Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (SPOILERS)

[Deleted]

Finished! Overall, I enjoyed it. Best part: Snape Worst part: Hedwig taking her final plummet. Boo. I totally cried. Nit picks: I thought Dumbledore and his woolen socks would be resolved, as all the references to Harry's green eyes - yes, they're like his mother's, but I thought there would be more to it. Also, I like my books to follow their own rules and logic which is why I got confused reading the parts about wands and souls (at the end of the book). It felt like JKR was making it up as she was going along, just to wrap things up: Oh but wands do this and this, and souls do this and this. Oh, and what's the point of learning complicated spells when all you really need is "expelliaramus" (sp?) and a Super X-Treme!wand. I was hoping for some redemption regarding Voldemort (a la Star Wars). If Darth Vader can blow up planets and end up being a good guy at the end, I always thought there would be hope for Voldemort other than being a neglected baby under a seat on a train.

ETA: At the very end, JKR wrote that Harry scar hadn't bothered him in 19 years - I was hoping she would end it with, "And after 19 years, Harry's scar started burning again."!!

[captain]

I was surprised by the numbr of "redemptions": Snape, Dudley, Kreacher, Percy, Draco.

Loved Neville's grandmother and McGonnagal with the desks. Even Trelawney got in on the action.

At the end I wish she had thrown in a bit about Hermione going back and finding her parents.

[sugarhigh]

I totally wept when Hedwig and Dobby died. So sad!

The epilogue at the end really rang false for me. It was just so unbelievably. Like others said, just that part seemed very much like fanfic.

[Ripley]

I see the "it's too fanfic" argument a lot....I've seen it complained about with the release of every new book. Many people spend their interim free time in between books reading or writing fanfic so when a new book comes out they are almost too used to the fanfic, which is constantly there. It's no real surprise. I avoid fanfics like the plague so I never have that issue.

I agree with you, surly mermaid. I never read fanfic either, so the ending for me showed a scene of domestic happiness which poor Harry had never known throughout his early life. Its simplicity is a stark contrast to the complicated darkness which he'd fought for ever since he started at Hogwarts.

I loved the scene where KickAss!Molly went for Bellatrix. I think that when KAM called Bellatrix a BITCH! is the only time where we see the any of the characters literally swearing. The rest of the time it is hinted at. Can anybody else confirm that?

[Deleted]

My first post here! I have been a long time fan of HP and I'm starting to reread the last book.

There is one puzzle that didn't get resolved in book 7 and I was wondering if I just missed it in the book. In the Goblet of Fire, when Harry dueled Voldy and the golden web connected their wands, Voldy's victims came out in the reverse order. James came before Lily did, which would indicate that he was killed after Lily, not before. I really thought that was JK's hint that more went down the night Harry's parents died.

Any thoughts on that?

[susyhomewrecker]

borokat said:

I know these are childrens books, but this one seemed incredibly chaste. These were teens, but Merv the Perv here wanted a little more than a bit of kissing here and there.

Were Ron and Hermione supposed to be getting it on in the tent with Harry there? Actually, I disagree that it was too chaste. HBP was a snogfest, sure, but the kids are now thrown into a very adult situation and can't really act like teenagers anymore. I LOVED the little detail about Ron and Hermione looking like they fell asleep holding hands in Grimmauld Place. On top of all that, there was what looked like a shotgun wedding. I was a little surprised JKR went there, even though it wasn't explicitly stated.

ETA: To answer the question in the post above mine, JKR made a mistake that none of the editors caught. In the first editions (like mine!) James comes out of the wand first, and some of the internet crazies speculated that there was all this stuff we didn't know and we were purposely being misled about what happened that night. JKR said, "oops, I made a mistake!" and it was corrected in subsequent printings.

[alby]

There is one puzzle that didn't get resolved in book 7 and I was wondering if I just missed it in the book. In the Goblet of Fire, when Harry dueled Voldy and the golden web connected their wands, Voldy's victims came out in the reverse order. James came before Lily did, which would indicate that he was killed after Lily, not before. I really thought that was JK's hint that more went down the night Harry's parents died.

I think that JKR stated in an interview that this was a mistake that she made and that the editors didn't pick it up. It was meant to be the other way around...

[Deleted]

Oh ok, I didn't realize that this has already been address by JKR. Thank you guys for clearing this up!

[kkslider]

This is awful to say, but I felt kind of relieved over the deaths we ended up with. I really figured Hagrid was a goner, and possibly Ginny or even Ron or Hermione.

I think my favorite thing about this one is the way so many of the non-glory characters get a moment of glory: Dobby, Neville, and (especially for me) Mrs. Weasley. Show 'em how a middle-aged redhead kicks some ass!

[susyhomewrecker]

Oh, here's my two cents on wand ownership while I'm at it: Ollivander says "the wand chooses the wizard," so if the wand thinks that you rightfully won it, like Malfoy's wand apparently did with Harry, it will work for you. It may have also worked for Malfoy, though, since it did originally "choose" him As far as the Elder Wand goes, who knows, but Voldy never actually won it fair and square, so it just didn't work for him period. I guess it did end up being Harry's, though, since he used it to fix his wand.