Welcome to Litsy!

Jan 29 #BeginsWith Short My Daughters grew up with Harry Potter, so I know most of them have read this @Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

“Many of the components of the various draughts and libations that Harry creates for Snape exist (or were once believed to exist) and have (or were believed to have) the properties I gave them.”

I think this is the weakest collection of the short stories from Pottermore. It covers ministry officials, Azkaban, Peeves and a bit more. I did love learning a little bit more about Dolores Umbridge and Professor Slughorn.

YEESS!!! Even BETTER than the first one!!! 😃 Lots of great background info on Slughorn/Lord Voldemort interaction, The Ministers of Magic, Professor Quirrell and *indirectly* the Battle of Hogwarts! If you‘re a Harry Potter fan, you need this in your life lol 😆
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

J.K. Rowling psychoanalyzes some of her own characters and comes up with a far more lenient view of some of them than I do--it was interesting. I would not cut Horace Slughorn nearly as much slack. I enjoyed his chapter the best because we had such a different perspective.

I wanted to add a little fun to today‘s #ReadingResolutions prompt, #Power so I thought I would go with a little alliteration🤓
Power, Politics, & Pesky Poltergeists 👻

#BookNerd 📚💙

#April80sMovies #Poltergeist

I enjoy all the back info but I wish there were more to these books. They are put together a bit oddly. I'm trying to imagine a more fulfilling format for the short blurbs and still haven't gotten a great idea. I'll read more they put out but i feel like there's a missed opportunity here. The summary of ministers was interesting especially in parallel to muggle history. #mommyreads #harrypotter #ebook #fauxhistory

This was a cool book. I thought it was interesting to learn more about some of the other characters from the series. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Bowing out on this portion of #hpchapteraday Not a huge fan of these Pottermore writings and not interested in purchasing them. I will be back for Fantastic Beasts.

#hpchapteraday this was a fun read & I love getting further info on the Wizarding World. It amazes me just how rich JK‘s creation is. It was so fun to share with fellow chapter-a-day peeps 😊🙌🏻

#hpchapteraday I love that in many ways Peeves is the manifestation of the #mischief laden souls of the kids who have lived within Hogwarts. 💜 The story of the last attempt to oust him be Caretaker Carpe is hilarious. & I sure did miss him in the movies!

#hpchapteraday Quirrell‘s story is less about the #seduction of power (though there is a bit of that in his wanting to know Dark Arts to basically get back at bullies), but it is a tale of grave miscalculation. This is about knowing oneself & what one is up against. Quitell‘a miscalculation in these things ultimately leads to his possession & demise.

With today‘s section, this little collection of Rowling‘s writings on Pottermore is complete. Definitely worth a quick read for any fan of the world of Harry Potter who‘s looking for a bit of inside scoop from the author about certain characters, their motivations, & I especially liked her tidbits on why she picked or created the names for some of those in the stories, I loved those little peaks inside the author‘s thought process.
#HPChapterADay

I loved Peeves and his affinity for the Weasley twins in the books, I always thought he considered them kindred #mischief makers and maybe the human equivalent of, or as close as humans could get to, poltergeists. I missed him in the movies.
#HPChapterADay

I do wonder why it is up to the caretaker to deal with Peeves's mischief. Where is the line between the job of the caretaker and the job of house-elves? #hpchapteraday

While Quirrell was definitely seduced by the idea of tracking down the injured Voldemort, for power or fame, or both. I was a bit disappointed in this short chapter, I wanted to know more about this “squirrelly” character who looked for nuts in the wrong tree and instead became the tree for another to store his essence in.
#Seduction #HPChapterADay

Quirrel allowed his feelings of insignificance to seduce him into the Dark Arts. I think we see this a lot in the series—in a way, it even applies to Voldemort himself, who feels the constant urge to prove his superiority. The same phenomenon occurs in the real world, too, with people who feel inferior sometimes turning to crime to prove that they are not. #hpchapteraday

When I first read The Half Blood Prince, long before the movie version was made, this is how I pictured Horace Slughorn, as the actor who played Vizzini in The Princess Bride, Wallace Shawn. Which tells you a lot about how I felt about the character, super smart, but also a know-it-all that couldn‘t admit what he didn‘t know, & a bit slimy on top of that, who enjoyed exerting his #influence over everyone around him and flaunting it

#HPChapterADay

#hpchapteraday Slughorn‘s story shows both strengths & weaknesses in the desire to #influence. Slughorn had a talent for seeing potential, but he also had a narrow definition of potential & a decided short sightedness that left him vulnerable to the likes of Riddle. While Slughorn proved himself a good man & hero, his desire to influence people, often for his own benefit & self-esteem, lowered him in many ways. Influence is a tricky thing.

