Notable Quotable: Gary D. Schmidt (#132)

"Maybe the first time that you know you really care about something is when you think about it not being there, and when you know-you really know-that the emptiness is as much as inside you as outside you."
     --The Wednesday Wars

Harry Potter Moment of the Week #87

hosted by Uncorked Thoughts and Lunar Rainbows Reviews.

Who would you rather be friends with Hermione or Ginny?

This is practically an impossible question to ask that. I'd love to be Ginny's friend because she seems like she got into all sorts of adventures outside of what we see. She's very much like Fred and George. I would enjoy some hi-jinx with her and Luna. She's incredibly kind, finds the good in people, especially those who others find strange.  She's outgoing and fiercely loyal.

Hermione would be my book soulmate. I feel like we would constantly be trading book recommendations, gushing passionately over our favorites. She is kind and thoughtful, and an incredible friend to those boys. She fights for what she believes.  All of these things I value in a friend.

I would love to have both of these women as a friend.

Harry Potter Moment of the Week #86

hosted by Uncorked Thoughts and Lunar Rainbows Reviews.

Which non Harry Potter characters would do well at Hogwarts?

Dustin from Stranger Things would rock in either Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, though I suspect he's Huffling. This kid is smart but also he's a ridiculous 13-year-old kid, who loves DnD and he's loyal to his friends. He would completely dig everything that goes on at Hogwarts, the ghosts, the moving staircases, the magic, all of it.

Alyssa Gardener from Splintered by A.G. Howard would hold her own at Hogwarts. I imagine she'd either be Hufflepuff or Slytherin. I'm leaning toward Slytherin. She's familiar with hidden worlds within our contemporary world, I don't think it would be a stretch for her to be successful at Hogwarts.

I also feel like the vast majority of the Lunar Chronicles gang would do extremely well at Hogwarts, though some of them would take a while to adjust to the idea that magic is real and not just bioelectric manipulation. Cinder, Scarlet, and Thorne would be Gryffindors, Wolf, Cress, Kai, and Jacin would be Hufflepuffs, Iko and Winter would be Ravenclaws.

Source

Notable Quotable: Colm Toibin (#131)

"In the morning, she was not sure that she had slept as much as lived a set of vivid dreams, letting them linger so that she would not have to open her eyes and see the room."   
     --Brooklyn

Notable Quotable: Rachel Kapelke-Dale and Jessica Pan (#130)

"You won't be able to do this ten years from now -- just leave everything behind and go."  
     --Graduates in Wonderland

Notable Quotable: Rick Riordan (#129)

"Some of the best demigods have gotten their start by blowing up toilets."  
     --The Hidden Oracle, Trials of Apollo

Dear J.K. Rowling

Faith of GeekyZooGirl and Micheline of Lunar Rainbow Reviews are hosting the Harry Potter Month in July and I'm on board! People can compete in the House Cup by accumulating house points. I'll be earning said house points by posting about Harry Potter among other Harry Potter related activities! This year I will be representing Hufflepuff!

Dear J.K. Rowling,

Thank you for so many wonderful years of imagination and childhood. Thank you for creating my best friends. Thank you for believing in yourself and not giving up. Without your persistence, I might never have known such a magical place with such amazing people.

Thank you for capturing my heart between the pages of your books. Thank you for Dobby and Neville and Luna and Hermione and Ron and Harry and Ginny. Thank you for all those characters that taught me it was okay to be smart, weird, curious, funny, to make mistakes, to be wholly myself.

Thank you for adventure and mystery and love and passion. Thank you for everything wrapped into one, where I could escape and enjoy every little detail. Thank you for being so thorough, for knowing which details to pull together, which plot points to drop hints in books long before they are even casually mentioned. Thank you for your brain.

Thank you for all the quotes, for every little potential nugget of gold that can inspire people into action. Thank you for your words, for they helped create a community that prides themselves in loving others and taking action against injustice. Thank you for a real life Dumbledore's Army.

Thank you for your passion project. Thank you for sharing it with us and for allowing it to grow with us, with me. Thank you for so avidly looking out for the little guy. Thank you for your voice; may it be forever a route for others voices.

Thank you for imagining a little boy who lived in a cupboard under the stairs.
You are a brilliant star, may your light never dwindle.
I wish you the happiest of birthdays.

Warmest regards,

Alex
Hufflepuff
Birch wood, dragon heartstring core, 11 3/4", slightly springy