Fifth book anniversary

[lavivi]

Today is the second-year anniversary of the fifth book's birth into bookstores all over the world.  (Or it will be in less than an hour - give me some slack.)  I'll always remember it because eight hours after we picked it up at midnight, my parents were married.  Or actually, that's a lie - five days ago, I just remembered their anniversary because the fifth book's anniversary was coming up, and I had a Yahoo!reminder sent to me.

Anyway.  I am a faithful reader of daily_snitch, and I've read a lot of essays and rants and discussions and things on...a lot of things about the books.  Not necessarily just the fifth book.

But on this anniversary of the fifth book, and as we pass into the final month before the sixth book, I would like to conduct a little survey.  Especially relying on how many of us are re-reading the fifth book, in preparation for New Canon.

What are your favorite passages, quotes, scenes, etc. from the fifth book?  What you liked the best, thought were the most profound, thought were the best written.

*bows out, and goes to put the finishing touches on a certain anniversary gift*

Comments

[cecilydolce.livejournal.com]

Neville and his parents. There's a line about how 'Neville looked at them as if to dare any one to laugh. Harry didn't think he'd ever seen anything less funny in his life.'

I love when Harry goes to Nearly Headless Nick and asked about ghosts- that was gut-wrenching also.

For funny bits, I liked the waterskiing budgerigar- simply because I have no idea what the hell a budgerigar is but it has a cute name. Snarky!Harry= wicked awesome.

[kayling.livejournal.com]

Just so you know, I think a budgerigar is a parakeet/parrot... possibly. (Anyone who might actually know for sure, please feel free to let us know).

[cecilydolce.livejournal.com]

Really?

I thought it might be a squirrel type animal. I was way off, lol. But thank you!

[kayling.livejournal.com]

I thought it was a squirrel at first too! I think I read online that it was really a parakeet way back when the book first came out.

[yaycoffee.livejournal.com]

You are correct. (I actually looked this up when I first read OotP)

Budgies: My Hermione moment.

[(Anonymous)]

Budgerigars are what we call parakeets in the US, and I'm betting most of you Americans either owned one when you were a child, or knew someone who did/does. The bird was/is probably named Petey.

Budgies are in nearly every pet store in the US, and sell for around $19.95. The birds are about 7" long. They are striped on the wings and backs, and most of the head. The stripes are black. The most common color is yellow with black stripes and green, but they also come in white and blue, white and violet, yellow and blue, yellow and violet, white and turquoise, etc. In short, anything but orange and red. Some of them have amazing vocabulary, but don't necessarily use it with meaning the way the bigger birds do, such as quaker parrots or African Grey Parrots.

The reason the rest of the world calls them budgerigars instead of parakeets is because parakeet is a general term applied to long tailed parrots, of which there are many. They consist of about 120 species with many sub-species. The parakeet genera are found in various parrot sub-families. They are some of the most gorgeous birds in the world.

The bird nerd will shut up now.