Find Part I here and Part II here.

22. Was Severus Snape a hero?
I think Snape is an incredibly complex character.  Honestly I never really understood why he wanted to keep the best part of himself such a secret, besides the unrequited love.  Had he been more forthcoming with Lily and perhaps a bit more open to love the story may have been incredibly different.  Harry Snape and the _____ ?
Was he a hero?  Yes.  Absolutely.  He carried his burden and when Hogwarts fell he still tried to keep the students safe (like “punishing” students with detention with Hagrid for example).  I think he did the best he could with that he thought he had.

23. Make a Harry Potter craft!
I’m not as crafty as I’d like to be, but if I could choose an Etsy craft I’ve had my eye on one of these for awhile.

24. Would you rather have the elder wand, the resurrection stone, or the invisibility cloak?
The invisibility cloak of course!  I don’t want to fight and I while I would love to see some of my departed loved ones, I believe they’re happier where they are.  I would love the freedom to sneak around

25. What do you think the three primary characters did for a living after Hogwarts?
Well, from reading further about them, I know Harry became an Auror and would guest lecture at Hogwarts for Defense class, Ron helped George with the shop and also became an Auror, and Hermione pursued her interest in helping magical creatures and a career in magical law enforcement.

26. What do you think your wizarding career would be?
I think I would enjoy Hermione’s path, helping shape the future of magical law enforcement and keeping people like Umbridge out of government.

27. What would you ask JK Rowling if you could sit down with her for coffee (or tea)?
I don’t know if there’s anything I could ask her that hasn’t already been answered in an interview over the years  I would probably just ask if I could hug her and thank her for being such an absolute influence on my life.

28. Complete the following (from http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/11/fill-in-thefirst-times-review-of-the-first-harry-potter-novel/)

So many of the beloved heroes and heroines of children’s literature — from Cinderella and Snow White to Oliver Twist and the Little Princess to Matilda, Maniac Magee and the great Gilly Hopkins — begin their lives being raised by monstrously wicked, clueless adults, too stupid to see what we the readers know practically from page 1: This is a terrific person we’d love to have for a best friend.

And so it is with Harry Potter, the star of ”Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” by J.K. Rowling, a wonderful first novel from England that won major literary awards and has been at the top of the adult best-seller lists there, and is having the same kind of successhere too. Poor Harry Potter is orphaned as a baby and is sent to live with his odious Aunt and Uncle, Petunia and Vernon Dursley, and their fat son, Dudley. While Fat Dudley Dursley has two bedrooms (one just for his surplus toys, like the television set he put his foot through when his favorite show was canceled), Harry is forced to sleep in a crawl space under the stairs, has never had a birthday party in his 11 years and must wear his cousin’s way baggy hand-me-down clothes.

But Harry is destined for greatness, as we know from the lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead, and one day he mysteriously receives a notice in the mail announcing that he has been chosen to attend Hogwarts, the nation’s elite school for training wizards and witches, the Harvard of sorcery. Before he is done, Harry Potter will meet a dragon, make friends with a melancholy centaur and do battle with a three-headed dog; he will learn how to fly a broom and how to use a cloak that makes him invisible. Though all this hocus-pocus is delightful, the magic in the book is not the real wizardry of the book. Much like Roald Dahl, J. K. Rowling has a gift for keeping the emotions, fears and triumphs of her characters on a human scale, even while the supernatural is poppingout all over.

We feel Harry’s fear when for the first time he is traveling to a faraway place, an 11-year-old boy arriving alone at the King’s Cross train station with a trunk bigger than he is, and no idea how to find Platform 9. This is a world where some people know from birth that they are wizards, and are raised by their sorcerer parents to attend fair old Hogwarts, while others, like Harry — raised in human or what Rowling calls ”Muggle” families — don’t find out that they have special powers until they receive their acceptance letters. As Harry worries that first day about whether he can compete with the privileged children of Hogwarts alums, I found myself thinking back 30 years to my first days at Harvard, wondering how, coming from a blue-collar shipyard town and a public high school, I could ever compete with preppies from Exeter and Andover.

