Friday, July 20, 2007

What I want to happen tomorrow

Regardless of what happens to Harry, regardless of who lives and who dies, even regardless of whether Hogwarts reopens (and the prospect of it not reopening is what was most upsetting to me in HBP, because I want to go back to Hogwarts and if Harry doesn't I won't get to either!)...

Tomorrow I want to be completely gobsmacked. I want to be knocked off my feet by plot twists neither I nor anyone else anticipated. I want to find myself shouting "Go JKR!" when something mentioned in passing books ago suddenly becomes key. I want to find myself laughing hysterically - Eddie Izzard-calibre, disturb-the-neighbours laughs - at least twice, and chuckling quietly to myself dozens of times as the whimsy of the wizarding world is mentioned in passing. I want to be literally on the edge of my seat for the last hundred pages or so, frantically reading and turning pages as fast as I can to find out what happens next, my noble attempts at liveblogging turning to crap because I'm in too much suspense to pause between chapters. Then, as I finish the last page, even though I'm saying goodbye to Harry forever, I want to be able to collapse back on my bed, making a sound only mi cielito has ever heard me hear, from the sheer satisfaction of a well-executed and emotionally satisfying story. I want to be unable to tear myself away from Sugarquill for the rest of the weekend (and maybe even try to sneak on at work next week) because I just have so much to say. I want to be eagerly craving a full reread so I can see all the clues in retrospect. I want for my daydreams to once again put me in the wizarding world, as Rowena Ravenclaw or Harry's Mary Sue or some other random character we haven't met yet. I want to be inspired to write fanfiction, even though it will end up being complete crap that will never see the light of day. I want to go to bed hoping my dreams will take me back to Hogwarts.

I don't want to cry, but if I do cry I want it to be worth the tears. I don't want to have to go to wine or comedy to recover from my tears, I want the emotional process to be self-sustaining. When I head back to work, I want to be at peace, even if I'm full-to-bursting with spoilers and theories and fanfiction.

You've done it before, Ms. Rowling. Do it again, please, just one last time.

No comments: