Nick J > Recent Status Updates

WOW! The ending is amazing. Both of Agatha Christie's books that I read (this book and Murder on the Orient Express) have a great, completely unexpected ending. Here, the main character (and narrator) himself was the murderer. The end provokes so many different emotions. You are amazed and awed by the unexpected, yet very sad knowing that the protagonist is also the antagonist, and will now be killed.

1 hour 30 minutes:
Poirot said that he tells everyone the facts but not his own thinking. Even to Dr. Sheppard (who is always helping him), he doesn't tell everything. I wonder why. Perhaps he doesn't fully trust Dr. Sheppard? But again, the Dr helped him so much.

20 minutes:
I feel like Peter was very calm about his brother (Fudge) eating his turtle. He was mad, but he didn't actually say anything. If I was Peter, I would have gotten REALLY mad and started shouting at Fudge. I'd also be mad for mom giving Fudge presents (many presents) after he came back from the hospital. This basically would teach him that 'when you eat your brother's pets, good things will happen to you!'

1 hour 20 minutes:
This book reminds me of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Both Greg and Peter hate their annoying little brothers, so the conflict is similar. And in both books, all the bad things happen to Peter and Greg while the good things happen to everyone else. The only difference is that Diary of a Wimpy Kid has a lot more about what is happening in school. This book only has things happening at home.

1 hour:
The author's 'voice' in this book is very kiddy because it is from Peter's point of view. The sentences are short and the words used are simple. The way Peter thinks is also 'kiddy'; he is immature and his ideas are illogical.

35 minutes:
In the end all those in the Ministry are not very good. Crouch used the Imperius curse on his son many times. Bagman lost all his money gambling. Lucius Malfoy is a Death Eater. Bertha Jorkins is kind of stupid and gave Voldemort information. Even Cornelius Fudge, the minister of magic, doesn't want to get rid of Dementors and befriend the giants to stop them from going on Voldemort's side.

20 minutes:
Dumbledore told Snape to do something (we don't know what) and Snape looked very pale. I think he's going to join the death eaters and spy on them. Then Dumbledore had a 'look of triumph' on his face when Harry told him that Voldemort used Harry's blood to revive himself. I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that Voldemort can't kill Harry with the Elder wand in book 7.

2 hours 30 minutes:
My prediction from last time was partially correct. Barty Crouch was actually Moody, so I got the name right. However, this was actually the son of Barty Crouch (also named Barty Crouch) so I got the actual person wrong.

1 hour:
Professor Trelawny's 'vision' from book 3 was correct. She predicted that at midnight Wormtail would escape and help Voldemort rise to power again. Sure enough, Wormtail did escape that night. And now, in book 4, he has gave Voldemort a physical form. Now that the death eaters know he's back they will probably start serving him again and Voldemort will 'rise to power again'.

1 hour 30 minutes:
In these last 100 pages, the mystery has been increasing rapidly. First, what happened to Bertha Jorkins and Mr. Crouch? Then why was Crouch in Snape's room? What was the thing on Karkaroff's arm that he showed Snape? Why was Crouch at Hogwarts, and why did he stun Viktor Krum.

4 hours:
Harry saw Crouch on the Map, and pretty soon Snape came out saying someone stole his potions. So Crouch was stealing Snape's potions. Right after that, Moody came. What if Crouch stole a Polyjuice potion and turned into Moody? That explains why he was close by at the time. Also explains why he took the Map from Harry; Moody/Crouch didn't want Harry seeing 'Bart Crouch' on the Map where he should be standing.

3 hours:
There is quite a bit of suspense before Harry fights the dragon as his first task. He is sits there waiting and thinking, while the other contestants slowly go outside one by one. He's wondering how he (if he survives) will get the golden egg. This whole part is made very long, to make the reader feel what he's feeling.

45 minutes:
The author's voice in this book is as if she's telling the story to a little kid. The language used is very basic and she explains the meaning of words that every middle schooler would know. She also uses many metaphors, probably to make kids understand better.

30 minutes:
I noticed that the same thing repeated over and over again. The leader of a small city fights against other small cities, beats them, and unites them. The kingdom conquers other kingdoms and grows. The kingdom starts losing poser and splits into small cities again. After a few years, another person will try to unite the cities and the process will repeat.

1 hour:
Christopher Columbus wrote in his journal about the Indians: "Some have scars on their bodies. They tell me that these scars come from battles with other people who live nearby, and who try to capture them." I wonder how the Indians 'told' him this since they don't speak each other's languages. Of course, they could have used signs, but that wouldn't be 'telling' - that would be something else.

3 hours:
When I watched the movie, I remember Harry seeing Peter Pettigrew on the map and wondering how that's possible (Peter Pettigrew is dead). Then at the end you would realise that he faked his death. But in the book, Harry doesn't see Peter Pettigrew.

