Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Even Couch Potatoes Read

(WARNING: Anyone who has not read HPHBP may want to avoid this post as it is spoilerish.)

Every once in a while, Wasteland Fan shuts off the television and reads.* A few weeks ago, I did just that. I read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince cover to cover in a few days, while nursing Wasteland Spouse back to health during L'Affair Encephalitis, stepping up as the primary caregiver for Wasteland Kids, and writing a 25,000-word scholarly paper for a professional conference. Still, during all that, I ripped through the latest adventures of the crew at Hogwart's.

Having thought about the book and its somewhat surprising climax and denouement, I have to agree with Heidi Bond about one thing: Harry is most definitely one of The Dark Lord's remaining Horcruxes. It's consistent with many clues J.K. Rowling has planted throughout the series. I also enjoy that Harry is coming into his own as a hero; he's determined to be proactive, rather than the brave-but-reactive character he's been to this point.

(I'm less sure that I agree with Heidi's other main claim that a certain slimey head-of-house is still a sheep in wolf's clothing.)

Speaking of Horcruxes -- a magical receptical that holds a severed portion of one's soul and gives one immortality so long as the Horcrux remains intact -- I wonder if my TV isn't a bit like a Horcrux for me. A little (or big) piece of my life is intimately connected to it and as long as my TV is humming along without a hitch, I feel pretty invincible. On the other hand, as Professor Slughorn's recovered memory revealed to Harry, one must commit murder in order to perform the Horcrux creation spell. So, perhaps my TV isn't a genuine Horcrux, because the only thing I've murdered in its presence is an entire bag of Tostitos "Hint of Lime" Tortilla Chips.

At any rate, I had to jump on the bandwagon (even if way belatedly) to blog about Half-Blood Prince. Hence, the tortured logic that is this post shall come to a close.


*Sometimes I don't even have to shut off the television, because the bathroom is far enough away from the TV that I can concentrate on my reading -- and anything else I might happen to be doing -- without interrupting TV signal. But seriously, TV is no fun if you're illiterate. We all need to put down the remote and read once in a while. Besides, it makes watching Gilmore Girls all the more fun, because you'll have some idea of what all the historical and pop culture references are about.