”I bet I’m the worst in the class,” says Harry.

”You won’t be,” says a friend. ”There’s loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quick enough.”

The book is full of wonderful, sly humor.  Exam period at Hogwarts means not just essay tests, but practical exams too. ”Professor Flitwick called them one by one into his class to see if they could make a pineapple tap-dance across a desk. Professor McGonagall watched them turn a mouse into a snuffbox — points were given for how pretty the snuffbox was, but taken away if it had whiskers.”

Throughout most of the book, the characters are impressively three-dimensional (occasionally four-dimensional!) and move along seamlessly through the narrative. However, a few times in the last four chapters, the storytelling begins to sputter, and there are twists I found irritating and contrived. To serve the plot, characters begin behaving out of character. Most noticeably, Hagrid, the gentle giant of a groundskeeper who has selflessly protected Harry over and over, suddenly turns so selfish he is willing to let Harry be punished for something that is Hagrid’s fault. That’s not the Hagrid I’d come to know.

These are minor criticisms. On the whole, ”Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” is as funny, moving and impressive as the story behind its writing. J. K. Rowling , a teacher by training, was a 30-year-old single mother living on welfare in a cold one-bedroom flat in Edinburgh when she began writing it in longhand during her baby daughter’s nap times. But like Harry Potter, she had magic inside, and has soared beyond her modest Muggle surroundings to achieve something quite special.

Thanks to Tara for this fun break from our regularly scheduled blogging!  She mentioned on Twitter that she was doing a Harry Potter month via blogging and I immediately assaulted her for more information.  I’m terrible at daily posts, so I broke it down by weeks (sort of.)   This also helps me in blogging more about what I’m passionate about, rather than the daily ins and outs.  Because honestly?   I’m very passionate about Mr. Potter

1. What is your favorite book?
I think for me The Chamber of Secrets really got me thinking about all the undertones of the series. We get hit with our first taste of Wizarding prejudice in the scene where Draco Malfoy, a spoiled little boy who has deep family roots in the Wizarding community, calls Hermione Granger a Mudblood, the worst derogatory name one can use in Wizarding society. I started thinking about the parallells in our own world and how little Draco Malfoy insulted someone who had no business being insulted. Not to mention I was only 12 or so myself when this book was published. I give a lot of credit to this first spark of critical thinking that makes me the, well, bleeding heart I am today. I’m quick to anger when I think people being treated unfairly and I have a profound disrespect for bigoted ideas. I can thank Hermione for that one.

2. What is your favorite movie?
I’m counting Deathly Hallows as one. Two of my favorite parts revolve around the unsung-wonder that is the Harry/Hermione friendship. The dancing scene in the tent was just the light hearted genius the director needed to keep those who had not read the book (and lets face it, those of us who did) from sobbing into our popcorn too badly. However, one of my favorite scenes that spans across the entire franchise is this heartbreaker, again displaying the sacrifice and friendship these kids have come to know.  This one:

{Photo credit via Tumblr, original maker unknown}

3. Which HP Character gets you all hot and bothered?

Why yes, I certainly would like to Slytherin. 

4. If you had a Sorcerer’s Stone would you use it?
I think I would for a little while, as long as I could keep my husband young with me.  I wouldn’t want to be immortal, but there’s so much in life I want to do and get to experience.  It’s a little depressing to realize we literally just don’t have enough time.

5. If you had gallons of galleons what magical thing(s) would you buy?
Oh magical books for sure!  I never had a hard time believing Hermione would memorize her textbooks, it’s not like they’re of the Algebra variety.  I would also like a broom, an owl, a wand (of course!), and a chocolate frog.  Or several.

6. What was your favorite spell used?
I always thought Accio would be incredibly useful for my lazy approach to life.  Being able to summon objects form ner and far would be too tempting to pass up.

7. What is your favorite scene from a HP book?
Wow.  That’s like asking to pick a favorite child.  Normally that would be easy, seeing as i don’t actually have any children to pick from, but hmmm.   Lets break it down by book to make it more fair.

