re: the first harry potter book

Yes, it was very good, but you have everyone else on the planet to tell you that. So in an effort that will surely only amuse myself, I'm going to list the little things that annoyed me.

• The House Cup. I don't like the point system. We have Professors who are the head of Houses but also dish out / take away points? That's like the managers in a boxing match also being the judges. And the amount of points taken or given is completely arbitrary: 10 point for this, 5 points for that, then 450 point bombs for other things. What gives? You need more structure for this to be a fair competition.
  
• Quidditch. I like the basic "flying lacrosse" style, but I really don't like the scoring system. Ten points for scoring a goal, but 160 points AND game-over for catching the snitch? That makes goal-scoring pointless. Almost all energy should be devoted to catching the snitch and harassing the other team's seeker. A more interesting system would be if catching the snitch rewarded no points, but would still end the game. Then we'd have the seekers go back and forth between trying to catch it and trying to stop the other team from catching it as the lead changed.
• Draco Malfoy. I hope more is in store for this character, maybe a redemption storyline. From what I've seen in the movies, all he does is talk trash and then get punched in the face. Boring.
• Why are Wizarding families completely dense to Muggle culture? Like Ron's "what's basketball?" comment. Come on, man. We're not the ones living in secret.
• I find it highly amusing that Wizards think of Muggles as complete fools while we're the ones with more efficient communication. I'll take a phone over a damn owl any day.
• "Muggle," by the way, is pretty much the N-word if you look at the context it's used.
• Is there no such thing as tort liability in Wizard law? Think about the danger these kids are constantly put in. Flying around hundreds of feet in the air without so much as a safety belt. Hunting an unknown, dangerous creature in the forbidden forest as punishment. You can find safer schools in inner-city Baltimore.
• This isn't Rowling's fault, but the Americanization of the text really got on my nerves. The two worst examples are references to "soccer" and a banner reading "Potter for President." How dumb do these UK editors think we are? Not to mention they changed the damn title of the first book. It's a miracle they didn't refer to the Dursley's Christmas gift to Harry as a "quarter" instead of a pence piece.
• Speaking of which, how did the Dursley's get the address to Hogwarts, anyway? Or did they just write "Harry Potter, Hogwarts" on the envelope and find the nearest owl?
• Why does everyone's name begin with an "H?" By God, this annoyed me. Harry. Hagrid. Hedwig. Hogwarts. Hermione. Hufflepuff. Enough, already!

But like I said, a very good book. :-P