This is something I've often wondered about the Slug Club. How much of the success of Slughorn's picks is due to his eye for talent, and how much due to the influence of the network he has built? He grew up knowing the importance of an old boys' network. He's built something along the same lines, with the benefit of being more inclusive. #hpchapteraday

#hpchapteraday The Ministers of Magic really do show how #powerandcorruption so often, though not always, go hand in hand. It really surprised me how far back & how deep the anti-muggle sentiments went in this position, & the blind eye that was so long given to Azkaban 😱. Those not always moments were great though-ministers that really were about trying to right by their community & it‘s place in the greater world were a breath of fresh air.

As sad as it may be, apparently power corrupts just as efficiently in the wizarding world as it does in the Muggle. I‘d love to think that with great power, came great understanding, but no, they are just as likely to let power go to their head, and do what they can to keep it.
#HPChapterADay
#PowerAndCorruption

Again, love this and LOL‘d

Good to know someone besides Uncle Vernon noticed some strange goings on that day😂

#HPChapterADay

🤣😂🤣😂 and sadly, he‘s right!

#HPChapterADay

The power and convenience of keeping prisoners in Azkaban, where they are so effectively locked up that most of them will never bother the population again, is hard for Ministers for Magic to resist. Does this mean they are corrupted, or are they simply forced to balance the needs of a diverse wizarding population? Maybe a bit of both. #hpchapteraday

Talk about systemic racism. With the Death Eaters and Umbridge in charge, they literally created a system for depriving the people they didn't like of rights. #hpchapteraday

My most favorite love-to-hate character! I truly despised her, even more than Voldemort in the novels, and now I have a theme and can give it a name. For me it was always her two-faced, manipulating the system, and rub it in the face of everyone while she was at it that I hated, not to mention the personification of #SystemicRacism Voldemort at least had his reasons and was up front about who he was and what he wanted.

#HPChapterADay

#hpchapteraday Dolores Umbridge is #systemicracism personified. Her father raised her to look down upon her own mother & brother for no other reason than a lack of magic. She manipulated every opportunity to inflict punishment & terror on those who defied her views or excited her prejudice & the system rewarded her rather than stopping or punishing her. In many ways she was more dangerous than Voldemort & his ilk ever were.

#hpchapteraday Dolores Umbridge is #systemicracism personified. Her father raised her to look down upon her own mother & brother for no other reason than a lack of magic. She manipulated every opportunity to inflict punishment & terror on those who defied her views or excited her prejudice & the system rewarded her rather than stopping or punishing her. In many ways she was more dangerous than Voldemort & his ilk ever were.

Our last set of #hpchapteraday #themes! For the Fantastic Beasts Textbook-read at your own pace on the days & show us the Fantastic Beasts that capture your fancy & tell us why 😊 For the Fantastic Beasts screenplay, the breakdown of scenes really doesn‘t work well for individual themes, so we‘ll look at it all through the theme of prejudice, post as often as fits your fancy as you find ways this theme comes into play throughout the text.

#bookpairings #fallintoreading
@RealLifeReading

#shortontimeshortstories #backtoreading @JoeStalksBeck @Tiffy_Reads

★★★★★ ♥

Another fun & quick read, that once again contained a lot of information previously published on Pottermore. I enjoyed the chapter on Slughorn the most, because it gave some details of his character that made me understand why I kind of like him.
Book 10 for #sumtbreadathon

Started this while riding the Subway to Central Park during our recent trip to NYC for #BookCon2017! Guess I'm now a member of the #SubwayReadersClub! 🗽🏙🚉📖
#harrypotter #enook #shortstoriesfromhogwarts #hogwartsismyhome

Some early morning reading while hubby is snoring 😴 I love these little books. My favourite part of this one was reading about potions and the meaning behind some of the ingredients.

Good info on the hp universe

A love of all things saccharine often seems present where there is a lack of real warmth and charity.

Decided to stay in Harry's world a bit longer...

My reading buddies are waiting for me.

Yay! Slytherin pride! 🐍🐍🐍

Nice, quick dip back into the world of Harry Potter. Affirmation of Rowling's brilliance, as if we needed more.

Another comfort read. While learning more about Umbridge's past was enlightening, I'm still fine with the centaurs carting her off. Slughorn's backstory was much more interesting. Reading a bit about the thought JKR put into ingredients for potions did make me feel a tad guilty. I tend to speed right over that sort of list, so having the significance of ingredients pointed out did make me appreciate them. And of course, there was more on Peeves!

How can you not want to know more about Peeves? And how did someone like Umbridge come to be? These answers and more await in this delightful collection!

I can't say enough how much I love these short stories. Must reads for all Potter fans!

I really can't get over these short stories. So interesting!!! 😍