Harry Potter and the Glowing Hairbrush

Next week I'm taking a much-deserved mini-vacation in Tahoe, which happpens to be the same time as the final Harry Potter book is released. Anyone who gives away the ending to me before I've had a chance to read it will end up very much like this:



It's not that I'm a huge Potter dork, but hey, I read the books and I liked them and I don't want the ending spoiled. Although I can tell you, if it ends in a diner with a 10-second blackout, J.K. Rowling has a paddling coming that's not to be believed.

I was dragged to see the recent movie, Order of the Phoenix. I didn't especially want to, because it was easily the worst of the books. And it ended up reminding of one of the book's many flaws: a character named Dolores Umbridge keeps threatening to "punish the naughty schoolchildren." But does she make with the corporal punishment? No, she does something disturbing with a magic quill pen instead.

Look, Dolores, this is how you punish student wizards:



I always knew I liked Snape!