Part 3: The Big Day!

First thing in the morning on Friday, Mom and I headed to the Carnegie Hall box office to pick up our tickets for the event that night.

Outside the theater, we met dozens of New York City school children who had just had their books signed by J. K. Rowling. These kids from P.S. 009 in Brooklyn were so adorable! They were really excited to show us their books, and hammed it up for the camera.

With the tickets safely stored in my backpack, we headed for 5th Avenue to do some shopping and sightseeing.

F.A.O. Schwartz was our first stop. It was appropriately decorated with a Harry Potter theme. The main hall was full of life-sized stuffed hippogriffs, unicorns, and enormous dragons that practically touched the ceiling. There were even stuffed versions of Fluffy, the three-headed dog, and Aragog, the Acromantula.

My favorite stuffed animal was Buckbeak, the hippogriff. For only $400, he could have been mine!

The store's Harry Potter section had a Diagon Alley theme. The displays were designed to look like storefronts such as Flourish & Blotts and Quality Quidditch Supplies. The Lego room even had life-sized models of Hagrid, Harry, Ron and Hermione.

Of course, no trip to F.A.O Schwarz would be complete without a dance on the giant keyboard from the movie "Big."

We visited all kinds of fun shops that day. The enormous Toys 'R Us even had an indoor Ferris Wheel!

Among all the fancy shops and restaurants, we came across the 5th Avenue Presbyterian Church and decided to take a look inside. It was beautiful! We stayed for a while to listen to the organist practicing.

That night, we got dressed up and headed across the street to Carnegie Hall for the main event. I was so excited, I could hardly stand it! We weren't supposed to take pictures, but when we saw that everyone else was, Mom ran back to the hotel to get her camera. Thank goodness the hotel was right across the street!

We had perfect seats, in a box right over the stage. The girl next to us said her sister entered herself and 60 of her friends, hoping that one of them would win and bring her along. She ended up winning three times!

When J. K. Rowling finally came out on the stage, the audience went crazy. First, she read an excerpt from Chapter 19 ("The Silver Doe") of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. She did a really great job performing the voices of Harry, Ron and Hermione.

After the reading, Rowling answered questions from audience members for about an hour. My favorite questions were the ones that focused on Rowling's writing process, and how she organized and developed her intricate plot. One boy asked how the last two books would have been different if Rowling had killed off a certain character in "Order of the Phoenix," as she had originally planned. Another asked why she chose a particular character to dispatch of one of the villains in "Deathly Hallows." Her answers to these questions were fascinating, revealing just a small glimpse into the mind of a great author.

Finally, it was time for all 2,000 books to be signed! Most people took the free copy of "Deathly Hallows" given to us as part of the prize, but a few brought another favorite Harry Potter book. One girl even had a large Braille edition of one of the books.

The book-signing assembly line moved quickly, but Rowling was very friendly and personable, taking the time to look everyone in the eye and speak briefly with those who wanted to say something. She even shook my hand!

It was a thoroughly thrilling evening, and it was hard to see it end.

Part 2: The Journey to New York

Sorry about the long wait! I finally have all my pictures organized and fixed, and I'm ready to finish my story.

Our journey to New York City began on Thursday, October 18, 2007. We left very early in the morning from the Fresno airport. Mom and I were both really excited!

When we finally got to New York City it was already dark outside. We checked into our hotel, which was right across the street from Carnegie Hall.


Mom really liked having a room up so high. You don't get many opportunities to sleep on the twelfth floor in Fresno!


As soon as we got settled in our room, we decided to go outside and take a walk down 7th Avenue towards Times Square.



There were so many people! The streets were packed with them--mostly tourists, like us. Mom hasn't been to New York City since 1970, and she kept commenting on how clean everything was, and how safe it seemed. She said two women could never have come to this part of town at night back then.

Times Square was amazing! We had fun looking at all the lights and shops and theaters. It felt a little like an amusement park. It's hard to imagine that people actually live there!

