Harry Potter – Books One thru Four

In lieu to the approaching end of the silver screen version of Harry Potter, I finally decided to partake in delving into the written version. After all, my nieces, step-son, and a number of friends have made a habit of talking about the upcoming movies based on what they read in the books. I, for one, would rather find out the rest by my own discovery, not word of mouth. To be quite honest, I was also looking for something to read while waiting for the next books from Wheel of Time, Mistborn, and the Inheritance Cycle. Why not Harry Potter?

A friend of mine owns the entire series in hardcover and told me that I could borrow them at any time, so I decided to take her up on the offer. She promptly produced books one and two and the adventure was underway.

Sorcerer’s Stone was a fun, getting to know the cast adventure that did a wonderful job at introducing the wizarding world to readers. I assume most people have at least seen the movie if not read the book. In this book Harry finds out that his parents were wizards and that he has been welcomed into the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As Harry learns about the wizarding world, so do the readers in a very plain and simple format. I do have to say that both Ron and Harry are a bit… short in the memory department in both the first and second book.

The conversion to the big screen was fairly accurate, with a few changes that were understandable and did not in any way alter the overall Harry Potter story.

Chamber of Secrets took the readers a little deeper into the wizarding world while Harry started to learn more about the darker side of magic. For those who have not read the books or seen the movies I will say only this, the Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir of Slytherin beware. The biggest pieces of the plot were the introduction of house-elf Dobby, and the bond that forms between Harry and Dumbledore.

Again, the conversion to the big screen was fairly accurate. The biggest faux-pas in the conversion was the battle against the basilisk at the end. Chamber of Secrets built a solid relationship between key characters in the series, whether for good or bad.

Prisoner of Azkaban was more meaty than the first two books. The level of reading had obviously advanced, which I think puts credit to JK Rowling for progressing the reading level of the books as the readers and characters grew up.

In the third book, Harry’s darker side starts to come out a bit as he finally begins to crack the shell of innocence  that followed him to this thirteenth year. The truth about how his parents died comes to light, testing his strength and goodness. In the end he wins the fight and saves at least three lives.

As far as the conversion to the big screen goes here… There were many more liberties taken by the writers as they cut elements of the story that I believe are important to the future of the series. They do not explain the reason that Harry produces a stag for his Patronus charm, which is very important. They also do not tell you the origin of the Marauder’s Map (here’s a secret, it has to do with Professor Lupin). But, all in all, not the worst culprit. I would give it a B for the conversion.

Goblet of Fire was far and above my favorite movie, so naturally I was eager to get to the book. It was just as thrilling from start to finish as I had anticipated. Maybe even more so.

In book four, Harry is mysteriously entered into the Triwizard Tournament, which is reserved exclusively for students age 18 or older. The school shuns him for entering, which he never did, and pushed Harry into even darker feelings than he had to face in the previous book. At first I took this as being a moody teenager, but after a while Harry just comes off as a touchy jerk. He snaps at everyone and looks down his nose at everything.

There is far too much depth to this book to summarize as easily as I have the other three books. Suffice it to say, the book was better. Oh, and the Dark Lord shall rise again.

Now, as for the conversion to the big screen… Disappointing. So far it is the only movie I have had to say this about, and number five is seeming to be included in that. There are several character in this cinematic version that are all together left out. For one, Dobby, who is actually responsible for giving Harry the Gillyweed for the second task. Ludo Bagman. Who? Oh, you must have only seen the movie, because he wasn’t even spotted. Bagman is in change of the sports department within the Ministry of Magic. He organized the Quiddich World Cup and the Triwizard Tournament, and he is a thorn in Harry’s side the entire year.

Let’s see, what else… Oh yeah, they cut out Hagrid getting sacked for being a half-giant (temporarily of course). Rita Skeeter is anim-whatever and works very hard to ruin anyone who crosses her. The Quiddich World Cup was much more in depth than ten minutes of movie. Whimsy (?), the Crouch’s house-elf, is the one who is caught for setting off the Dark mark. The third task was riddled with creatures that were completely omitted from the film… I think I will let you read the book to find out the rest. Overall, I would give them a C for the silver screen conversion, and that is because at least they kept the major storyline the same.

Now, as I said before, this was my favorite movie before reading the book, and it still is after. I am just disappointed.

On a side note… After three straight years of having issues with Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers, why would no one — not even the bright little witch Hermoine — start questioning them first when they suspected something was amiss? Why do they always turn their eyes first to Professor Snape. Granted, he is a worm of a man, but they are far too quick to see him as the bad guy.

I understand that the books were written for kids, but I have to say I was a bit disappointed with how quickly I have zipped through them. I was hoping for something to pass months of my reading time (at least four or five). But it has been two months and I’m nearly done with book five. I guess if that is my only complaint about the books, then JK Rowling did a good job.