Daniel Shellenbarger > Recent Status Updates

Oh, thank goodness, it's almost over...

this is a weird book, it's kind of like if you mashed together Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Solo Leveling, and the Running Man. Sort of like an adult version of Platte Clark's Bad Unicorn.

The last 30% of this book would've been unbearable if Fred and George hadn't declared war on Umbridge, it's such a dystopian nightmare otherwise

I admit it, I skimmed through Harry and Cho's date... just too awkward

It's infuriating rereading book 5 and realizing that so far as we know Umbridge never really paid for her crimes. I mean I expect she got fired from the Ministry for collaborating with Voldemort but did they turn her into a toad? Did they make her spend the rest of her life writing lines with her quill? Did they let the whole wizarding world line up and kick her in the shins? I doubt it...

I'm curious, in the American edition we have "'And in our first year" said Neville to the group at large, 'he saved that Sorcerous Stone_' 'Sorcerer's' hissed Hermione'", but is that joke the same in the British editions or do they do a play on the word Philosopher?

Interesting side note, Hermione and Gandalf have the same rather loose definition of "a couple people"

One does have to wonder how an ambitious self-important power-hungry officious back-biting... person... such as Percy didn't end up in Slytherin... Sorting Hat must've not been trying that year and just heard McGonagall say "Weasley" and defaulted to Gryffindor

Eugh... Detention with Dolores... maybe I should skim/skip this chapter

Here's an idea Dumbledore, how about at least arranging for Harry to have weekly sessions with a freaking therapist (I mean, given all the horrifying magic-related trauma wizards regularly suffer therapists have to be a thing in the wizarding world) over the summer before dumping him in Little Whinging and abandoning him to deal with his grief and PTSD alone and unloved and being mocked by the Ministry.

honestly, Jack Campbell is at his best when he's writing about big space battles... characters... not so much

"We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that this time no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger." Yeah, that explains the Blast-Ended Skrewts and the FREAKING DRAGONS. Seriously, what part of "get by the fire-breathing dragon to steal its egg" is not putting the students in mortal danger. I'd hate to think what the tournament was like before... task 1: who can dodge the most deadly curses