Don’t read this if you haven’t finished Harry Potter.

Here are my thoughts on the book, in the huge jumbled mess because I have been adding them all along as I read the book!

Please add your comments and questions!

LET’S DISCUSS!

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– I got choked up when the owl was killed. But, also, who the hell brings their owl to go fight a war?

– I did not, however, cry when Mad Eye Moody died. Never liked him much anyway. In fact, his eye seriously grossed me out.

– Speaking of his eye, Harry was a complete DUMBFUCK for ripping Mad Eye’s eye out of Dolores Umbridge’s door.

– And how did Dolores make a patronus while wearing the Horcrux locket? I thought it was supposed the drain your magical power?

– I still have no clue what the Deluminator is. Does is suck light, give it, both?

– All the arguing among Harry, Ron and Hermione was getting VERY OLD.

– And I GET IT. The scar was BURNING. Burning. Pulsing. About to burst right open!

– Emma Watson is NEVER going to be able to pull off the emotional stuff Hermione has going on in the film version of this book.

– The part where Ron saves Harry at the pond and has to break the locket Horcrux was amazing. All the things that kid has been bottling up… whoah boy.

– The book was a bit slow going for a long time, but really zoomed up at the end. J.K. really could have shaved a bit off, I think.

– I really cried when Dobby was killed. Real tears. (S.P.E.W. forever, man!)

– I still do not understand the bit about Harry’s wand overpowering Voldemort’s. Please explain.

– And does Voldemort not ever realize Harry is reading his mind? Is it one of those cases of dudes with great evil power also possessing great evil arrogance? That he thinks Harry is simply not good enough to read his mind once Voldemort cut off the connection? Ha ha! Who had the last laugh, asshat!?

– I loved the back story about Dumbledore’s family. I loved how it made him a real person instead of the perfect grandfatherly wizard he always has been. Even though it was a bit uncomfortable reading his “grand” aspirations in his younger years.

– In fact, I loved how much backstory this book had everywhere.

– At first, I was a little annoyed at the introduction of the Deathly Hallows schtick (more shit they have to go find!)… but in the end it made sense. I am still not sure how Voldemort would never have heard of it, though.

– The fight scene at Hogwarts was AWESOME. McGonagall kicked ass.

– And while Fred’s death made me sad, I was more choked up when he was laid next to Lupin and Tonks. Gawd. Little orphaned babe. And oh my word – little Colin Creevey too???

– I totally thought Fleur’s tiara was Ravenclaw diadem Horcrux. Pretty sneaky, J.K.

– Hooray! Ron and Hermione finally snog!

– I was bummed that Petunia was not magical. Or was she? Why did she write to Dumbledore to try to get into Hogwart’s? Just because she wanted to be part of the crew?

– Why would the Elder wand change allegiance to Voldemort if Nagini killed Snape? Because snakes have no arms?Why didn’t he do it himself? Laziest Dark Lord I have ever seen.

– The chapter with Snape’s memories was amazing. I was so happy he ended up being good. But when I realized that Harry was going to die, I was crying so hard I was hyperventilating. SERIOUSLY.

– And then him bravely going to meet his fate? DUDE. Harry. rocks.

– And I loved how his parents and loved ones came to meet him and help him stand tall. God. At that point, I was curled into a whimpering ball, crying so hard I couldn’t speak, breathe, or even see straight.

– But why did his loved ones just fade away? Were they only there to help him face his fear and not fight?

– But talk about powerful. Hagrid carrying Harry back to Hogwarts? Holyshit. And Neville going after Nagini and killing the last Horcrux was fucking awesome.

– Although, I must admit, the ending of the book felt a bit… abrupt. Whoops! Rebound! Voldemort is dead! And I guess what made it feel more abrupt was there were no joyful reunions or celebrations. Come on, I wanted Ewoks dancing on the moon of Endor!!!

– And while I loved that Harry lived, married Ginny, had lots of babies… the Epilogue left a bunch to be desired too. How are the rest of the Weasleys? Who raised the Tonks baby? What is Harry doing for a living? Do people erect statues in his honor? Not that I wanted the epilogue to blather on, but come on! A few sentences would have helpful!

And more importantly, are these questions left unanswered so that J.K. can make an adult series? I thought she wanted to put Harry to bed!

HMMMMMM?

This article has 23 comments

  1. Mrs. Wheezer

    LOL! You have obviously NOT been hanging out at the Leaky Lounge where all this and more has been discussed ad nauseum…

    To answer some of your comments:
    The deluminator ‘catches’ light and then puts it back. It’s what Dumbledore used the night they left Harry with the Dursleys.

    Voldemort had a wand that did not ‘belong’ to him. Therefore, it answered Harry more powerfully than it answered Voldemort. Draco won it from Dumbledore, Harry won it from Draco. Voldemort thought he had won it from Snape, but all he was doing was holding it. Kind of like when Harry was using what’s his name’s wand.

