Blog Post #1 Response- My expectations overall

I have to say I've always been a reader and when I read its like a movie in my head, its not just words but a way to escape into whatever place the book takes me. I know people who don't enjoy reading as much and think its because they can't connect to the story. It's about finding a genre that interests you. A good example is books required for summer reading for school. I HATED those books, there was only one I could connect to (The Things They Carried by Tim O'brien).

That being said I LOVED the Harry Potter series since the first book was published and introduced to me in elementary school. I have to say that I love the complexity yet simplicity of the plot and characters. I think I most connected to Hermione, I was always the new kid who didn't know anybody and hadn't grown up with everyone since kindergarten. I always had my nose in a book and was full of useless knowledge. I had to excel in everything and I never misbehaved at school.

For the first book I think it preludes to a big fight with Voldemort but I wasn't expecting the fight to be so soon. I knew it was a series and hadn't expected such a big event at the end of the book, more of a cliff hanger to the next book. I think Rowling weaved the ending for each book save the last quite well.

I also think the expectation of Harry when he first enters the wizarding world is that he's revered and everyone knows his name, yet when he gets to school over the course of the books he becomes the center of such negativity just for being who he is. I was not expecting him to be hated so much. Either by different Houses, teachers, other adults or his very own Gryffindor.

Another expectation was the "other bad guys", in each book the bad characters change. You have the ultimate evil (Voldemort) but also the other lesser evils, in Book 1 the reader is led to believe its Snape, but ends up being Quirrell. Book 2 you believe its Malfoy but instead is Voldemort in a different form, not his full evilness. Book 3 you believe its Black but ends up being Wormtail, and so on.

Rowling is a master of controlling the plot and overall theme. She honestly put thought into everything and every foreshadowing moment in each book. And that has made the series such a great read, its edge of your seat stuff and keeps people on their toes. It's better than any mystery novel out there. She makes sure to control the aspect of expectations and decides to fulfill them or not.