My word! (updated)
(click on the image to see more detail)Harry, Hermione and Ron flying a dragon? (I just knew that dragons had to come in somewhere. whether it's another one of Hagrid's "tame" dragon darlings or Charlie's Romanian specimen, I don't know. Unfortunately.) If this and the other cover arts are anything to go by, the last book is going to be stunning. I can't wait! Only a month an a half left! It's about time I reread all the already published books.
UPDATE: I will now prove to be totally worth of being called an HP fan. Because I know what this dragon is. According to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, this is one of ten breeds of dragons called Antipodean Opaleye. The reason why I went to check that is as follows. A week ago, just before the above cover art for US Deluxe HPDH edition was published online, I read an interview with the illustrator, Mary GrandPre. She specifically stated that there was a reason why everything was as it was on the cover. That it's not her making stuff up, but that she faithfully recreates scenes from the book. So I knew that anything that appeared on this newly released cover was no accident.
And to top it - the dragon didn't have pupils (in the eye). Knowing it wasn't just forgetfulness on GrandPre's part, I went to check that. And granted, the Opaleye "has iridescent, pearly scales and glittering, multicoloured, pupil-less eyes, hence its name" as Fantastic Beasts put it.
There are other curious details about this breed of dragon. It dwells in valleys rather than mountains, it is not very aggressive and rarely kills, unless hungry. It also prefers sheep to humans. This piece of information is really important, as any other breed of dragon would hardly allow three wizards to mount it. And keeping in mind that JK Rowling said dragons can't be tamed, mounting and flying atop a dragon is a feat in itself.
The only weird thing is that it is supposed to be a native of Australia and New Zealand. And while I doubt the trio will be making a trip to the southern hemisphere, but Hagrid, always keen on big predators, could be making a new attempt at taming a dragon. (Remember Norbert?)
Labels: Harry Potter
posted by Nadezhda
| 11:22
2 Comments:
Can't wait to get it as well! :) I'm afraid that I'll just drop the whole oral-matura-exam thing and go into rereading. That's what I've been doing lately: trying to study and reading (for what I need no trying ;).
Well, for the sake of doing your best on matura, I strongly advise you to keep the books locked and far away. ;) (And sorry for the late reply. Life's been quite hectic lately.)
[ Post a Comment ]