard the voice it was difficult to understand. The English accents are difficult enough at times. But at least there aren't talking cats. That would give me shivers.

Another happy ending

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Chapter 17

This book has been a lot like an NBA game for me. The first three quarters are played to get to the fourth. That's when - if it's going to get exciting - it gets exciting. Maybe it's because it was the second book and the novelty is wearing off or maybe it just moved more slowly and cryptically than the first, but the payoff at the end was worth it. I found myself reading faster than usual.

So I guess from now on I will always suspect that Voldemort/Quirrell/Riddle/????? is behind whatever threatens to close Hogwarts, threatens Harry or anyone close to him, threatens any student or just generally causes mayhem of any sort.

Voldemort's problem is his cockiness. How many times have we seen it in movies when the villian wants to make his prey suffer and delays the deed. Goldfinger could've shot Bond, but he had to elaborately try and kill him with some kind of laser-beam thing. "Do you expect me talk?" asks OO7. "No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die." And Goldfinger walks out of the room and Bond escapes. The Dynamic Duo did this all the time. It is a fatal flaw for fictional felons. It's not enough for them to kill. They have to make you suffer.

So the Dark Lord (don't get confused with Star Wars here) is revealed to be a former Head Boy at Hogwarts aptly named Riddle, the heir of Slytherin and once again inept at killing his nemesis. When it comes to killing Harry, Voldemort is as inept as GilLo.

BTW, did I laugh when Professor Gilderoy Lockhart de-memorized himself? LOL, for sure on that one. Now he can't take credit for making the school a Voldemort-free zone. Excellent.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Chapter 18

This chapter could've been anticlimactic, but after the Weasley reunion and the usual Dumbledore debriefing and the Hagrid homecoming, we get to see Lucius Malfoy taken down a few notches on his self-importance scale. I think he's trying to make up for not being the heir.

When Harry tricks Malfoy into freeing Dobby, he displays a more observant side to go with his resourcefulness and bravery.

It is nice to know that Dobby really was trying to help Harry. He's no Phoenix, that's for sure, but maybe he will be of more use in the future.

I would tell Harry to enjoy his summer, but that won't be easy where he's headed. Maybe being a Prisoner of Privet will prepare him for the Prisoner of Azkaban.

The boys are on their own

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Chapter 14

Too bad Hermione didn't take time to tell Harry and Ron what she had just figured out before running off to the library and getting herself petrified. It's not like her to not share her knowledge.

The mirror that was found must mean something, but what about a voice that only Harry can hear. We already know Harry hears snakes, and as far as we know no one else in Hogwarts has that ability. Maybe a snake has something to do with this. It would make sense, so I'm probably wrong.

The invisibility cloak sure is getting a workout. Harry and Ron are like the proverbial fly on the wall every place they go. Too bad for Hagrid and Dumbledore that they wouldn't fit under the cloak when magic-school politics erupted in Hagrid's house.

There are two kinds of politicians: those who react and make poor decisions, and those who act decisively to gain control of the ones who react. Cornelius Fudge is the former, Lucius Malfoy is the latter. It can't be good for any of the good-guy characters that Malfoy has shown himself to be most powerful.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Chapter 15

As big and creepy-crawly as Aragog and family are, I could handle that a lot better than a room full of you-know-what. That was quite an adventure Harry and Ron took into the forest even if Ron feels the same way about spiders as Indiana Jones does about snakes.

Now they know where the car is in case they need it again, they know Hagrid didn't open the Chamber (but they still don't know who did) and now they have a witness - good old Moaning Myrtle.

I wonder how soon Hermione will be able to rejoin the case. Maybe Professor Gilderoy Lockhart and his award-winning smile could help. Then again he'd be about as much help as Dobby.

Speak Dumbledore, speak

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Chapter 10

A lot of words are thrown around that Harry doesn't know because of his Muggle upbringing. It's good that these words have to be explained to Harry because it in turn explains them to me. Git was used to describe GilLo (that's Gilderoy Lockhart for anyone new to this blog), but I had not heard that word before. I asked my daughter Michelle who said, "You could Google it." So she did, and says that a git is a foolish or a contemptible person.