Laurie Hall and the Golden Ticket, Part 1

A couple of months ago, I was on my way to work when I got a call on my cell phone that said "Unknown." I began to get a little fluttery feeling in my stomach. No one ever calls me who is "unknown," and I knew it was around the time when the winners of a contest I had entered earlier that summer would be contacted. I braced myself and answered the phone, and, just as I suspected, the woman on the other end was from Scholastic Books. I had just won two tickets to see J. K. Rowling read from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at Carnegie Hall in New York City, and have my book signed!! Rowling rarely comes to the United States to sign books, so this was a very special prize. On this tour, she would speak and sign books for school kids in three U.S. cities (L.A., New Orleans, and NYC), but would only do a public book signing for the 1,000 people (and their guests) who won this contest. A Golden Ticket, indeed!


After I pulled over so I wouldn't crash into anyone, the lady also told me that the prize was only the tickets--I would have to come up with airfare and accomodations. She noticed that I was from California, and told me that she knew it would not be an inexpensive trip, and I could think about it and get back to her. After first determining that she was not, in fact, crazy, I assured her that I would find a way to get there, and I accepted the tickets.


It was torture to decide what to do with the second ticket. Practically everyone I knew would have loved to go. In the end, however, I decided to take my Mom. She really needed the vacation, really wanted to go, and above all, she was here (we got the legal packet with only about a day to have it notarized and sent back to Scholastic's office in NYC!).



Although we would be given copies of Deathly Hallows at the book signing, my Mom and I both decided to buy copies of the special edition to be signed. I certainly don't plan to sell my book, but I'm sure the value is greater having a signature on this more rare edition. I made all the travel arrangements, including a hotel right across the street from Carnegie Hall (which proved highly useful later!), and we were all set to go!


Coming up next: Our trip to New York

Laurie Meets the Delegation from China

Today we had a delegation of Chinese businessmen and businesswomen visit the Planetarium. They had not told us what show they wanted to see, but we had a Christmas party here last night, and our holiday show was already set up, so we decided to just set it back to the beginning and show them that, thinking that it would be visually interesting even if some of them couldn't understand the words.

Dr. White did his usual introduction, telling a little about the show, while their guide translated: it shows the wintertime sky and points out several constellations, tells about the cause of the seasons and the meaning of the solstice, tells about several winter holidays and customs, and finally tells a bit about the Star of Bethlehem and the Christmas Story.

At the mention of the Christmas Story, the interpreter got a very puzzled look on his face. "What do you mean by 'The Christmas Story,'" he asked.

At this point, I'm thinking. Okay, there are several possibilities, here. Does he really not know what we're talking about? Has he never heard of the Christmas Story? Is that actually possible? Or is he unsure how to translate it? Or is he unwilling to tranlate it, and starting to worry that he's brought his countrymen to the enemy to be subjected to crazy Christian American propaganda??

So Dr. White says, very calmly, "It's the story of the birth of baby Jesus. There was a special star seen in the sky at that time."

He still seemed slightly puzzled, but he did seem to be able to translate this. And they seemed to enjoy the show. But I'm still burning with curiosity about what was actually going through his head.

And I'd really love to know what he actually said to them in Chinese...

Our Taxpayer Dollars at Work...

I think something is a little bit wrong with the way the public schools spend their money. Case in point: a conversation I just had with an upcoming visitor to the Planetarium:

Teacher: It's just $2.50 per person, right?

Me: I'll have to have Kathy talk to you about that. Your show is at 5:00, and we usually charge more for night-time shows. She'll know if a different price was quoted to you.

Teacher: Oh, it's okay. We have a ton of money we have to spend. In fact, if you could charge us $10 a person, that would be great!

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Dessicated Grapes

How did I not know this was going on??! Apparently, while I was at work or something, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Harrison Ford, and Shia LaBeouf were a mere few miles away filming Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull--right here in Fresno!! They dressed up Chandler Airport to serve the dual purpose of airports from 1957 Connecticut and Mexico City, bringing in period cars and aircraft, including a biplane.