    Petunia wanted to be magical but wasn’t. She was jealous and bitter.

    The loved ones disappeared because Harry didn’t need them anymore and so he dropped the stone.

    Yes, I wanted the ending to be more uplifting and celebratory.

  2. Mrs. Wheezer

    Oh, and the blanks? It’s because she wants to sell more copies of that encyclopedia she has said she will write.

  3. aimee / greeblemonkey

    Mrs. W… So it pulls light out of a lamp, holds it inside of itself and then lights up itself, or throws it into something else? I still don’t get it.

    And yeah, I got why the path of wand nabbing worked the way it did… but I still don’t get why Harry’s wand took on a mind of it’s own and shot at V. And why V wanted to have a his snake be the one conquering Snape instead of he himself doing it.

  4. aimee / greeblemonkey

    Really? Did I totally miss that in the Epilogue??? I mean, I assumed H&G would, I guess I just thought it wasn’t clear.

  5. Mrs. Wheezer

    The deluminator just holds it and releases. If the source of the light is nearby, it goes back to that source. Otherwise, it just hangs out locally. It doesn’t light up. It’s magic, it doen’t follow logic, LOL.

    I gathered Tonks’ mom raised baby Teddy. That is who he was left with when Tonks and Lupin when off to fight Voldemort. Harry was way too young, and in the epilogue Teddy was only ‘practically’ living with them.

  6. Mrs. Wheezer

    Since the snake was a horcrux, wouldn’t anything it did be essentially the same as Voldemort doing it? I think it was also a sign that old Tom Riddle was entirely too cocky.

    The other argument (which I left out) for Teddy living with Tonks’ mom is that she was all alone. Lost her husband and daughter and son in law, and her extended family wasn’t exactly sunshine and roses, surely she’d get to raise her grandson…

  7. aimee / greeblemonkey

    Yeah, I am thinking I agree with Mrs. W… that baby went with Mrs. Tonks… but was over at Harry’s all the time later when they got settled.

  8. chloebear

    I am seriously going to go into Harry Potter withdrawl~! I loved everything about the series and I am so glad Harry did not die. I have been perusing various websites to get more info on what the actors thought of the last book, but I haven’t seen anything posted.

    I had some major issues with the book – but of course JK can’t please everyone. The thing that bothered me the most: All the camping and going back and forth with really nothing happening. The book could have been easily 300 pages shorter and/or there could have been more character development and information about some of our favorites such as Snape. I love this character. Snape only got a few lines in the book and for the most part was a behind the scenes guy. The pensieve part was just brillant, but I wanted more!! How about Harry and Snape having a heart to heart before Snape dying! The epilogue was too sugary sweet, vague, and short dammit!

    I, too, was also confused about the Elderwand’s allegiance. I agree with mrs. wheezers assessment of the wands’ true master. Draco disarmed Dumbledore in the 6th book and Snape killed him. The wand was then buried with Dumbledore. When Harry took Dracos wand in the LeStrange’s mansion, Harry in essence became the master of all of Draco’s wands. Including the Elderwand. I am still hazy on some of the battle between Dumbledore and Harry and how the spell rebounded on Volemort. I can’t believe Harry beat him using the Expelliarmus charm on him! Especially after Lupin and MadEye scolded him early in the book for using against the DeathEaters.

    When Harry is “dead” (incidentally, I was crying my eyes out!!) I was confused about where he was- in his head talking to Dumbledore?, or in a sort of limbo/purgatory? and did the crying thing in the basket represent one part of Volemort’s soul that died and is Dumbledore charge of to looking after for eternity?

    I plan on reading the King’s Cross chapter again, since I read the book a little too fast! I just couldn’t wait to find out if Harry was going to live!

    Another GREAT source for information is Mugglenet.com, the guy who started it, started it when he was 14 and is now a millionaire. Also, he predicted correctly everything that happened: Harry living, Harry being a Horcrux, and one other important thing. J.K. even gave them a personal interview.

    All I can say is I am thankful to have been part of something that touched everyone in the world and let me be a kid again! Who knows when that will happen again – maybe not in my lifetime.

  9. aimee / greeblemonkey

    Yeah, Chloe… I think the White Room was purgatory of sorts… and the baby/animal thing was the part of him that was Voldemort that had been killed off.

  10. Doodaddy

    I have soooo many comments about soooo many things… we totally need a bottle of wine and two babysitters. And plane tickets, but whatever.

    I’ll start with just one: *Harry and Ginny* raised lil’ Lupin. In fact, when Remus & Tonks made Harry godfather, I knew for certain right then that a) Remus and Tonks would die and b) Harry wouldn’t. Because how perfect is that — the orphan cares for the orphan?

