Deathly Hallows

The much-anticipated and thus far aptly-named final book in the Harry Potter series arrived on my doorstep on Saturday morning. After running an errand at the bank and helping my dad with a car he was working on, I had the rest of the day free to bury myself in a good book.

With extreme caution, keeping my hand over the page, I flipped to the last one to check the folio. I've made the mistake in the past when checking the length of a book of glancing at the content, and seeing a word or two that gave something away. I was determined to remain spoiler-free, and for the next week or so I'll probably avoid large chunks of the internet as well; I didn’t even read the link I used in the previous paragraph. I managed to see “759” without reading anything else, as movement distracted me. A large black insect darted to the corner of my old computer, paused, then ran down toward the floor.

At first I thought it was a big ant, but it was too short and wide. The nasty spider darted across my rug and over a dark blue shirt where it blended in. I hesitated with a tissue, then brought it down, missing completely as it disappeared under a box and I let out a masculine war cry, and definitely not a scream of terror.

I searched under my desk and along my wall, shining a flashlight into all the possible hiding places. I never did find it, and decided to take my book to a local nature preserve. Walking across a field, I found a large shady tree, and settled in with my back against it. Soon I was lost in a familiar world, anxiously turning the pages.



This blissful retreat ended within five minutes, when I looked down to see a huge ant zipping across my shirt. I flicked it away, and turned back to the tree I was leaning on. It was covered in smaller, red ants, so I decided to move on. I found a path leading into another shady spot, and some steps to sit upon. This had to be the perfect spot.





I got through a few more pages, and rustling in the underbrush turned out to be nothing more than a bird. It wasn't until I noticed a beige, striped spider hanging in midair, connecting my leg to the stone steps, that I relocated once more, retreating to a garden. There, along a brick path, I found a bench under a tree, and spent the next two hours lost in a fantasy world.



I'm not going to comment on the content of the book. Careful readers might think I've said too much already. I only took a break to go to church and eat dinner, and after dinner I got to page 200 before closing my eyes. Now, instead of going back to sleep, I'm going to attempt another 100 pages or so, because it's that good and I want to get to the end before someone ruins it for me.

I wonder where that spider went....