Sorcerer’s/Philosopher’s Stone:  One of my favorite scenes is when Hermione dances the tango all over Snape’s tricky potion set up.  She nailed it, and as an 11/12 year old myself first reading that I thought she was just the smartest girl in the world.  Instant heroine for little Ariel.
Chamber of Secrets: I touched on my favorite part above, when we are introduced to the Wizarding version of racism.   I thought the way they did it in the book was better, Ron having to explain what the word ‘Mudblood’ meant to a baffled Hermione.  In the movie it is almost insinuated that Hermione had been called that before, but she hadn’t before Draco Malfoy.
Prisoner of Azkaban: This had to be one of the more complicated books to read and probably to write.  I loved reading about Harry and Hermione saving Sirius and Buckbeak with the Time Turner, and also Snape’s hissy fit when he found out Sirius was gone.  We didn’t know then the extent of Snape’s history with Sirius, or if Snape was even a good guy, but it felt good to stick it to him just because he’s not very nice on a day to day basis.
Goblet of Fire: Easy one here.  Priori Incantatem.  A close second would be during the Quidditch cup, when Draco warns (in his taunting way) that maybe Hermione should make herself scarce, as the group of people causing panic were targeting Muggles.  I always wondered if he was warning or simply rubbing it in.
Order of the Phoenix:  This is also known as Harry Potter and the year of vengeful teenage angst.  I was 16 when this was published back in 2003 (omg it’s been ten years?  TEN YEARS??)  Anyway, Harry was finally beginning to respond appropriately to the shitty hand he had been dealt, and by appropriately I mean with a ton of anger and a lot of mis-firing on his two best friends.  My favorite scene would have to be the last stand off between the Weasley twins and Delores Umbridge.  To say Fred and George left Hogwarts with a bang would be putting it lightly.
Half Blood Price:  I remember when this book came out how sad I was to be so close to saying goodbye to this wonderful world.  Half Blood Price was obviously the real calm before the storm (if you could call it calm).  Harry had a somewhat better check on his emotions and Dumbledore was finally giving Harry some of the attention and information (although not nearly enough) that he deserved.  There were many things I love about this book (obviously) and perhaps The Unbreakable Vow is a great contender.  We really didn’t know much about Narcissa Malfoy nee Black before this, but it’s obvious she would do anything for her son.  And hello, foreshadowing anyone?  Sectumsempra was also a little chilling, this was the first time I think Harry really set out to hurt someone, but didn’t realize how much hurt he would inflict.
Deathly Hallows:  I just love this entire tome.   Like all the others before, I inhaled it and didn’t finish reading until I finished the book.  Literally.  I did not sleep.  I loved everything about this book.  I loved how the trio leave off on their adventure, and I love how Hermione took care of her two friends.  Not only did she have incredible foresight to be completely packed up and ready to go, but she kept them together.  When Ron left them I officially started to think he truly was not good enough for Hermione, Horcrux or not.  I love that Hermione stuck with Harry until the very end.  Then of course I loved the final line so much I got it tattooed on my wrist:

8. What do you think would have been your favorite class at Hogwarts?
I think I would really like Charms.  Charms seems like the all-inclusive magic where you can make anything happen.  I know I would not like potions, sound’s a little to much like chemistry and I hate following a recipe!

9. Make a Harry Potter-inspired recipe.
I did not make a recipe, but I have made many Harry Potter inspired alcoholic beverages in my day, such as this:

{From Buzzfeed}

10. What position would you play on a quidditch team, and why?
I think I would like to be a Keeper.  I can’t imagine myself with enough dexterity to be a Seeker or Chaser, but I used to love being a goalie in soccer.

11. Which house would you have wanted to be in?
I am absolutely a Slytherin through and through.  I’m very, very ambitious and believe in most cases the end does justify the means.  I think Slytherins are loyal in their own way, like a gang (haha) and I would totally help a friend with some digging if there’s a body that needs buried.  Metaphorically speaking, of course.

{Image from Tumblr, original creator unknown}