I agree with Ron that GilLo is a brainless git. Either that or he is playing the fool to keep us off guard like Quirrell did. Whatever that case, at least he's somebody to laugh at.

On to more important things. Our detectives get GilLo to get them the potions book, a possessed Bludger nearly kills Harry, Harry catches the Snitch anyway, GilLo is worse than a first-year at fixing Harry's broken arm, Dobby the masochist makes more admissions of guilt and Colin is petrified.

All that to lead us to Dumbledore revealing that the Chamber of Secrets has indeed been opened. I don't think it's a coincidence that he said it so Harry could hear it.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Chapter 11

Allowing GilLo to start a dueling club will undoubtedly go down as one of Dumbledore's poorest decisions. Everything this guy tries sets magic back a thousand years. He should have his wand license revoked and be made Filch's apprentice.

Now everyone knows that Harry is a snake charmer. Seeing him talk to a snake would freak me out almost as much as a black cat following me around the castle would. There's obviously a setup going on to make Harry look like the heir.

Now he's being taken to Dumbledore, who seems to be a true ally for Harry. Maybe Harry will get some answers about the Chamber.

Yesterday I was beginning to get a bit bored with this book, but today was like a good rally in a game of Quidditch. I'm looking forward to the second half.

One thumb up

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: The movie

Most of my busy life has been to watch the movie, then maybe read the book. I have rarely done the opposite approach. I'm not defending that approach, it's more like I'm admitting it.

If Jeff was a masochist like Dobby, Jeff would get the books in hardback and beat himself over the head with them after such an admission. But I am neither house-elf nor masochist, so I will happily watch a movie before reading it in paperback in the future. (Just not the Harry Potter series.)

This time I am glad I read the book first. I know that movies cannot mirror books exactly, and that it's like comparing apples to oranges, or wizards to muggles, if you will, but the book is better.

A few observations from the extended version:

• Less of the dreaded Dursleys is OK by me, but they are more obnoxious in the book than in the limited screen time they got. (I did laugh when Dudley fell into the snake's cage.)
  
• Robbie Coltrane was well cast as Hagrid, but not as large as I imagined.
  
• Alan Rickman was the perfect choice to play Snape.
• Overall, the movie was well cast and the actors were largely true to Rowling's characters.
• The action scenes were pretty good. Some things were added for visual reasons, which is fine.
• I liked hearing things said that are verbatim, or at least close to it, from the book.
• The Quidditch match could've been better. The shots of Harry seemed more artificial than the other parts of the match.
• They explained some things after the fact in the movie, which tended to throw me off a little.
• If I hadn't read the book, I would have been more surprised than I was when Ron made Hermione cry and take refuge in the restroom. Ron and Harry's early dislike of Hermione should have been played up a little more. (Though she was good at being obnoxious.)
  
• Visually, things looked about like I imagined at Hogwarts. And Privet Drive was perfectly antiseptic. You would have no clue driving down that street what was going on in Number 4.
  

I believe if I had not read the book first, the movie would have been difficult to follow at times. If I was going to write a screenplay, I would make sure those who hadn't read the book got a clear picture of the story from reading the script from the first word to the last. Not an easy thing to do, but worth the effort.

Back to the "Chamber of Secrets." It's a rainy day in Jamestown. Perfect for reading.

Dobby, dobby, doo

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Chapter 2

First, Dobby refers to himself in the first person repeatedly. If I were to write, "Jeff thinks Harry should ... or If it were up to Jeff, the Dursleys would be ...." Annoying isn't it.

I'm sure any of us could come up with some punishments for Dobby to inflict on himself every time he talks in the first person. Like, have to sit down to dinner with Vernon, Petunia and Dudley. Or pretend to be Dudley's chair.

So Dobby claims to be a warning signal, but he's just a big pain in the rear end for Harry. Dobby could be a double agent who just wants Harry to stay away from Hogwarts. And now Harry's locked in his room like a full-fledged prisoner. Somebody call social services and put the Dursleys behind bars. I'd like to see Dudley be demanding with a 6-foot-4 prison guard carrying a club.

By now I'm obviously quite sympathetic toward Harry. The Dursleys are as unlikable a lot as you could imagine and they've just about touched my last nerve.

But Ron is outside the window as we close this chapter. A rescue can't be too many pages away.