Book 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Okay, I think I'm ready to review it now.
However, I'm not at all sure how coherent this is going to be as I only got 3.5 hours sleep last night due to finishing the book. I'm sure I'll forget stuff and have to add on later. Or I'll post more posts. Whatever.
I have no idea how to organize this, my brain is super fried. I read through about 24 hours over the weekend to finish this book. Plus, I either have dyslexia, or the editing on this book was more rushed and horrible than usual. There were sentences that made absolutely NO sense, no matter how many times I read them. Other times I had to read the sentence three and four times to get the meaning.
I'm not sure how to sum up my feelings on the book. I did like it, a lot. However, it was far from perfect. Honestly, I think a little tweaking here and there would have done the trick. In fact, had the epilogue been fully formed I think it would have ebbed away any other issues.
Okay, I'll start with the epilogue (ends first!). I knew there was going to be an epilogue, that much was obvious, but when I turned the page and saw "Nineteen Years Later" I was seriously dumbfounded for a good 30-45 seconds before I decided to read on. While it was overly saccharine it was very cute. I did not hate it (as many others do) as I'm a big fan of happy endings. However, it was set way too far in the future. It is my fervent belief it should have been set either six months or one year in the future. You could have had that same very sweet ending, but incorporate MUCH more information on the characters about whom we care most. It needed to explain how everyone, the characters we love as well as the wizarding community as a whole, picked up and moved on from the nightmare. And out of that bitterness and pain we could see how love survived. I feel if she had done this in the epilogue it would have been a lot harder to dwell on what was wrong in the story.
I really liked the beginning of the book and how they ended up on the run and hiding out like they did. The imagery and bleakness of their situation was very vivid. It was really weird that Ron and Hermione got so angry with Harry as they did. I know most of the blame was on wearing the horcrux, but they knew he told them everything he knew so how is it that thought he had more information or a better plan?
Speaking of better plans, I'm not sure why, but these kids somehow got dumber in this book. They only stayed alive purely by luck. First of all, Harry's reckless impulsiveness should killed them long ago and should have definitely been fatal in this book. In the Ministry, at Hogwarts, in the tent saying Voldemort's name. I wanted to strangle him, and really wanted to punch him in the head when he said Voldemort knowing it'd break the Death Eaters. Or when he went after that doe because "it couldn't have been dark magic" as though someone wouldn't use magic to lure him then kill him. Lucky for him Snape didn't want to kill him. They put themselves in incredibly stupid situations. Godric's Hollow for one. When that "woman" was somehow able to see them under that cloak, didn't speak at all, etc. it should have been obvious. I was screaming it at the book. Same goes for the scene in Lovegood's house. That should have been SO freaking obvious! Hermione was even less clever in this book. It was a great amount of stress to be under that is sure, but there were situations in this book that would not have bettered pre-sixth book Hermione. She would have been right on top of the Lovegood situation. When it took him too long to come back from "calling" Luna to the house. Or when Luna didn't immediately come running when she found out they were there but continued to fish for plimpies. ALSO, the answer to the final horcrux was given to them in that scene. He point blank talked about the lost diadem and even Hermione didn't put two and two together? I was freaking yelling it at them (I'm aware it's a book but...shut up!). She would have been on top of the half-ass Ministry, Godric's Hollow and Gringotts plans as well. I also think that pre-sixth book Hermione would have realized that putting Nigellus' portrait in her purse would have allowed him to hear them talking and possibly hear what they were saying; where they were hiding and what they were planning. I was yelling that at the book too. Lucky for them it turned out to help them and Snape in the end. It was all was quite frustrating.
I was so right about R.A.B!!! I can't believe there were people in real life that who didn't believe me! I also can't believe how effing long it took them to realize it was Regulus or how effing long it took the light bulb to turn on that they held that horcrux and tried to open it two years prior.
