I am anxious for the moment in time when I hold the beloved novel in my very palms and gaze at the cover of the newest addition to the Harry Potter series! Almost everyone I know is estatic about this novel coming out tomorrow, the valiant title being:
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood PrinceI am amongst the species of elated humans, and anxious to find out what happens to the well-known character. Even people who HAVEN'T read the Harry Potter series know who Harry Potter is . . . the boy with the round glasses and a scar on his forehead. But to others, it's a whole lot more.

! ! !

For quite some time, I thought the sixth book was coming out today--Friday. Because of this, I planned on attending the BORDERS 'camp out' party until midnight so I could recieve my Harry Potter book, but since that's tonight, I won't be able to go . . . only because I have card night with the Zumpano and Woodville family (!!). Though my reason for disappointment does seem extrodinarily geeky, you have to understand =)~. I'm thinking that maybe after the late hang-out night, my family can bring me to BORDERS just to catch a few minutes of the Harry Potter obsession. Plus, Sean & other cool cats are going to be there. For so me reason, I want to see all my friends before I go to Puerto Rico. I feel like I'm going to be away for months, actually. And there is also the possibility that a hurricane can hit while we are there. Yikes! I'll make sure to bring a poncho and camera =). So yeah, it would have been the perfect time to reunite with some of my bestest buddies . . . but instead I get to go to Battle of the Bands with Nicole & Danielle and chillax with the people I traveled to Greece with and will (in 4 days!!) be going to the Caribbean with! Wahooooo! Another thing to be over-excited about. This is becoming the best summer EVER. I've done something almost EVERY day, and have kept myself occupied 24/7 with swimming, basketball, trampoline, drawing, painting, poetry, journaling, and hanging with all of the coolest people. My journal from previous summers only had about one page of daily details, but this time 'round, I have 4 pages thoroughly written about every day (those are the journal entries I am going to post on livejournal when I feel like typing them up).

I found it a good idea to review what happened in Harry Potter books four and five by printing out summaries and chapter reviews. This way, I begin reading book six with a complete refreshment instead of trying to remember what happened. I also now know what I expect from the next book. It's all very exciting to me! Believe it or not, I don't plan on readint this one REALLY fast because I don't want it to be over so soon! I believe I'm going to wait for Danielle to read it with in Puerto Rico.

If you're interested, here are the last few chapter reviews of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix:


Chapter 35--
Harry demands to know where Sirius is. Malfoy asks Harry to give him the prophecy, but Harry refuses to relinquish the sphere, threatening to smash it if the encroaching crowd of Death Eaters attack his friends. Malfoy tells him the sphere contains the story of his scar and explains that only those about whom a prophecy has been made can safely retrieve it. Voldemort could not come himself because the Aurors at the Ministry would have caught him immediately, so they lured Harry here by manipulating his dreams and making him think Sirius was in trouble.

At Harry’s signal, the students use their wands to shatter the rows of spheres. Harry sprints from the chamber, gripping his prophecy. The Death Eaters follow. Hermione is stunned by a Death Eater and falls to the ground. Neville’s nose is broken in the fray. Ron falls under some sort of lunacy spell, and Ginny’s ankle is broken by a Death Eater. Dragging Hermione, they keep moving, but five Death Eaters corner them in the brain room. The brain jar bursts open, and Ron picks one up. Tentacles shoot out and try to strangle Ron. Death Eaters stun Ginny and toss Luna into a desk. Both lie unconscious, leaving only Neville and Harry to fight the remaining Death Eaters. Harry, still clutching the prophecy, runs into the room with the arch. Neville follows, and Lestrange begins to torture Neville with the Crucio curse.

Suddenly, Sirius, Lupin, Moody, Tonks, and Kingsley appear. Sirius yells for Harry to take Neville and the prophecy and run. As Harry attempts to grab Neville, the prophecy slips from his robes and cracks open. Dumbledore appears and corrals the Death Eaters. Lestrange, dueling with Sirius, sends a jet of red light right into his chest, and he falls through the curtains. Harry runs to the arch, but Lupin holds him back. Lupin tells Harry that Sirius is gone.


