I may have very strong opposition to this opening statement, but here it is: the
Harry Potter series is, for me, as indispensable a work of literature as
The Lord of the Rings or the
Chronicles of Narnia. Agree with me, disagree with me, it won't really change my mind. I am a very, very thorough Potter fan. I read the first book in two hours and only waited to read the second book because my mother had to drive to another city to pick it up before the bookstore closed. I used the first check that I got as a published author to buy
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I found out the ending to Book 5 a month before I could get my own copy because a friend didn't realize that full-time Mormon missionaries weren't allowed to read popular fiction during their service. When I got home from being a missionary, I took a more active part in the local Potter craze. I dressed as Bellatrix Lestrange for several book release and midnight showing events. I asked every person dressed as Dumbledore at the
Half-Blood Prince release party if he knew that he was going to die at the end of this book. I endured a lot of angry comments from friends who thought I had given them spoilers instead of just having a pet theory that started in Book 3. You can, therefore, assume rightly that I have strong feelings about the movies. One of the best midnight showings was for
Half-Blood Prince, when our movie theater lost power an hour into it. We had to wait 10 minutes for the film to resume, but my friends and I got to spend those ten minutes discussing everything so far. I am not one of those people who hate all of the movies or even any of the movies. They ruined my favorite three chapters of
Prisoner of Azkaban, but I found other things that completely worked for me. This is my list of eight things that weren't in the books--one for each movie--that enhanced the Potter experience.