At this time, the message board had just started out. Random Harry Potter fans just came and posted their one-line comments about the fourth book. William Potter, who posted on July 14, 2000, has the honor of being the first ever person to post a message on HP4. His message read:
I think the fourth Harry Potter book is great so far! I am almost on the tenth chapter so far.

By about post number 15, people started to give their opinions in a longer statement--take Michelle's post, post number 28:
I absolutely LOVED Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. J.K. Rowling really outdid herself this time, and it only took me about a day to read it! I could not put it down;I thought my step mom was going to kill me. And now I'm re-reading it. It's worth it for re-reads!
It really did surprise me when Cedric died, that was a very sad part. But I am glad it wasn't Ron or Hermione, because they're important elements of the whole series. As for the Icicle thing, I think J.K. Rowling might have actually meant that foreign veela girl. (Her name is so weird. But then again she is French.). I also feel bad for Harry, because he really liked Cho Chang, and she went with Cedric to the ball. But then again, EVERYTHING can't go the way we want it to. And it really surprised me when I found out Moody was actually Crouch! And that whole time I thought he was the real Mad-Eye Moody, and he really liked Harry. This D.A.D.A. job is cursed, I tell you! Cursed! But I really, REALLY LOVED IT!!!!!! (Didn't I already mention that? ;o) ) Great work, Joanne!

Michelle, the same one who posted post number 28, came back to the board later under the name "Willow Potter," and is now currently an off-and-on member who writes articals for the online Daily Prophet.

Drago Flare, another late columnist for the Daily Prophet, first came to our message board at post number 23, and his post read:
I think "Goblet of Fire" is the best so far. I do have a few problems, however: there was no real plot twist. In each Harry Potter book, there is always a plot twist at the end. The fact that it turned out that Moody was really Crouch didn't surprise me very much, and it wasn't a very good plot twist. Second: the fact that Cedric died. I thought Rowling said that someone we cared about would die, and yet Cedric Diggory died. Sure, he was a good character and was slightly important to the plot, but I didn't care for him all that much, and I still say someone more important and care-worthy should have died. And finally: the title. I say, and I have found that many agree with me, that "Goblet of Fire" wasn't a great title at all. I'll admit that the Goblet of Fire did have a lot to do with the plot, but the Goblet itself was barely in the book, save for one or two chapters. "Harry Potter and the Triwizard Tournament" would definitely have been a better title, but I still like "Harry Potter and the Doomspell Tournament" the best, mainly because that's a cool title, though Rowling changed the name of the tournament while writing it. But, despite the mistakes and the crummy title, I overall loved "Goblet of Fire" because it was a good read and it gave me an excuse to not mow the lawn.

Drago Flare, sadly, had to leave the Daily Prophet and the message board a while later, because he had to disconnect his internet.

On post 26, Michelle did a miraculous thing that would become the foundation of our very existence today: She addressed another person who posted something. We now call this "responding."

By the time that post 49 came around, another dedicated Message Board member stumbled onto our terrain. Her name was Briana, and she later changed it to Hermione_girl66, and she later changed it to Trisana Moonstream Granger.

Megora McGonagall was bound to check on her creation some time, and low and behold, on post 76, Megora McGonagall made her first appearance. Near the same time, the other moderator, Padfoot, swept in taking claim of post number 96. And boy, his first post was certainly worthy of a longwinded-ness award. Ol' Padfoot is full of rant and reason-an interesting combination. His first post was his very fact-based yet his fan fiction style of the last three Harry Potter books makes it original and creative. It is an interesting thing to look at:
I have to say that I think the fourth book was the weakest of the Harry Potter series. Admittedly it was still good, but it didn't have the careful plot development that the last three did (especially #3). I think that this is mostly due to Rowlings wanting this book to be a setup for the next three books.

The next three books will be interesting mainly because I believe that they will be much darker and death-filled than the previous three (for obvious reasons). Hogwarts will become not only a school, but a center for anti-Voldemort activity as many who worked against him in the past will congregate there behind Dumbledore. Perhaps the Ministry will begin to see Voldemort's presence, perhaps not. However, I do think that there is more to Fudge than we think (perhaps a plot to bring Crouch down so he could become head? Perhaps an imperius curse on Barty Crouch Jr? Maybe he _was_ innocent...I always thought he seemed much too afraid a the trial to be acting.)

In addition, I think there's more to Percy than we think... Perhaps he has the same ambition that others have that would turn him towards Voldemort...

Don't expect the next few books to be as kid-friendly as the last few (as much as they were kid-friendly). Rowling has made it clear that the only person she writes for is herself and therefore anything's fair. A lot of characters we like will be dying in the future.

I could see Black, Lupin (he will return in the next book, according to Rowling), Cho, the Creeveys, etc. all getting killed.

Wormtail will be another interesting character. After all, he owes Harry his life (and if it wasn't for that, Voldemort would still be "dead".) But who knows, maybe he is as weak as he seems.

I think Voldemort taking Harry's blood will be his undoing. Foreshadowed by the two wands at the end of book 4, I think Voldemort will be set back if not unable to do magic against Harry with a part of Harry in him. But that's for book 7.

Rowling has said that she probably wouldn't do an eighth book unless she felt it absolutely neccissary, however I think that most of us would be pretty unhappy if there wasn't at least an afterward at the end telling us what happens to the characters. (After all, they did have seven books to develop.)

What would they do? Hermeone and Harry would make good Aurors (I can't see Hermeone in a desk job.) And I think that Ron would do well to follow in his father's footsteps. Neville? Teaching job: Defense against the dark arts.

