And Phineas Nigellus has the greatest speech about "young people" and why he loathes them, which I dogeared for future reference.

Thoughts On Re-reading All Seven Harry Potter Books One Right After the Other

--You know, I really wish JKR had not made quite so very terribly much of Snape's hooked nose and greasy hair. Eeep.

--Goddamn, is Luna Lovegood awesome! She's my absolute favorite re-discovery. Her commentary on that one Quidditch match alone is worth the entire re-read.

--Umbridge is even more loathsome than I remember, and I swear I've met at least a half dozen women like her in my life (Cowburg, Texass peeps: I'm thinking of our 7th grade English teacher, Molly F., for one, who fits this description right down to the toadlike smile -- amirite?).

--The internal logic of this series is super, super tight. Walking Dead writers/producers, y'all reading this? I love y'all, but you need to get schooled by J.K. Rowling.

--Sirius and James are super, super dickbags. And the adult Sirius still behaves like a petulant teenager, which actually demonstrates a remarkable consistency of character that I appreciate in this series; so many of your peaked-in-high-school types never grow out of that, and she's not afraid to show how it plays out in adulthood.

--The gender equality is almost on par with Battlestar Galactica, and that's really saying something. Not to say that there aren't trouble spots, but even though the main character is a guy, that definitely doesn't mean that only boys get to do stuff and have adventures and be brave or foolish or scared or smart or idiotic while the girls sit around and wait for news, you know?

--There's some sexy stuff in there, man. It's all PG, and I guarantee you that if I were reading this as a school-age yute, it would all have sailed completely over my head, but -- ahh, I can definitely see how these books launched a billion sweaty fanfics, is all I'm sayin.