Teach us something please

The one thing I hate about reading Harry Potter (and it is only the one thing) is that, once you've finished the series, you find yourself missing your 'friends' at Hogwarts. For however long it has taken you to read the series, you've been immersed in the detail, in the trials and tribulations and in the friendship of these vivid characters. Once you put the final book down however, you don't have them anymore, and you miss them.

Well, it happens to me anyway - every single time.

So yesterday, my flatmates and I watched the Harry Potter movies, starting with Chamber of Secrets because we'd all seen Philosopher's Stone quite recently, and going right through to Order of the Phoenix.

Plenty of people I know say that their favourite film is Order of the Phoenix but I find that OotP and Goblet of Fire both move too fast for my liking. They skip from moment to moment, cramming all the important stuff in the limited time they are given. Sometimes I feel like it's unnecessary to do it the way they have but I think every Potter fan finds the movies disappointing in comparison to the books.

I personally still find Prisoner of Azkaban to be the best movie. It moves at a reasonable pace, is one hell of a welcome change after the pain and torture that are Philosopher's Stone and Chamber of Secrets (which move too slowly and are choc full of useless scenes and dialogue) and stays fairly close with the book.

While the movies always disappoint me, I'm also always excited to see them because they bring this world to life. Say what you will about them but there's no doubt that Robbie Coltrane is perfect as Hagrid, as is Dame Maggie Smith as Professor McGonagall and if anyone can tell me that when they read the books they don't see Alan Rickman as Professor Snape, I'd have to say they're lying - he's by far the highlight of every single film.

Not all the characters are perfect of course - Daniel Radcliffe is as famous for his wooden acting as Harry Potter is for his scar but looking past the actors, it's the wizarding world that the movies always hit straight on the head. From the high towers of Hogwarts to the jungle of magical goodness in Diagon Alley - much of the time, the central areas the book talks about are faithfully recreated to bring these places off the page and right in front of your eyes. Forgetting about the wooden acting, the inaccuracies and the plot line deviations - if nothing else, the films bring the wizarding world alive.

With that, I'll point you to the new international teaser for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. As every trailer has for the series, it looks amazing. Hopefully it will be just as great when I (finally) get to see it... although, judging from bitter experience, I doubt it.