Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (SPOILERS)

[incognito]

My thoughts:

* The deaths really did seem pretty minor in this book. Yes, the overall body count was kinda high, but regarding the actual people who died...the most major characters to bite it were Fred and Lupin, IIRC. I never liked the twins, so Fred's loss wasn't a huge heartbreaker. Although I never really cared about Tonks and Lupin, their deaths were strangely affecting. But I was seriously expecting some of the more major kid characters to die. One of the trio, maybe. Or Neville. Luna.

* An offshoot of that, if one member of the trio were to die, I was expecting it to be Hermione. Just because Ron, seemingly more helpless, would have been an "obvious" choice. So when she was fighting Bellatrix, I started getting nervous.

* Happy that McGonagall survived. She was probably my favorite character throughout the series.

* I have to agree that Dobby's death was probably the one I was saddest about.

* Aw, Kreacher. When the trio had to leave Grimmauld Place, I was hoping fervently that Kreacher wouldn't die.

* Mrs. Weasley was just awesome in her stand-off with Bellatrix. Can one of you Greecies answer the following question? Did Mrs. Weasley launch the killing curse at her? The book doesn't explicitly mention Avada Kedavra and as far as I remember, never talks about a green flash of light. Or was there something else she could have hit Bellatrix with?

* Thought Harry "coming back from the dead" so to speak, was a bit of a cop-out. Like Rowling wanted to let him die (so we could see how noble he is, sacrificing himself for the greater good...I always thought she had a martyr/Jesus Christ complex when it came to him) but couldn't bear to really finish him off.

* That said, did Harry's "death" scene remind anyone else of Aslan's death scene in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe? All that stuff about freely offering yourself to die having an effect on you...of course, Aslan had it easier, since he knew he'd be coming back. Harry on the other hand had no idea.

* The epilogue...ew. Way too sappy. I think I'm over the whole "high school sweethearts staying together forever (or at least the next 19 years)" thing that seemed to be playing there. Would have preferred a simple rundown of what had happened to the major characters. Glad that they're all happy because they definitely deserve it, but...really...I didn't need it spelled out for me in such a sugary sweet way. Does that make sense?

[bee]

I keep thinking that something kind of important was explained in the epilogue, but for the life of me I don't know what it was. It wasn't just a HEA, there was something in what Harry was saying to Albus. That it's not about what house you're in but how you live? If that was it, it kind of got lost in the sugary sprinkles (which I appreciated at the time of reading, but looking back smirk at).

[thecupcakekid]

Walking away from this book, I really did not like Dumbledore. At all.

In Snape's flashbacks DD was a little snide, I thought. Bordering on cruel. That whole "You remember Lily's eyes, don't you?" bit especially.

Snape was an ass, but still. Don't pour salt in the wound.

[susyhomewrecker]

incognito said:

* Mrs. Weasley was just awesome in her stand-off with Bellatrix. Can one of you Greecies answer the following question? Did Mrs. Weasley launch the killing curse at her? The book doesn't explicitly mention Avada Kedavra and as far as I remember, never talks about a green flash of light. Or was there something else she could have hit Bellatrix with?

I'm pretty sure it was AK. Now that I think about it, though, I'm glad Neville didn't finish Bellatrix off. None of the kids Avada Kedavra'd anyone--I don't think anyone from DA/the Order actually did during the Hogwarts battle, except Molly--and therefore their souls remained intact. Harry didn't even have to AK Voldy, he did it himself.

Also, Teddy Lupin (looks and sounds too much like Teddy Ruxpin for my taste) and Victoire Weasley getting together makes a weird sort of since, since both of their fathers were attacked by Fenrir Greyback.

ETA: Just rechecked my book, and it doesn't explicitly say that Molly AK's Bellatrix, but after Bellatrix falls (with the same expression that Sirius had when he died) Voldemort cries out, so...I'd say it was a killing curse.

[kore]

Just finished after a 12 hour marathon of pure reading.

I really need a nap. I can barely see anything!


P.S. I knew it!!!!!!! I Fuckin' Knew it and then SOME!

P.P.S. I'm not going to say what it is. The people who know what I am talking about, know what I am referring too!

ETA: Yeah, yeah, yeah, ...can't see shit and the spell check doesn't pick up on punctuation.

[susyhomewrecker]

OH, I just remembered I have a major question for all my Greecie friends:

Is it ever made explicitly clear why Voldy's wand wouldn't work on Harry when they were flying to the Tonks'? Did Harry at some point "win" Lucius' wand and therefore it wouldn't work against Harry? Under that same logic, though, didn't Harry "win" Voldy's wand in the graveyard when he tries to disarm him, or did that not work because of the Priori Incantatem? I thought that was a really interesting bit of logic, and it works for the most part--Harry, Ron, and Hermione can all use each others' wands because they have probably expelliarmus'd each other during DA practices--but was the thing Harry's wand did because of that or something else I missed?

Also, what the F happened to Umbridge and Stan Shunpike!? Why was he a Death Eater all of a sudden!? I wish the epilogue had been more along the lines of "in the weeks following Harry's victory, the wizarding world blah blah blah...a few years later Ron married Hermione and Harry married Ginny and they blah blah blah, Hogwarts reopened and Neville taught Herbology, yadda yadda yadda, other people did this and that and Harry never again felt pain in his scar."

[incognito]

susyhomewrecker said:

Stan Shunpike!? Why was he a Death Eater all of a sudden!?

I thought he had been Imperiused or something along those lines; I remember the book mentioning a blank look on his face. Then again, maybe Stan's face has always looked blank (I don't recall much of how he was described in previous books) so that was nothing out of the ordinary.

[snowrunner]

In Half Blood Prince, he'd been Azkaban'd for telling chicks that he was a Death Eater. Harry thought that he'd been puffing himself up, which was probably the case.. then. NOw, he's probably imperiused.

How's that for irony?

[luciano]

Is it ever made explicitly clear why Voldy's wand wouldn't work on Harry when they were flying to the Tonks'? Did Harry at some point "win" Lucius' wand and therefore it wouldn't work against Harry?

Because back when Voldemort tried to attack Harry with his own wand, the whole "twin cores" thing kicked in and Harry's wand took some of the qualities/characteristics of Voldemort's wand. It didn't happen the other way around [Voldemort's wand getting some of the qualities of Harry's wand] because Harry had accepted the possibility that he might have died - Voldemort hadn't, so the power was sucked from his wand.

When Voldemort attacked Harry with Lucius's wand, Harry's wand recognized Voldemort due to the sucked Voldemort qualities so it automatically shot back some of Voldemort's own magic towards him. Lucius's wand wasn't as powerful, so it was basically crap at that point.

Here's my question: what in the heck was that Harlequin baby-type thing in King's Cross?

[linared]

Me too, bee, me too. At the party I went to last night, there was a "write your own ending" wall, and I wrote "Oliver Wood comes back hotter than EVER!" Hell YES.

Oh Sean Biggerstaff, marry me please

Hell yeah, Sean Biggerstaff must be back in the movies.

I'm just giddy with excitement now, I don't think I'll be able to go to sleep at all. I loved all of it.

Here's my question: what in the heck was that Harlequin baby-type thing in King's Cross?

I think it was supposed to be part of Voldy's soul in Harry.

Mrs. Weasley killing Bellatrix was so awesome, I had to stop myself from cheering out loud.