1 hour:
I've noticed that there isn't really a main antagonist in this book. The dementors are scary, but they are supposed to help guard the school and haven't done anything suspicious yet. Sirius Black is supposedly trying to kill Harry, but we don't see him actually do anything. We only know that, 12 years ago, he betrayed Harry's parents and helped Voldemort kill them.

3 hours 30 minutes:
The conflict between Ron and Hermione was building up for a long time now. From the beginning, Crookshanks and Scabbers didn't get along with each other, and Ron blamed Hermione. Then Hermione gave Harry's Firebolt to Professor McGonagall to check for hexes and Harry and Ron got really mad. And now, the final straw: Crookshanks killed Scabbers.

2 hours:
I've noticed in all three Harry Potter books that there is a lot of mystery. In book 1 there is a lot of mystery about what Fluffy is guarding. Then in book two you're wondering what's in the Chamber and where the strange voices are coming from. And now, in book 3, lots of weird things are happening. Sirius Black is after Harry. Harry hears a scream but no one else does. Then Harry sees the grim - twice.

3 hours:
I'm pretty sure Lockhart's books are all made up. He keeps trying to get involved in problems and help solve them, but just makes things worse. Then he hides his mistake or finds an excuse why it's not his fault. And he's so full of himself. He keeps referring to his books as if it's proof that he is capable of all the things he said he did in his books. But I think that's all made up.

2 hours:
I don't think Malfoy is the one who opened the Chamber of Secrets. I think that J.K. Rowling wants to make the reader think that he is, then surprise them with someone else. Malfoy and his dad are probably involved with the Chamber's opening, but Malfoy isn't Slytherin's heir. And I think Dobby is Malfoy's house-elf. Maybe he even used to be Tom Riddle's house-elf.

Hagrid said that he had drank and played cards with some stranger, and won this Norwegian dragon egg. That stranger was probably Quirrell. And Hagrid was drunk. So since Hagrid has a habit of blurting out secrets (like about Nicolas Flamel), he probably told Quirrell how to get past Fluffy. But Harry didn't figure this out yet and he thinks that the Stone is safe because no one can get past Fluffy. AAAAHH!

1 hour 45 minutes:
It's really cool how J.K. Rowling creates a 'false trail' to make the reader think that Snape is helping Voldemort (I've read this book already so I know he's not). First, Snape sneaks away when the Troll attacks and a few days later has a big scar on his leg. Then he's 'trying to kill Harry by knocking him off his broom'. Then he's threatening Quirrell at the edge of the Forbidden Forrest.

1 hour 45 minutes:
It's really cool how J.K. Rowling creates a 'false trail' to make the reader think that Snape is helping Voldemort (I've read this book already so I know he's not). First, Snape sneaks away when the Troll attacks and a few days later has a big scar on his leg. Then he's 'trying to kill Harry by knocking him off his broom'. Then he's threatening Quirrell at the edge of the Forbidden Forrest.

30 minutes:
Character traits of the Dursley family are very well described. Dudley is whiny and very spoiled; he gets everything he wants, and even complained about getting 46 presents for his birthday (two less than last year) that include a bike, computer, and TV. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon are very bad tempered. They always shout - especially at Harry - and comment on every single thing that he does wrong.

1 hour 30 minutes:
Right now a sergeant is fighting alongside Halt, against Morgarath's Wargals. I think this sergeant is actually Will's dad; in book 1, Halt told Will that Will's dad was a sergeant who saved Halt's life during the battle against Morgarath. Halt was injured and Will's dad defended him, killing many Wargals before dying himself. This is probably the story of what actually happened (from Halt's POV).

1 hour:
Emperor Shigeru is very brave. He always fights battles alongside his soldiers to make them trust themselves. He said that there is no point risking their lives if you don't believe in them and aren't ready to go with them. Then he told Arisaka that he would do anything to stop the bloodshed - even surrender. Risky but smart; Arisaka's soldiers realized that Arisaka had lied and this really was the emperor.

2 hours 30 minutes:
At the beginning of this book, the Genovesans were showing Will the way their soldiers fight. They don't need high skilled soldiers; the trick is having the army work as one. I knew that their way of fighting would be used sooner or later by the Araluens. And now I think they will train the Kikori woodsmen to use the Genovesans' 'tortoise formation' - this way, they could beat Arisaka's army.

2 hours:
I really like how the author reverses the readers feelings by making them hopeful, then hopeless, then hopeful again. The fortress Ran-Koshi was supposed to be a huge fortress with tall, thick, and impassable walls, that might be the solution to their problem. Finally they get to the fortress, but it's old, small, and crumbling. But then Horace realizes that the place it's in gives them a big advantage.