Hey Jabber,

I agree with Bill O'Reilly, no worries if you never got into the Harry Potter books.

At first I was not sure what you are meaning about paintings that take on a life of their own - but then I realized that - IN THE HP MOVIES - there were scenes in which the portraits on the school stairways would animate and speak to the students -- or at least to the audience watching the movie.

In fact, that never happened in the books. It was just a visual contrivance of the movie producers. Just as the complex Hogwarts stairways in the movie were not discussed in the books.

I enjoyed the books, though I never became an HP fanatic. But then I also enjoyed the CS Lewis book series that began with "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," and the Tolkien books.

I think the true underlying theme of the HP books really was about the importance of love. After all, Harry is an orphan who is not loved by his aunt and uncle who also abuse him, but he finds love, acceptance and a meaningful life at Hogwarts.

Just my thoughts...