It's a good thing this was the final book. I'm not sure how many times Ron and Hermione could ignore Harry's instincts, tell him what he thinks is wrong, and then be so wrong in the end. I mean nearly every one of the last four books they slapped down his ideas only to be completely wrong.
I really felt bad for Kreacher when they couldn't go back to 12 Grimwauld Place. He made such a turn around and seemed content and then they never went back.
I was disappointed that Harry didn't rise up and fulfill his destiny as a great wizard. I was hoping that he was going to rise and take out Voldemort through his talent, instead of luck and assistance as usual. While I thoroughly enjoyed him up against Voldemort - especially when he finally started calling him Tom Riddle, oh how great! The whole book I was saying that he should start calling Voldy "Tommy" to his face, it made me laugh - I feel like there should have been more. While I truly wanted him to be the one to kill Voldemort, with the curse, in a final duel, I do like how the story came full circle with the killing curse once again rebounding upon him and this time killing him.
WHY DID HEDWIG HAVE TO DIE?! That poor bird didn't deserve that! Harry didn't deserve it! That bird was his closest friend. Awww, so sad.
It was kind of weird how much Dumbledore was in this book, and how much Harry began to doubt him. But overall it did fit. Even the weird death scene at the end.
I WAS SO RIGHT about Harry having to die! It's just that he didn't. But I knew that he was going to have to die in order for Voldemort to die. While I knew he had to die, while I knew it was impossible for him not to die; I never wanted him to die. I am really glad he isn't dead. It would have been too much to read the horrible atrocities he has had to suffer since the age of one up to finally having to throw himself on the pyre at the age of 17. It would be too much. I'm just not too sure on how she brought him back. The shared blood. I'm not sure how that kept Harry's soul safe, but okay. Really, considering the book is titled Harry Potter and the DEATHLY HALLOWS, and since he had all three hallows, they should have been the reason he survived the killing curse. It would have made more sense to me. Otherwise, and maybe this will become clear in subsequent readings, I do not get the point of the Deathly Hallows. It just took time away from finding the horocruxs.
JK suffered a lot of butinskiitis in the last two books. The quality wasn't the same as the first five. I believe, between reading the books and interviews she has given, that a lot of people were telling her the direction the story should take, whether or not she should kill Harry, and that she went off in too many tangents and need to cut down on the size of the books. And in the end, she listened to them. The sixth book left out A LOT of detail as well as the seventh. The books didn't need to be shorter, they needed to be longer. She didn't have a problem of unanswered questions before (except the burning one of about WTF happened to James' family? We know why Harry had to go to the Dursleys, but we are left to assume that there was no one left on the Potter side to help him out) but the last two left A LOT that were never answered. She needed to stick to her writing instincts. If Harry was to die, then he needed to die. If he was to live then he should have lived. When Voldemort hit him with the killing curse and that chapter ended you can really tell that it became a card game of her trying to decide whether he lives or dies. She choose for him to live and set up the rest, but I can't really tell that there was any definitive choice on her part for that to be the case. (Also, she should have told Stephen King to shove it. The man can't even fucking finish his own books who the hell is he to tell her how she should finish hers?) I also think that she was distracted. I'm pretty sure she had another kid while writing book six and it all became a little too much.
I never really liked Dobby at all, but I hate that he died. It was so sad. And Harry's heartbreak was so sweet.
I always knew the final showdown would be at Hogwarts. Of course, I think anyone paying attention definitely knew as well. But I could not imagine how awesome it would be. I loved it all. Even reading it the chaos and confusion came through the spirit of the kids who stayed to fight, more courageous than many adults, the magic that was used, the sacrifice of life in the name of Harry and freedom. It was just amazing!
BUT OH MY GOD, FREEEEEEEEEEEEED!!!!1 *SOBS* Ugh, his death, of all in the book, hit me the hardest. I cried for a good five-ten minutes. I fucking loved those twins. I can't believe he's dead. I really wish JK had wrote in the Weasleys finding out about his death, especially George. God, I was seriously worried about George. Like there is truly life for these characters beyond the book and that he'd really have to be dealing with the loss of half of him, his true soul mate. THAT should have been in the epilogue. How did that family move on? How did George move on?