They also filmed a scene at the Dos Palos airfield, which has a WWII-era hangar. They let people watch, and everything. I'm so bummed I missed going over there to stand all day in the sun and act like a crazy fan. Bummer. But hey, the coolest part? That's the airport where I took my first solo flight, so now I can say I landed at the same airport as Indiana Jones!

Why I Have a Little Crush On You-Know-Who

by Laurie Hall (with acknowledgments to Sally Kohn, who presented such an easy target)

I know I’m a Muggle and he’d probably have me killed. But still, the guy speaks some blunt truths about Scrimgeour and Harry Potter that make me swoon…

Okay, I admit it. Part of it is that he’s sort of hot. Possibly hot enough to make me take a Kwikspell course and get a tattoo on my arm. I think he kind of looks like Ralph Fiennes. Sort of. With bad teeth and a more reptilian nose. But that’s not all…


I want to be very clear. There are certainly many things about You-Know-Who that I abhor—murdering of dissidents and Muggles, persecution of werewolves, purging of half-bloods, and, in general, stifling democracy. Even still, I can’t help but be turned on by his frank rhetoric calling out the horrors of Harry Potter, the Scrimgeour administration and, for that matter, generations of Ministry policy preceding.

Recall that, back in June, You-Know-Who sent an owl to Minister for Magic Scrimgeour:

For some time now, I have been thinking, how can one justify the undeniable contradictions that exist… Can one be a supporter of Harry Potter, the great defender of Dumbledore,

Feel obliged to respect Muggle rights,

Present liberalism as a civilization model,

Announce one’s opposition to the use of the Unforgivable Curses,

Adopt “Constant Vigilance” as his slogan,

And finally, work towards the establishment of a unified international magical community,

But at the same time,

Call for the attack of Death Eaters. The lives, reputations and possessions of people destroyed and on the slight chance of the presence of a few Death Eaters in a village, city, or convoy for example, the entire village, city or convoy attacked.

He goes on:

Because of the possibility of the existence of a “weapon” in the Department of Mysteries, it is unlawfully surveilled, infiltrated, at least one wizard killed, its infrastructure and architecture destroyed, the sanctity of private prophecies of citizens broken, and important research pushed back perhaps 50 years. At what price? Hundreds of thousands of galleons spent from the treasury of one country and certain other countries and several men and women—many of them very young—put in harm’s way, whisked away from family and loved ones, their hands stained with the blood of others, subjected to so much psychological pressure that those returning home suffer depression; while some are killed and their bodies handed to their families.

You-Know-Who, it would appear, cares more about Hogwarts students than Scrimgeour, Dumbledore, or even Harry Potter.

There are prisoners in Azkaban that have not been tried, have no legal representation, their families cannot see them and are obviously kept in a strange place outside their own country. There is no international monitoring of their conditions and fate. No one knows whether they are prisoners, POWs, accused or criminals. I could not correlate the abduction of a person, and him or her being kept in secret prisons, with the provisions of any judicial system. For that matter, I fail to understand how such actions correspond to the values outlined in the beginning of this letter, i.e. the views of Dumbledore, human rights and liberal values.

Again, You-Know-Who, who has flagrantly trounced due process and the rule of law time and time again, is still way ahead of Scrimgeour on this point, too.

He then goes on to say that even if many Muggles and half-bloods perished when he originally came to power (a point he concedes in his letter), that doesn’t give Britain the right to displace and terrorize Pure-Bloods. He doesn’t call for violence against half-bloods. He calls for ending violence against Pure-Bloods.

He takes up the charge of other communities struggling for freedom and justice:

Don’t the giants have the right to ask why their elected governments are being opposed and coup leaders supported? Or, why must they constantly be threatened and live in fear?

The goblins of Britain are hard-working, creative and talented. They can play an important and valuable role in providing for the needs of wizardkind and contribute to its material and magical progress. Poverty and hardship among the goblins are preventing this from happening. Don’t they have the right to ask why their enormous wealth—including armour and weaponry—is being looted, despite the fact that they need it more than others?

Again, do such actions correspond to the teachings of Dumbledore and the tenets of wizard rights, and the rights of other magical creatures?