Shemdog: Sirius isn't a (seeming) threat to Harry in book 4. At the end of three he says that he would allow himself to be sighted away from Hogwarts so Harry could have some measure of freedom.

And what of Sirius? I think that he will become a more obvious player at Hogwarts since Dumbledore himself said that they need all the people they can get. Would the school believe him if he told them that Sirius was innocent?

What about Snape? Voldemort says that he has left the death eaters and will be marked for death. He tries to save Harry's life and is resentful of Harry since his life was saved by James back in the day. However... he also knows that Sirius is innocent and still tries to have him killed. Strange, because that incident is seemingly uncharacteristic of him. He's not nice, but he doesn't seem totally evil...

Interesting that Harry was born on July 31st, 1980. One would think he was born in 1986 from the sequence of the books. Oh well... gotta check the math on that one.

Hopefully the next book will be as long as the last because it will be a long year waiting for it. See you all on July 1, 2001.

(Find this interesting? Think it's junk? email me... I don't really frequent this board as much as I should)

• Padfoot
• Eri
• Willow Potter
• Toast
• Amy
• Meg
• Valeria
• David
• Briana (Trisana)
• Hermione

Now, a few decades of posts later, another regular has appeared. Erick, that cheese-loving addict has finally made his appearance at the board. Erick is one of the few people that came so early that actually stayed up till the present--post 8860. Erick's first post was post 175. On 187, Padfoot gives us all some food for thought:
Okay, hit me if this is something for a more general board... but I can't find one so here goes...

Can anyone offer assistance on how to recognize the first edition, UK versions of the books? (Preferably online?) B n' N online tells you the edition, but the UK equiv. doesn't.

The issue here, is that the first editions (even the US ones) are going to be worth quite a bit in the future and it would be nice to have a mint collection. Plus, I'd like to check the US ones against the UK ones.

Either way, the originals (which I believe are still in print...) are going for upwards of $800 on Alibris.com (I think that's way, way inflated, but whatever...) and I've recently read that if you have a copy of HP4 with a printing error (missing areas, ink splotches) it's worth double.

The moral? Keep your first editions in good condition kiddies! They're going to be worth a lot as collectors items in the future.

(Hey-- The first edition of Angela's Ashes goes for $600+ now in various places!)

186: Don't make me go back and reread..... All I know is that initially it seemed that Lily was a witch. However, circa the third/fourth book, the attitude changed and I could've sworn that someone said otherwise. (Reread the scene with Voldemort... I think this reference came from that. That and references to her deflecting the curse.) I know it seems weird, and I was surprised by it when I (mis?)read it.

Either way, I'm more unsure that either were head-persons.

(On a side note... as if this post doesn't have enough of 'em... is this board on London time or what?)

Post 199 is the start of someone whose stay was brief but beautiful:
Peg. She always astounded us with her posts, so beautifully worked, good enough to make Shakespeare's jaw drop. Here is her first post:
#174 - Why doesn't Harry confide in adults? I think the answer to this lies with his upbringing by the Dursleys. For eleven years, he got the lesson "you can't trust anyone, PARTICULARLY authority figures. You just have to count on yourself alone." Remember that most poignant moment, when Mrs. Weasley is comforting him in the hospital wing, and he realizes that he has no memory of this, of being held like a mother--and his reaction is to want to cry--but he fights it, because he doesn't want anyone (especially Ron) see him crying?

At Hogwarts, he is slowly, slowly learning that maybe some people can be trusted after all. He starts with Hagrid, Ron and Hermione, and he is starting to open up to Dumbledore and Sirius too. There is resistence--he doesnt' always tell Dumbledore what's on his mind, even when Dumbledore asks--but Dumbledore isn't pushing, which I think is very wise of him. Harry has mixed feelings about Sirius stepping into the parental role--he wrote to Sirius because he wanted someone "like a parent" to advise him about his scar. Yet, he was taken aback when Sirius tried to monitor his behavior, and he is appalled that Sirius might put himself into danger because Harry told him the truth.

The truth is, Harry is not used to having people look out for him, like a parent and like a friend. He likes it, but he's wary about it, too. He's taking it slowly, but Dumbledore is giving him time to learn how to trust others. This, incidently, works neatly with the theme that Dumbledore is urging all the wizards and witches fighting Voldemort to trust each other and work together
(e.g., Sirius and Snape).

Re: Cho. I don't know. After what happened to Diggory, things might just not ever work out between Cho and Harry. He doesn't really know her, after all. I could see him actually turning to Ginny Weasley as they both grow older.

But on the other hand, maybe what has happened in book four might start a conversation between Harry and Cho. If she's mourning Cedric as much as she seems to, she might seek Harry out to learn what happened to him, and if he tells her what happened to both Cedric and himself, perhaps . . . .

I'm definitely rooting for Ron and Hermione to get together. I think they make a great team. It's hilarious to see how well they work together, and how they squabble because they don't even realize yet how much they care for each other.

[Here's a great collection of links for those who wish to read more about HP and J.K. Rowling:

http://tlc.ai.org/rowling.htm

Note particularly the links to the National Press Club appearance:

http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/exrad/991020.jkrowling.ram

and the Diane Rehm show appearance:

http://www.wamu.org/ram/1999/r1991020.ram

You need a program like Real Audio to hear these audio interviews, but they're very interesting. She sounds like a nicely grounded young lady.]

And happy belated birthday, Harry and Jo!