I knew the second Tonks ran from the Room of Requirement that she and Lupin would die and leave Teddy an orphan. I could hope, but I knew that is what would happen. And, of course, I was right. I was never a big fan of Tonks, but I loved Lupin. I hate so much that he died. But what I hate more is Teddy being orphaned. She introduced this baby, took his parents, and then didn't explain what happened to him beyond him making out with a Weasley cousin on the Hogwarts express (at 19 by the way...wtf?). With whom did he live? The assumption is his grandmother, but I doubt she lived another 19 years. Why did he never go live with his Godfather? What was the point of all that if it didn't wrap up neatly in the end? ESPECIALLY because it would have brought the story full circle again. Harry was an orphan raised in horrid, remarkable abusive conditions and here he would have been a full Godfather to this child and would have raised him in love as a true son. Of course he wouldn't have been able to do so at 17, but I figured it would have eventually ended up that way.
I'm utterly disappointed in the lack of relationship development in the book. I'm really disappointed in the overall lack of Ginny in the book. She was too awesome and too talented not to utilize. And as much as we had to wade through Harry's crush on Cho, his courting of Cho, his dating of Cho and the break up with Cho, I think we deserved more than two paltry scenes with he and Ginny over two books. We deserved seeing some of a real relationship.
The same goes for Ron and Hermione. Their romantic relationship was coming since Book 1 and we don't get anything until near the end of Book 7? And even then it was some schmaltzy movie scene where they're in the middle of a huge battle and yet are taking the time to make out. Thankfully Harry was there to remind them. But I really think we deserved more of their relationship after watching it develop from a loathing to a friendship to a romance.
Finally, if nothing else, above ALL else, I am so, unbelieveably happy at Snape's redemption!!!! I absolutely KNEW it! The first time I read the 6th book I thought so, the second time I was even more sure, and the third time I was absolutely - beyond a shadow of a doubt - sure that he was on the side of good. I'll admit that because it took so long to get to it in DH that I started to wonder and at first was a little glad when Nagini struck, but I'm so glad the payoff came. YAY, SEVERUS!! He was still a jackass and all, but I'm just so happy I'm not even making sense. That and I'm sleepy. I loved his indignation at Dumbledore using Harry to find the horcruxes and leading him to slaughter. That they were never meant to protect Harry's life, but to keep him alive until it was the right time for him to die. I also love that it was, once again, love that had a major role in bringing Voldemort down.
Overall I think my biggest problem is that I'm truly, truly sad that it's over. I'm really going to miss having new books come out, miss the anticipation and miss pouring through a Harry Potter novel for the first time. I'm not just grieving for the characters that died (and I always will grieve for Sirius - he was and will always be my favorite), I really think that this is the true sense of loss I am feeling. Everytime I really think about it now, I get misty-eyed.
ETA Thoughts:
***Neville was freaking badass in this book! I loved how great he was.
***I also meant to add that JK was thinking of the movies too much when writing the last two/three books. Odes to the movie, making it easier on the movies and just referencing past actions that occurred in the movie and not the book is maddening!
***I can't believe I forgot one of the biggest things; how the situation became even more like the Third Reich in this book. Hell, she even brought up Nuremberg with "Nurmengard" though that was a prison that was in use during Grendewald's reign of terror. Still. Plus the Muggle-born registration, the constant bombardment of really good propaganda espousing the nonexistent evils of the group they want you to hate (or how they have caused ill upon the more deserving). Forcing others in dissension into servitude under the threat of death.
***I'm really...I don't know, irritated/confused, about the Taboo on the name Voldemort. Ron says that is how the Death Eaters found them with they disapparated from the wedding. However, if you look at how much time occurs between that event and when Ron finally yells at Harry and Hermione for using the name I cannot believe that in all that time they never said his name. I'll have to read the book again to figure that one out, but it's bugging me.
