Huh. I took it in my head that Neville would marry Luna. We barely meet Hannah! Neville deserves someone more awesome!

I took it in my head that Neville would marry Luna.

A lot of people assumed that, I think, but JKR refuted that specifically.

I've read so much fanfic where Hermione gives her parents their memories back that I didn't realize it wasn't canon.

I've read so much fanfic where Hermione gives her parents their memories back that I didn't realize it wasn't canon.

I've read a lot of that fic, too, but in the back of my head I believed that Obliviate is a no-takebacks sort of deal.

Oh, man, that would be really awful. Jeez.

I'm OK with the author having knowledge that is outside the books and seeing this on wikipedia

Rowling stated in a webchat that Hermione found her parents in Australia and relieved them of the memory charm she had placed on them.

makes me feel a lot better.

A lot of people assumed that, I think, but JKR refuted that specifically.

Humph. Well, I don't have to like it. Actually, there is an entire HP fic genre called EWE, short for "epilogue, what epilogue?"...

That scene of Hermione obliviating her parents in HP7.1 really packs a punch. It actually made me tear up (sorta embarrassing to be sniffling barely two minutes into the movie...). I thought it was one of the smartest choices the filmmakers made, to actually show Hermione doing the spell on screen instead of having her just mention it later as it happens in the book. In the book, you go, "boy, that girl is ruthless and scary." In the movie, you really feel her heartbreak, doing this horrific thing to her parents to save their lives. It's a gross act of violation, but you feel even more keenly for Hermione herself, because it's a literal erasure of her childhood, as illustrated by fading images in the photos. Marvellous, evocative stuff.

That scene, and the scene of Harry and Hermione dancing to Nick Cave, were my favourite bits added to the movie. As a matter of fact, I think HP7.1 might be my favourite movie in the entire run, even over PoA. I love how character-based it is, and the moody, elegiac feel to the whole thing. I hope the last movie lives up to it.

Actors who might have been in Harry Potter

Ha! I wonder how the HP fandom might have changed had they cast Tim Roth as Snape. Roth is not a bad choice, actually, and is certainly closer to the age to the Marauders than Rickman. He's got the right nose for the part, even.

I've read so much fanfic where Hermione gives her parents their memories back that I didn't realize it wasn't canon.

Like the supercouple, Clark and Lex!

I can see Roth as Snape for the menacing factor, but I think Rickman brings the tragic undercurrent beautifully. Can't wait to see those final scenes in the movie. I'll be packing a hankie, no lie.

I have to confess that McKellan was the face I saw when reading the books. I was shocked that he wasn't in the movies, even after he did interviews about LOTR.

As for which franchise would be more fun. If I lived in the parallel universe where I'm besties with Peter Jackson, I would have winged my way to NZ in a heartbeat.

The Potterworld would have been more physically comfortable,but the sheer ADVENTURE of the LOTR enterprise would have been a once-in-a-lifetime gift.

Just swung by the theatre. Line is getting longer. I'm thinking about getting in it by 7 but I've never stood in line 5 hours for anything.