#1 Expecations Are Not Meant to be Fulfilled

The first time I read the Harry Potter books it was probably 2000. Right now as I reread them for probably the third or fourth time I know what exactly to expect in the each book. There are little details that I forgot about but for the big picture I know exactly what is going on.  My expectations are not raised right now.

            When I first read Harry Potter I was fully convinced that Snape was evil. I was convinced that he was going to kill Harry and that Harry Potter would be one book. That was my expectation. Clearly I was very much wrong and Harry survived which I did not expect. These expectations are not fulfilled because J.K. Rowling had Chamber of Secrets in stores by the time I read Sorcerer’s Stone but also she had a plan for Harry not to die. I’m not upset that my expectation was not fulfilled.

            In Chamber of Secrets I’m pretty sure I believed that Draco Malfoy was the Heir of Slytherin. Rowling set him up to be the Heir pretty well. As the book unfolded and we found out that Harry could speak parseltongue I became to suspect that maybe Harry was the heir. I really didn’t think Lord Voldemort was the heir but the way J.K. Rowling had Tom Riddle’s memory hidden in the diary was very clever. My expectations were blown away and it made the book that much more interesting.

            When reading these books I think it makes the read more interesting when expectations are not fulfilled. That’s what makes a good author. If you can guess every move that happens in a book then the book becomes boring. J.K. Rowling always keeps us guessing.