The first two Harry Potter books are full of expectations and even more so, surprises. I read them for the first time a couple years ago, but I remember hanging on to the edge of my seat thinking I knew what was going to happen next, only to be surprised a few pages later. Multiple expectations arise including thinking the heir of Slytherin was a current Hogwarts student, expecting Harry not to go back to the Dursley's at the end of his first year, and assuming it was Snape jinxing Harry's broom during the Quidditch match. None of these expectations are fulfilled by the end of books one and two, but they were built to keep the reader interested. In order for the series to continue and be as exciting as it is, the reader cannot always guess what is going to happen next. Some expectations are filled, though those are not always as exciting. The first time I read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, I did not think highly of Gilderoy Lockhart. I was not surprised to find that he had been lying for years.
Writing in such a way that the reader expects something and then proving the reader wrong is a great technique to keep readers engaged. If every expectation is fulfilled, the book would become boring because one could simply predict the end. Rowling's use of surprises kept me wondering what would happen next. By the end of the second book I often doubted my own guesses because I thought that Rowling would purposefully fail to fulfill my prediction.
Writing in such a way that the reader expects something and then proving the reader wrong is a great technique to keep readers engaged. If every expectation is fulfilled, the book would become boring because one could simply predict the end. Rowling's use of surprises kept me wondering what would happen next. By the end of the second book I often doubted my own guesses because I thought that Rowling would purposefully fail to fulfill my prediction.
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