Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows - POTENTIAL SPOILERS

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Oh yeah, and Molly Weasley vs Bellatrix? That was boss.

Definitely a line that will get cheers from the audience when it is made into a movie!

 

[Loincloth of Armour]

Spoilers... (for those who are still worried about such things)....


I liked the fact that Dumbledore was shown to be less of a 'living angel' and more of a real person who had made some dumb-a$$ choices in his life. One thing Rowling has shown is that people change.

Dumbledore went from a pro-wizard supremacist to a supporting of muggle rights.

Snape went from Death Eater to the most important member of the Order.

Draco went from stereotypical antagonist to guy who realizes he's in over his head and this isn't what he wants.

Narcissa went from a cold-hearted cow to a woman who realized her choices could cost her the life of her only son.

And James Potter went from a stuck-up, pompous, horrible toerag of a jerk to someone who could form a loving relationship with a genuinely kind human being.


Does explain Dumbledore's tendency to give people second chances.

For the book itself, for the most part I liked it. I do believe that Rowling (like quite a number of authors) has difficulty ending stories. As this book was the wrap-up of the whole thing I kept reading it thinking, "How is she going to wrap it up in 300 pages?" Then, "How can she possibly bring everything together in 200 pages?" and followed by "She's got 100 pages to solve all the problems?! HOW?!" Not sure the ending worked for me (and I'm not really fond of the epilogue), but I took away many years of joyful reading from the series so can forgive slight flaws. She was writing the book for herself (and as one other poster mentioned, had this ending in mind for over a decade from when she was a less experienced writer), so I'm happy for the journey I've been on.

The whole 'Deathly Hallows' angle didn't work for me. Bringing such important new things into the story so late in the game felt forced. My personal feelings are that focusing on the Horcruxes story-line exclusively would have been stronger. Or may if the Hallows had been mentioned in a previous book.

Oh, and did anyone else get the, "man, with how sly and corrupting it is, that locket must be made out of the remains of the One Ring," vibe I did?

I will say that the spots of humor in the first 1/2 of the book made me laugh out loud. I certainly wasn't expecting them in this book of death and sacrifice, so I really had a hoot.

I publicly admit I thought Ron was on the short-list to getting killed. (Sidekick dies, motivates the hero and all that.) When he walked out, I experienced my first real fear as I realized, "Wait... Ron's not there anymore. That means the dramatic sacrifice will be... Hermione."

Glad to see it didn't happen (she's my favourite character), but nothing, and I mean nothing would have made me doubt her chances of survival except for Ron's walk.

 

[kingpaul]

I liked how Kreacher's character evolved...especially leading the House Elf charge in the final battle.

 

[Ace32]

I liked how Kreacher's character evolved...especially leading the House Elf charge in the final battle.

I wholeheartedly agree here. Kreacher's character fit in with the whole house elf subplot that we've seen throughout many of the books. It also tied a loose end into the story quite nicely without feeling forced and nicely complemented the whole business with R.A.B., the locket (which I also saw a whole lot of the 'one ring' in), and the horcruxes.

 

[nobodez]

I can't believe I'm the only one that sees this.

The Epilogue is titles "19 years later", yet, Ted, who was born in 1998, would be 19 years old, two years too old to be snogging Victoire in the back of the train.

IF it was 16 years later, I could understand, even 17 years later, with Ted coming to Hogwarts a bit later, but not 19, that's just too old for Ted to be on the Train and still attending Hogwarts.

But, aside from that, I'm glad that Snape was vindicated, I'm sad that the characters were too stupid to see what was right in front of them most of the time, and I'm really tempted to get a tattoo that can be described as thus:

An equilateral triangle, with an inscribed circle, bisected by a vertical line.

At least, I think that's the right description.

Yep, just checked Chapter 21, and that's the one. It would have been nice for JK to describe the symbol like that, rather than just having a vague description of a "symbol".

 

[Tiberius]

I can't believe I'm the only one that sees this.

The Epilogue is titles "19 years later", yet, Ted, who was born in 1998, would be 19 years old, two years too old to be snogging Victoire in the back of the train.

IF it was 16 years later, I could understand, even 17 years later, with Ted coming to Hogwarts a bit later, but not 19, that's just too old for Ted to be on the Train and still attending Hogwarts.

Ted had agreed to come see her off. He wasn't there to go to Hogwarts.

-- and he said he'd come to see her off! And then he told me to go away! He's snogging her!

 

[Vocenoctum]

That was hardcore,

See, I've never been a fan of the "one at a time" approach to battle, and I'd have been happier had they ganged up on her, or more appropriately Neville, his grandmother, or Hermoine had taken Bellatrix out.

as was Narcissa Malfoy turning out to be a mother first, and a Neutral Evil bitch on wheels second. I honestly believe this is a series that only a parent could have written the way it turned out.

I think the Malfoys on the whole were the flip side of below. They were the spiteful supporters of an evil regime, that suddenly realized that their repeatedly precarious position was detrimental to their family. I think the fact they served through fear instead of loyalty was a great touch. Giving Narcissa a good reason for betraying was a good move.

I also think she did a great job with her faux Nazis and made the people who knuckled under to the regime more pitiable than despicable, while still not negating the evil they were helping as a result. Mr. Lovegood was a much more complex character than can be found in any of the Potter-wannabes that have sprung up since this series first debuted.

Other than the press gangs and the werewolf, I agree. Grayback reeked of "orc sargeant" and his orc followers, out to get young wizards. Not an impossible thing by any means, but it somehow lacked in the narrative. Even the hardcore deatheaters like Bellatrix had that great element of "nutcase" but still somehow developed.

 

[Fate Lawson]

Never mind. Beaten to the punch.

 

[Vocenoctum]

The Room of Requirement]Why would Voldemort believe no one had ever found the Lost Items version of the room when it was filled to the brim with other people's stuff?

The Chamber of Secrets certainly would seem to be a better hiding place, complete with a guardian. Sure, he'd know Harry had found it, but I mean, he had to have known of Draco's plot in book6 and known that it had been discovered.

Perhaps he didn't think anyone would get the significance, or perhaps he assumed the Room of Requirement would protect the item in there.

Or, heck, maybe he just meant to hide it from Dumbledore.

The powers of the room are sort of in flux. He wanted a room to keep it safe, and the room gave him a hiding place. But, what good is a hiding place that's communal? Heck, if Harry had sought the room, requiring the Horcrux, would the room have just coughed it up without the search?

 

[Vocenoctum]

Given that she's the richest woman in Britain by a large margin, I don't think we'll see any more wizarding books until she's good and ready. (Maybe in time for her grandchildren to read them.) I suspect she's going to do a Richard Bachman number and start writing something very different, just for the hell of it, though.

I believe she has publicly and repeatedly said she'll move on to something totally different. The Harry Potter series ends here. (though, there is talk of another charity book, like Quidditch and the animal guide)