He seems to extend genuine condolences for the death of Albus Dumbledore:

Dumbledore’s death was a horrendous incident. The killing of innocents is always deplorable and appalling. My followers and I immediately declared our disgust with the perpetrator and offered our condolences to the bereaved and expressed our sympathies.

And yes, he hints at a conspiracy theory that Ministry intelligence forces, as well as others, may have been involved or complicit—but it’s not a huge departure from the findings of the Daily Prophet and our collective recognition that Harry Potter may have got away clean.

You-Know-Who also pins the tail on the Daily Prophet:

After my return, instead of healing and tending to the emotional wounds of the survivors and the British wizarding community, the Daily Prophet only intensified the climate of fear and insecurity—some constantly talked about the possibility of new attacks and kept the people in fear. Is that service to the wizarding community of Britain? British witches and wizards lived in constant fear of fresh attacks that could come at any moment and in any place. They felt insecure in the street, in their place of work and at home. Who would be happy with this situation? Why was the media, instead of conveying a feeling of security and providing peace of mind, giving rise to a feeling of insecurity?

He’s accusing the media of being a mouthpiece of Scrimgeour’s warmongering instead of accurately informing the public. Again, this isn’t out there, lunatic, flaming anti-Harry Potter rhetoric. This is simply a powerful and accurate critique of the Ministry—a critique that the Scrimgeour administration would rather silence. Perhaps the Ministry’s campaign against You-Know-Who—just like its previous campaign against Grindelwald and others—isn’t as much about whether he’s a danger to the world. There are plenty of leaders who are more dangerous. And certainly, as Scrimgeour himself illustrates, there are good and bad qualities in all leaders (for the record, Scrimgeour was good on elf rights for a minute).

Could it be that, to Scrimgeour and Harry Potter and their cronies, one of the most dangerous things about You-Know-Who is that he is calling Harry Potter out? And so, if a silencing charm can’t be employed against You-Know-Who, at least he can be discredited. I’m not saying he’s a good guy at all. I’m only saying it’s hard to know the full story when Harry Potter et. al. seem so invested in smearing You-Know-Who—and the Daily Prophet, as we’ve already learned with the Cedric Diggory fiasco, is happy to choose its facts in convenient accordance. Maybe we shouldn’t buy into Potter’s characterization of You-Know-Who as part of his drumbeat escalating toward potential war. Maybe we should listen to You-Know-Who ourselves and sift through what, if anything, is worth hearing.

You-Know-Who ends his letter to Scrimgeour by noting how both their leaderships will be judged by history:

Did we manage to bring peace, security and prosperity for the people or insecurity and unemployment?

Did we intend to establish justice or just support special interest groups, and by forcing many to live in poverty and hardship make a few people rich and powerful?

Did we defend the rights of the underprivileged or ignore them?

Did we defend the rights of all people around the world or impose wars on them, interfere illegally in their affairs, establish hellish prisons and incarcerate some of them?

Did we bring the world peace and security or raise the specter of intimidation and threats?

Did we tell the truth to our people and others around the world, or present an inverted version of it?

Were we on the side of the people or the occupiers and oppressors?

Did we, as leaders, set out to promote rational behavior, logic, ethics, peace, fulfilling obligations, justice, service to the people, prosperity, progress and respect for human dignity; or the force of wands, intimidation, insecurity, disregard for the people, delaying the progress and excellence of other magical peoples, and trample on wizards’ rights?

And finally, they will judge us on whether or not we remained true to our main task—to serve Wizardkind, and the traditions of our ancestors, whose noble blood runs through our veins.

It’s striking when a leader with an abysmal record for Muggle rights is the one championing the rights of the poor and oppressed to Scrimgeour, who claims to be on the side of Harry Potter, the “Chosen One.” Dangerous indeed—certainly to the status quo he critiques.

Monday, when You-Know-Who speaks at the Ministry in London, I’ll be listening. Maybe with a bottle of wine and some soft music playing in the background. If I can get past the fact that, as a Muggle, he’d probably have me killed, I’ll try to listen for some truth.