The Great Escape

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Chapter 9

Suddenly the story is in action-movie mode.

Subbing for the car chase through tight European streets and alleys: A quick now-you-see-them-now-you-don't getaway thanks to Hermione's quick thinking and forward thinking to have the go bag of all go bags ready.

Subbing for the fight in a crowded street market: The cafe brawl with Death Eaters, and the "Men In Black" style memory wipes.

Subbing for the GPS tracker stealthily placed on someone's collar: The Death Eaters have a magical way of tracing Harry's movements. That mystery remains unsolved.

Subbing for the deserted warehouse or the cabin in the woods hideout: Grimmauld Place with the requisite amount of dust and creep factor.

Some good news comes through Arthur's patronus that all is well back at the Burrow. But Harry's scar is inflamed. He's seeing Draco being made to serve Voldemort's evil plans. More of these episodes to come.

What's next?

I can't see them sticking around the Black homestead for long. There are bad guys to stop and horcruxes to find. I don't think they'll all toddle around under the invisibility cloak together. But they do need to be able to move without being seen or traced.

Someone will figure something out. They always do.

An uninvited guest

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Chapter 3

Nothing like making the Dursleys as uncomfortable as possible by casually performing magic tricks in their living room. The sight of those glasses knocking against their heads must have been fun to see. I wonder if they even felt it through their thick noggins.

Doubtful. When they were reminded of their mistreatment of Harry they were surely clueless. And they are even more so in their lack of understanding of their rotten spoiling of Dudders. Still, nice to see somebody tell them the truth.

So Sir Albus Dumbledore (don't you think he's met the queen and that she's probably knighted him by now because he's probably prevented some grand catastrophe or two) comes to rescue Harry from another summer of discontent. An adventure of some kind surely awaits on the trip to the burrow or when he gets there.

We get more caught up on what's been happening since the end of the last book through newspaper clippings and via news from Sir Albus. Not surprising that Harry doesn't want two key pieces of his inheritance. I doubt I would want to return to number twelve, Grimmauld Place given all that's happened. And I wouldn't want Kreacher either. As handy as it might sound to have a house elf do your bidding, who could put up with the attitude.

And it's off to the burrow with the invisibility cloak in hand. One should never go out in these times without one of those.

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.

More than meets the eye

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: Chapter 12

I didn't expect Christmas to be part of a story about wizards and witches. I'm really not sure what I think about that.

Now I've received some wonderful Christmas presents but never an invisible cloak. Then again, I've never been to wizard school, so I haven't had much need for one. What would I use one for anyway?

I don't hunt, but I can see how one would come in handy during deer season. Soldiers and spies would certainly love to have an invisible cloak in their bag of tricks. Magicians could do real magic and not just sleight of hand.

The next time I have one of those "You want to get away" moments like the airlines commercial, I will wish I had Harry's cloak. Other than that, I'm sure it would only serve to get me in trouble, like sneaking around in libraries in the dark of night.

As for the Mirror of Erised, or desirE, I think Dumbledore is right. Not much good can come from spending too much time in front of that window into your soul. (I was told to read the inscription on the mirror backward, so in case you are wondering if I figured that out by myself I had a little help.)

Imagine what you would see if you stood in front of the mirror inside the invisible cloak. Hope that thought doesn't keep anybody awake tonight.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: Chapter 13

Nicolas Flamel, the Sorcerer's Stone, Snape's clandestine activities ... it's all starting to come together for our little detective trio. At least there's three of them, one to do battle with each of Fluffy's heads.

The plot is thickening like those potions that they are cooking up in Snape's class. Dark things are going on in the secret places of Hogwarts. It makes sense of course. If The Harry Potter is training to become a great wizard, then it's time for Voldemort and whoever is working on his behalf or whoever he has manipulated to get busy. I'm pretty sure he's only mostly dead, so I suppose the Sorcerer's Stone might be on his shopping list.

I have no idea if I'm on any of the right speculative paths or just wandering around Hogwarts looking for my 9 o'clock class. Usually, stories don't turn out the way you expect, so I'm sure many surprises are coming.

If I only had one of those invisible cloaks ...