Outside bookstores elsewhere, groups of young people who had just bought books stood on the sidewalk chatting.
"Who do you think sent those Firebolt?" A young man flipped through the acknowledgments page at the end of the last chapter, as if hoping to find the answer there.
A woman nearby laughed and said, "Isn't it clearly written in the book? Black admitted in his letter that the Firebolt was a gift from him, and even said, 'Just consider it a gift from your godfather, to complete your thirteenth birthday present.'"
"Haha, I didn't remember for a moment..." The young man scratched the back of his head somewhat awkwardly.
"But then again, that letter was really well written." The young man's tone softened.
" Black seemed like a madman in the first half of the book, but after reading the second half, you realize he was actually desperately trying to get back, rushing for twelve years just to see Harry once."
That's why I said, Allen Wayne is a really good writer.
"The first half makes you think Black is a heinous murderer, while the second half makes you feel like he's the most wronged person in the world."
"You can't say his writing is unreasonable, because the evidence was there from the beginning; you just didn't see it."
Meanwhile, the literary world also couldn't sit still.
Harold Larkin of the Guardian wrote a short essay in his column with a straightforward title, "I told you not to jump to conclusions."
"When the first half came out, I wrote something that basically said, 'Don't assume the author has no plot threads to unwind before he's even started wrapping them up.'"
"Now that the second half is out, I'll rewrite this sentence verbatim, and add: Allen Wayne not only has the thread, but he weaves it quite beautifully."
Professor James Carter of the Daily Telegraph wrote a longer analysis from the perspective of narrative techniques, in which he specifically mentioned the structural role of the Marauder's Map throughout the book.
"That map appeared in the first half of the book. When Harry received it from Fred and George, readers probably just thought of it as a convenient prop."
"But in the second half, you realize that the map serves as the intersection of three narrative threads throughout the book."
It showed Harry Peter with Ron, it showed Lupin Harry in the Forbidden Forest, and it showed Snape Lupin leading Harry into the Whomping Willow.
"A single map simultaneously advances three storylines, and each line progresses in a different way—this ingenious design is truly rare in contemporary fantasy literature."
The Witch Weekly's review was more sentimental. "The most touching part of the third installment is that it tells a story about family."
Harry had no home at the Dursley family', but he found one at Hogwarts.
"But by the end of the third part, he discovered that he had always had a home waiting for him, only the people in that home were locked in a place he couldn't reach."
"When Black wrote in that letter, 'I, Sirius Black, Harry Potter's godfather, agree to let him go to Hogsmeade this weekend,' I admit I cried."
" Allen Wayne planted so many clues, so many foreshadowing elements, so many ingenious designs throughout the book, yet he ended it all with a letter of less than two hundred words, and this letter is more powerful than all the magic and adventure that came before."
However, of all these people, readers actually most want to read the articles by two individuals.
One is Richard Henry, the book reviewer who wrote " Allen Wayne's creative streak has run dry."
Another is Martin Amis, the avant-garde novelist who was at odds with Harry Potter from the very beginning.
Richard's article appeared in the next supplement of * Fiction Review *, with a rather honest title. "I Was Wrong."
"I wrote an article last month titled 'Has the mysterious author Allen Wayne run out of ideas?'"
"I listed all the problems in the first half: the pacing was slow, the suspense was weak, and the character relationships were stagnant. Then I came to the conclusion that this author probably couldn't write anything good anymore."
"Now that I've reread that article, the more I read it, the more I realize how much of a clown I was back then."
"I made a very basic mistake: I judged an author's overall level after reading only half a book."
"It's like someone only watching the first half of Quidditch Match, seeing that neither team has scored, concluding that the match is bad, and then the second half starts with ten goals in a row."
" Allen Wayne told me in the second half that the reason the first half seemed slow was because he buried everything that needed to be buried."
"When I got to the second half, all the buried things exploded one after another, so much so that I didn't even have time to catch my breath."
Richard listed several passages that impressed him in the article, from the Time-Turner to the Marauder's Map, from Buckbeak's rescue to Snape's past, from Lupin's Werewolf identity to the truth behind Black's escape.
"I especially want to mention the Snape section. In the first half, Snape seems like a petty, vengeful Potions Class professor who's always picking on Lupin."
"But in the second half, we discover that he made all those Potions to protect Lupin, and that he never intended for anyone to know what he was doing."
"This writing style is risky because you're hiding a character's true motivations for most of the book, and readers can easily lose interest in the character before the truth is revealed."
"But Allen Wayne has that ability; he keeps you suspicious of Snape, and then reveals the truth at the most opportune moment."
"At the same time, it makes you suddenly realize something, but also makes you feel that this character is twice as complex as before."
Richard wrote a rather candid statement at the end of the article:
"In my previous article, I said, ' Allen Wayne, the author of *The Philosopher's Stone * and * The Chamber of Secrets *, is no longer here.'"
"Now I take that back and replace it with something else: Allen Wayne, the author of *The Philosopher's Stone * and *The Chamber of Secrets *, is not only still around, but he writes even better than before."
Great Britain readers were amused after reading the article.
" Richard Henry admitted his mistake! I thought the kind of person would never admit his mistake, no matter what."
"At least they admitted it, which is better than some people. Look at Martin Amis, he hasn't said a word yet."
"He's definitely planning something big."
"What do you think he'll write? Will he continue to criticize or at least admit his mistake?"
"I think he'd rather eat the typewriter than admit his mistake."
"You underestimate him. Martin Amis may be stubborn, but he's not stupid. Richard has already admitted it; if he remained silent, he would seem petty."
Martin's statement arrived quickly, much to the anticipation of many, but it also left many stunned.