Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

[smeddley]

Oh, how I am turning against the movies more and more! Now I've gotten to the point where there is SO MUCH MORE going on in the book. The writing is definitely improving, as well. I swear, these books suck you in faster than just about anything.

So now I'm transitioning into the darker part of the story, but this book also start to show Harry's emo side. Half-way through this book he starts to annoy me. My god, does he ever think of anyone but himself? And, seriously, he won because everyone helped him. Even I'm thinking 'what's the big deal about Harry Potter?' in this one.

I still like the story, just not the main character. This book is where my dreams of him dying first started. The next book... it just gets worse (I'm about 100 pages in, and I want to bitch-slap the boy). Is it normal to hate the 'hero' of a book? Still much love to many of the other characters, though (uh, mostly Hedwig and Pigwidgeon, the only two who've never annoyed me...). Poor Cedric. *sniff*

As for the scans... if I finish book six early on Friday (or sooner) can I stop myself? I'd like to think so. I want to relish the last book, and that doesn't include squinting at my computer screen. No, it involves sitting in bed with fluffy pillow and a mocha cappuccino (hot chocolate + loads of caffeine for the win!).

I really want them to be fake - not because I don't like the story (because I don't know, I haven't read it, though the end is ick) - but because everyone is saying there's no way they are. And... yeah, I'm totally one of those people. I love to champion the improbable.

But, I've been thinking on Occam's Razor (partly because it's a central theme in the book I'm listening to on tape, a book called Straight Man - very odd, I'll tell you about it later). Which is the simplest explanation - that a great deal of security failed and a crappy person happened to be on the receiving end and took advantage of it, or that someone is playing an elaborate hoax? I don't know. In some ways, the second seems far easier. And certainly less risky. Also, dude (or dudette) needs to learn to take better pics - according to the file info that was a decent camera, no reason for them to suck so much.

Sorry, non-HP peeps. Only 4 more days and it'll be the last you hear of it. Seriously.

Comments

[clare-dragonfly.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was just on the phone with Daniel and he told me that his best friend has the scans. I mentioned that I don't believe it's real. He was arguing that it obviously is, because he knows what a parody looks like. And when I tried to explain my reasons for not believing it (which is that, duh, of course it doesn't look like a parody because it's supposed to be real, and like you said, why is it being given away for free?, and then there's the fact that whoever did it is going to be in some major legal trouble, possibly either way) he interrupted me. As he often does... sigh.

Oh, and you've drawn me in--I'm now rereading HBP.

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

There's already some grumbling about legal trouble - apparently, since it was taken with a Digital Rebel (and not re-saved), there's some sort of serial number attached. And they supposedly could link it to a camera. And if security is as tight as they say... It may very well be traceable. If it is true, I would NOT want to be that person.

[clare-dragonfly.livejournal.com]

I skimmed an article in the paper today that said that they're ordering the removal of all the spoilers they can find, without stopping to determine if they're real or not, so yeah, legal trouble seems like a very real possibility.

I wonder who it is that's reading these scans, besides the /b/tards anyway. It doesn't seem like any of the real fen are interested. In fact, I haven't heard about it other than through you and Daniel, I don't think.

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

I only downloaded them to see (on Friday night) if they are real, I don't plan on reading them. I won't be done with my re-read of the 6th book before Friday, anyway. But I know they'll be taken down (especially if they're fake), and I want to be able to *see* if it was the real thing - just because I'm curious that way.

Even if they are fake, I'm sure they'd prosecute the person who took them for something. But... I'm leaning towards real now, though I'm still on the fence.

[icecat.livejournal.com]

Mmm, Cedric! Tasty boy. :D

If you're going to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in the theaters, I suggest going to the Olathe AMC 30 and seeing it in IMAX - there's a part that's in 3-D! Don't go if you have a headache, though, because it'll make it worse.

I refuse to see the scans, and I'm trying like hell not to be spoiled even by false spoils. I've seen one prediction already so far and was pissed.

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

Sadly, IMAX makes me very nauseous. As I've gotten older my motion sickness has gotten way worse.

You should be able to avoid being spoiled, at least by anything real, if you just don't go looking for it. I actually found that they few things I did hear - far from spoiling it - made me more curious. But that's just me. As long as some idiot's not blurting out anything at the sale (and I think they'd get soundly beaten for it) you should be okay.

If you saw the Gabriel thing, no worries. If the scans are real, it's obvious he didn't know what he was talking about, just making stuff up.

[elaran.livejournal.com]

This book is where my dreams of him dying first started. The next book... it just gets worse (I'm about 100 pages in, and I want to bitch-slap the boy)
/SECONDS

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

I know he's the hero and all, but...

[kailita.livejournal.com]

CEDRIC. I've probably mentioned this before, maybe a million times, but I didn't realize how amazingly wonderful Cedric was until the second time I read Goblet of Fire. During my first readthrough, I was so focused on getting Harry through the tournament that I didn't give his competition enough credit. It wasn't until the second time I read the book that I realized how kind and loyal and noble and...well, I could go on...but yes, I realized that Cedric is really underrated. (At least until the movie came out, when they cast a very attractive young actor to play him and suddenly the fangirls starting coming out of the woodworks...0.o)

Harry definitely bugged me during the 4th and 5th books during my first readthrough, but I had more understanding for him the second and third time. Everyone talks about how angsty and frustrated he is in the 5th one...but honestly, if I had Voldemort in my head, I would be angsty and frustrated too!

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

Poor Cedric. Poor, poor Cedric. :/

I can understand his point of view, I can, but... his way of dealing with it is SO juvenile. Which, okay, he's a teenager, I know. But I still want to shake him and say 'grow up!'.

See, that's why I don't have kids!

[alankria.livejournal.com]

I would like to point out that the grammar issues you mentioned with the text could be legit, in that these scans (if real) will be of an ARC and if JKR was pushed to get it in on time, maybe her grammar was slipping, something that will hopefully have been neatened out by the time the book comes to the bookshelves.

I'm not sure how tightly guarded HP ARCs are in the industry compared to other books, but with other books I believe it would be quite tough to track down who's behind any scanning as a lot of people can get their hands on one.

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

I did read that somewhere last night, that it was an ARC that was pictured. Which might explain the shiny plastic cover and weird proportions on the dust jacket, I guess.

According to the publisher, only 20 people had access to the book, so the pool of suspects (unless there was a true break-in) is pretty small. Plus, there's some identifying information tied into the digital photographs (about the camera) that they say they can match if they find the camera. And while it's not a rare camera, it's not cheap, either.