Chapter 36--
Harry refuses to believe that Sirius is dead. He spots Lestrange and runs after her, vowing to avenge Sirius’s murder. He catches up to her in the Atrium. Harry shouts at Lestrange that the prophecy is gone and that she will have to kill him. Voldemort and Dumbledore appear. Voldemort strikes Dumbledore, but Dumbledore’s bird, Fawkes, takes the blow. Voldemort disappears, and Harry’s scar bursts open. Voldemort uses Harry’s voice to speak to Dumbledore, asking Dumbledore to kill him by killing Harry. Suddenly, Harry feels Voldemort leave his body, and he crumples to the floor. Harry learns that Voldemort had grabbed Lestrange and Disapparated from the Ministry. Cornelius Fudge runs in, confused. He demands to know what has happened, and Dumbledore promises to tell him after he sends Harry back to Hogwarts. Still stunned, Dumbledore gives Harry a Portkey and Harry whizzes back to Dumbledore’s office.


Chapter 37--
Dumbledore meets Harry in his office. Harry is visibly upset about Sirius’s death. Dumbledore tells Harry this pain is his greatest strength. Dumbledore admits it’s his own fault that Sirius is dead because he never told Harry the whole truth about his scar. Dumbledore explains. On the night Harry saw Mr. Weasley attacked, Voldemort figured out that Harry’s scar allowed Harry to be privy to Voldemort’s thoughts and actions. Assuming this connection must work both ways, Voldemort began forcing his way into Harry’s thoughts, which is why Dumbledore ordered Snape to give Harry Occlumency lessons. Voldemort knew the only person Harry would go to great lengths to save was Sirius, so he projected the image of Sirius’s torture into Harry’s mind. Voldemort needed Harry to retrieve the prophecy because he could not risk entering the Ministry himself, and no one else would ever be able to touch it.

When Harry was an infant, Hagrid took him to the Dursleys instead of a Wizarding family because, in order to remain safe, Harry needed to be near his mother’s blood, which came in the form of Aunt Petunia. As long as Harry can still call the place where his mother’s blood dwells home, he is safe. Dumbledore sent the Howler to Petunia to remind her of this bond.

Dumbledore continues his explanation. Sixteen years ago, Sybill Trelawney made a prophecy about a boy who was born at the end of July to parents who had defied Voldemort three times. This part of the prophecy could have applied to either Harry or Neville, who was also born at the end of July to parents who were members of the Order. However, the prophecy went on to say that Voldemort would mark the child as his equal, choosing the boy that he believed would be the most dangerous to him. Dumbledore believes Voldemort chose Harry because Harry was a half-blood, just like Voldemort. But Voldemort only heard the first part of the prophecy. The second part proclaimed that the child would have powers that the Dark Lord would not know, and that either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives. Dumbledore tells Harry that the distinguishing power he has is love.


Chapter 38--
Harry is in the hospital wing with Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and Luna. Dumbledore saved Umbridge from the Centaurs, and she is also in the hospital. Harry hasn’t told his friends about the prophecy. He tells his friends he is going to see Hagrid, but instead he sits at the edge of the lake and cries.

Professor McGonagall makes a full recovery and returns to Hogwarts. The day before the end of term, Umbridge leaves the school. Ron rushes off to the Great Feast, but Harry stays behind to pack. Harry finds the wrapped package Sirius gave him at Christmas. He rips the paper off and finds a mirror with an inscription on the back, instructing Harry to use it to communicate with Sirius. Harry shouts into the mirror but receives no reply. Devastated, Harry throws the mirror down, and it shatters. Harry decides to seek advice from a Hogwarts ghost and finds Nearly Headless Nick. Nick explains that not all dead wizards are turned into ghosts. Harry, upset, runs into Luna, who asks about Sirius. Remembering that Luna can see the thestrals, he asks her if anyone she has known has died. Luna says her mother died when she was nine. She tells Harry that the voices behind the curtain at the Department of Mysteries are the voices of wizards who have died. Harry is not sure whether to believe her or not.

The next day, all Hogwarts students board the Hogwarts Express. Cho walks by, and Harry does not meet her eyes. He tells Ron that nothing is going on with Cho anymore, and Hermione gently informs him that Cho is now dating Michael Conner. The news doesn’t bother Harry. When the train pulls into Kings Cross, Harry sees several members of the Order waiting for him. Lupin spots the Dursleys, and Moody, Tonks, and Mr. Weasley insist that they treat Harry fairly while he is home for the summer. Moody tells Harry that if he doesn’t hear from him for three days in a row, he will send someone to check up on him. Ron and Hermione promise to see him soon, and Harry heads back to Four Privet Drive.