  11. Sassy

    Yeah, I just want to say that the baby/animal thing creeped me the F out. I agree about it maybe being the “killed” part of Voldemort, though.

    That Epilogue kind of pissed me off. Is was way too saccharine and cute considering the tone of the rest of the book I think. It’s like she was just making for damn sure no kid called the hotline out of distress.

    And seriously, people, the fact that one of the names for the Elder Wand was the “Deathstick” completely cracked me up. “Ooooh, it’s the Deathstick!” (Insert bad B movie theremin music here)

  12. Working Girl

    I’m just so happy someone wants to talk about this!

    I don’t think the horcrux sucked magical power from Harry and the others, I think it sucked their happiness because it was so evil. Delores was evil, so it made her happier. You have to be happy to make a patronus.

    And — maybe I was reading in my sleep and missed this, but did Neville kill Nagini with Gryffindor’s sword? And if so, how did he come to have it?

    And this has always bothered me: Why would anyone want to be evil simply for the sake of being evil? How could anyone ever justify giving their alliance to someone called “The Dark Lord?” I guess maybe they thought that Muggles were a big threat, and Mudbloods, too? Nah, I don’t buy it. That was always a wee bit too black and white for me…I would have liked it if Voldemort and the Death Eaters at least had some kind of misguided notion that they were doing good. Some redeemable quality. But I loved reading the books. And I was seriously bummed when I thought Harry was going to die.

  13. roxy daisy

    I had to return my borrowed copy, but didn’t Harry’s & Ginny’s own kids refer to Teddy Lupin moving in, thus telling us they didn’t raise him? I assumed they didn’t, and am pissed at Harry for not raising the baby.

    I only cried for Dobby. But am muchly sad for Fred.

    My favorite kickassest moment? Molly Weasly putting the crazy awesome smackdown on Bellatrix You BITCH LeStrange! (I’m now going to swear that my baby Molly is actually named after her;) I had to yell HELL YES!!! loud enough to startler my husband.

  14. Alpha DogMa

    Name nerd that I am, I couldn’t help but thing that James and Lily have the DULLEST NAMES! Snoozers. Gee, Harry couldn’t you have thrown Ginny a bone and name one of the kids after her dead brother? Would that be too much to ask? Fred Potter has a lovely ring to it.

    AimeeThe deluminator use to be called the Put-Outer in earlier books. It takes light from a source and returns it at will.

    I agree that all the camping got thin, but I realize that JK was going to great lengths to mimic the school-year schedule of other books.

    The crying baby was Voldemort’s true self: damaged and unevolved. Harry’s true self was exactly like his real life appearance because he has no duplicity.

    I only cried when I read that Albus Potter’s middle name was Severus and when Harry referred to Severus as a brave man. Yes, I didn’t cry when Hedwig and MadEye died. Nor when Dobby bit it – man he was annoying. I didn’t even cry when my beloved, misunderstood Snape died. I am so COLD.

    Working Girl, Neville got Gryffindor’s Sword when it fell out of the Sorting Hat that Voldemort put on his head. This was also how Harry got the sword in the Chamber of Secrets.

    And so ends my disjointed thoughts on Deathly Hallows.

  15. aimee / greeblemonkey

    AD… yes, your heart is a burning little ember of charcoal. 😉

    And I am rereading the 1st book right now and I was wondering about the Put Outer thing!

  16. tmrperry

    I’ll go by your points:
    * I bawled when Hedwig died. For some reason, that hit me really hard.
    * I didn’t cry for Mad-Eye either.
    * I don’t understand why you think it was bad for Harry to remove the eye from Umbridge’s door. I would have done the same thing. (assuming it didn’t gross me the fuck out)
    * I agree with working girl. Umbridge was happy so she was able to conjur her patronus while wearing the locket.
    * I didn’t notice anymore arguing than usual.
    * Didn’t get annoyed with the burning scar either.
    * You know how I feel about Emma Watson. 😉
    * Did I mention Ron was my favorite character? I loved that whole part of the story.
    * Never felt bored reading.
    * Not only did I cry real tears for Dobby, I was sobbing and heaving and had to call my sister to console me because Joe was working nights. What a loser.
    * Harry’s wand overpowered Voldemort’s (and always will) because Harry has the ability to love – it gives him an edge.
    * I know Voldemort knows that Harry can see into his mind at times, I’m just not sure he knew the extent.
    * I agree. Loved the backstory on Dumbledore, Snape, and everyone in general.
    * I loved the parallel between the hallows and the horcruxes and Dumbledore’s explanation of everything.
    * Every fight scene was so heart-pounding! I thought Mrs. Weasley kicked ass! And she called Bellatrix a bitch!
    * I had tears when Fred died only because I thought of how George and Mrs. Weasley would react. But once they laid him next to Lupin and Tonks, I lost it. They just had a baby!!!
    * Petunia was definitely bitter.
    * Loved that Ron ended up with Hermoine and Harry with Ginny.
    * Count me in with the hyperventilating. And then crying so hard I went silent. Joe happened to walk in on that part and I think I scared him a little.
    * Harry’s bravery was INCREDIBLE!!! My heart was pounding as he went into the forest. And I cried that his family was there with him until he didn’t need them anymore.
    * I absolutely loved that Ron, Hermoine, and Neville each destroyed a horcrux.

