Sunday, July 31, 2011

Favorite Quotations from the Latter Potters

Sam as Shepherd Boy and
Ben as Harry Potter (December 2000)


See also my recent post
on the Quotidian Kit:
"Happy Birthday Harry Potter"

In preparation for this summer's movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2, I spent the month of July re-reading the last three Harry Potter novels, finishing up just in time for Harry's birthday.

It was a worthwhile memory - refreshing endeavor; and in the process, I jotted down a few favorite passages:


Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

269: "He only knew that he did not want to see their looks of horror; that would make the whole thing seem worse and therefore more difficult to face."

459: " 'Just because you've got the emotional range of a teaspoon doesn't mean we all have.' "

482: " ' I suppose it's not really prophecy you're doing, is it? I mean, you're not seeing the future, you're seeing the present. . . . it's odd, isn't it? Useful, though . . . ' " (ellipses in original).

509 - 515: " 'Now, how many autographs would you like? I can do joined - up writing now, you know! . . . Look, I didn't learn joined - up writing for nothing, you know!' "

655: " 'The thing about growing up with Fred and George,' said Ginny thoughtfully, 'is that you sort of start thinking anything's possible if you've got enough nerve.' "

847: "According to Madam Pomfrey, thoughts could leave deeper scarring than almost anything else."

[Likewise, StoryPeople storyteller Brian Andreas describes: "sharp things that hurt for years afterwards every time you think of them."


Harry Potter and the Half - Blood Prince


46: " ' . . . sadly, accidental rudeness occurs alarmingly often . . . ' "


Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

44: "It felt most strange to stand here in the silence and know that he was about to leave the house for the last time. . . . It gave him an odd, empty feeling to remember those times; it was like remembering a younger brother whom he had lost."

325 - 26: "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

[J. K. Rowling includes this passage from Matthew 6:21 as the inscription on the gravestone of Ariana Dumbledore. I like it because it also happens to be one of the readings that Gerry and I chose for our wedding ceremony, twenty - two years ago; see also Luke 12: 31 - 36.]

718: " 'It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it.' "

723: " 'Tell me one last thing,' said Harry. 'Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?'

"Dumbledore beamed at him . . . 'Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean this it is not real?' "