The Order of the Phoenix

I went to the latest Harry Potter film with family on Saturday before flying out to South Africa. The resultant pressure on time and a motorway accident ahead of me meant that the hire car was left in the short term car park, I had to beg BA to re-open the flight half an hour before departure time, and my luggage is in London, while I am in Pretoria. However it was worth it. Book five of the series was always a transitionary book, the least like a complete story in itself of the series so far. Potter fans read on, others move on!

The lapse in time since the last film has resulted in a new level of maturity in the actors. Imagine spending seven years from the age of eleven in the company of people like Dame Maggie Smith! The new Director (David Yates took over from Mike Newell ) has produced the most stunning in terms of cinematography. The final fight scene between Dumbledoor and Voldemort is excellent, not over stated but with raw emotion, and the symbiosis between Harry and Voldemort magnificently portrayed. The critics overall have given it a mixed reception but overall its positive and should be more so.

Now of course we have a week to go to book seven and the big question, how will it end? Three copies have been ordered from Amazon (for children and spouse) and I will get mine in Sydney airport on arrival from Johannesburg. Now I did well with book six, predicting that Dumbledoor would die or disappear. That was easy, we are after all living the hero’s journey and the mentor has to depart to allow the hero to grow. The final book is more difficult though. We know that one of the main characters will die. Given that Voldemort has got to go, that means that according to the prophecy (if you don’t get this you are not into the book) Harry will live.

Now I think its an outside bet that Ron and family are for the high jump in whole or in part, Jenny going would leave Harry free to Hermione who is after all the representation of the author and Harry is her hero figure. Snape is the other candidate, sacrificing himself to save Harry after Harry finally realises that his father’s boorish tactics were responsible for Snape’s character defects in the first place. My son suggests Hagred but I don’t agree. Probably we all wrong, but the suspense is killing me.