    All in all I absolutely loved the book. I’m so glad that Ron and Hermoine survived and they all reached adulthood.

  17. sarahsk

    I also got extra choked up when Albus’s middle name was Severus. I cried for Hedwig and Dobby and especially for little orphaned Teddy.

    I loved the Percy was back in the Weasley fold and that he was cracking jokes that warmed Fred’s heart. If Fred had to die, at least he did it with a smile on his face reunited with his git of a brother.

    I loved everything with Neville. I knew he would shine when he was no longer relegated to the shadows. I was especially thrilled when he was the one to kill Nagini.

    There were a lot of clever little touches that I like. For example, when Hermione made sure the DE’s saw that they had actually been at the Lovegood’s house before Apparating.

    And, I must admit there was a part of me that was a little bit misty thinking about Kreacher having made them a lovely dinner and then they never came back.

  18. aimee / greeblemonkey

    Teri, re: ripping out Mad Eye’s eye, I thought he was an idiot – because of course ripping it out would set off alarms that there were intruders…

    And Working Girl… I drew a lot of comparisons between Voldemort and Hitler, and WWII era Germany, so the questions of evil for evil’s sake is a little simple for me. I think it was as big and complex as much of the world’s great struggles.

  19. Alpha DogMa

    I’m with you, Aimee. I don’t see the Death Eater vs Order of Phoenix battle as simplistic. No one is ever just evil for the sake of evil (contrary to what Bush’s speech writers seem to believe). I think there are parallels between Death Eaters and Religious Fundamentalism (both Islamic and Chrisitan) and this fear of Other-ness that so often taints modern political discourse.

    Is Voldemort pure evil? Or is he a damaged person trying to seek solace through extreme acts? He loathes his muggle father and fears death, then discovers his ideas and his talents have currency with a disaffected youth seeking power and validation.

    Rowling has said that Grindelwald is meant to parallel Hitler – hence both are timed to rise to power in the late 30s and both are defeated in 1945. Voldemort comes to power in the seventies, goes MIA for the 80s and then returns to do evil in the 90s – as the books are meant to conclude in 1998 (with Harry being born in 1980 and each book chronicling his life from age 11 to 17) – but I don’t think Rowling had any one person in mind as Voldemort’s real life counter part.

    Yeah, ripping out the eye was dumb. But it was so very Harry. Without Hermione there to temper his rashness, he acted impulsively. Little twit.

  20. aimee / greeblemonkey

    Interesting, AD! See… I would know so much more if I actually got out there on that thing called the “internet” and read more. 😉

  21. Alpha DogMa

    Err…uhmm..or if you had a Liberal Arts degree with a minor in English and very little chance to use the skills you’d learn during four intense years of analyzing great works of literature.
    Or…you know: high speed internet.
    One or the other.

  22. Omaha Mama

    Just finished the book last night (and I’m popping over from Alpha Dogma’s place). Thought your post and discussion here was awesome. Helped me read a little more about HP when I was sad to be finished!

    The bit about the camping did get a little slow, but I think Rowling was brilliant and wanted the reader to feel a little hopeless and bored, like the kids did. The waiting was LONG and she made the reading as such. Then when something little would happen, it was so much more exciting!

    The ending seemed rushed to me, I wished she would have detailed the celebrations and re-building a bit (she detailed other such minute things, and this was huge). I was glad she gave us a glimpse in the epilogue, but wanted to know about other characters and what did the 4 heroes do as adults. And how famous was Harry. And so on.

    I supposed she could have gone on and on. But 25 more pages would have been okay. Seemed a little like she just pooped out.

    At least we can look forward to the movies!

    Great post.

  23. aimee / greeblemonkey

    Welcome Omaha Mama! Good insights too.

    And one more question for all of you, if you bother to come back here after so long, that I forgot to ask and never have been clear on…

    *WHY* does Harry keep going back to the Dursleys? When they hate him so much and he could easily go live with the Weasleys? Why did Dumbledore let him live in that hellhole in the first place when he could have lived with Sirius before he went to Hogwarts?

    Someone told me it had to do with Petunia, and that her blood connection to Lily protected him? Then why can he only go there a little bit later in his teen years? I mean, I realize it;s all for the fun of the plot, really, but I just don’t get it.

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