***I just really want to reiterate a how absolutely AMAZING the Hogwarts showdown is. I loved every bit of it (except with that truly horrific bit of Fred dying - DAMMIT I can't stop thinking about that!).
***Also want to reiterate how happy I am that I was right about Snape and just KNEW that Dumbledore asked Snape to kill him.
***Also in things that needed to be in the epilogue; did Harry, Ron, and Hermione finish their last year at Hogwarts? Were they given amnesty (of sorts) for that year considering they brought down Voldemort, and a pass on their N.E.W.Ts? What did they eventually become? (I honestly would have expected that Hermione would have been a professor at Hogwarts.) Though, (praise Jebus!), some answers may be on the way.
***This is something that only dawned on me last night but is really kind of awesome in a way; Harry and Voldemort are related. I'm so surprised that she never had Harry mention it, especially in that last duel with Voldemort (who I maintain he should have called "Tommy" at one point - that would have made my life.) Of course, with the exception of the Muggle-borns, pretty much all extended members of pure-blood Wizarding families are related. Plus they never gave the family line of the third Pervell brother. So you just know Harry and Ginny are related. HAH.
***starfishncoffee reminded me of a BIG gripe I had with the kids (along the lines of them getting dumber): WHY THE FUCK did they continually call each other by their real names whenever they were in disguise?? There's no point in drinking Polyjuice Potion if you're just going to scream "HARRY" or "HERMIONE" anyway!!
Updated 1352, 26 July
However, I'm not at all sure how coherent this is going to be as I only got 3.5 hours sleep last night due to finishing the book. I'm sure I'll forget stuff and have to add on later. Or I'll post more posts. Whatever.
I have no idea how to organize this, my brain is super fried. I read through about 24 hours over the weekend to finish this book. Plus, I either have dyslexia, or the editing on this book was more rushed and horrible than usual. There were sentences that made absolutely NO sense, no matter how many times I read them. Other times I had to read the sentence three and four times to get the meaning.
I'm not sure how to sum up my feelings on the book. I did like it, a lot. However, it was far from perfect. Honestly, I think a little tweaking here and there would have done the trick. In fact, had the epilogue been fully formed I think it would have ebbed away any other issues.
Okay, I'll start with the epilogue (ends first!). I knew there was going to be an epilogue, that much was obvious, but when I turned the page and saw "Nineteen Years Later" I was seriously dumbfounded for a good 30-45 seconds before I decided to read on. While it was overly saccharine it was very cute. I did not hate it (as many others do) as I'm a big fan of happy endings. However, it was set way too far in the future. It is my fervent belief it should have been set either six months or one year in the future. You could have had that same very sweet ending, but incorporate MUCH more information on the characters about whom we care most. It needed to explain how everyone, the characters we love as well as the wizarding community as a whole, picked up and moved on from the nightmare. And out of that bitterness and pain we could see how love survived. I feel if she had done this in the epilogue it would have been a lot harder to dwell on what was wrong in the story.
I really liked the beginning of the book and how they ended up on the run and hiding out like they did. The imagery and bleakness of their situation was very vivid. It was really weird that Ron and Hermione got so angry with Harry as they did. I know most of the blame was on wearing the horcrux, but they knew he told them everything he knew so how is it that thought he had more information or a better plan?
Speaking of better plans, I'm not sure why, but these kids somehow got dumber in this book. They only stayed alive purely by luck. First of all, Harry's reckless impulsiveness should killed them long ago and should have definitely been fatal in this book. In the Ministry, at Hogwarts, in the tent saying Voldemort's name. I wanted to strangle him, and really wanted to punch him in the head when he said Voldemort knowing it'd break the Death Eaters. Or when he went after that doe because "it couldn't have been dark magic" as though someone wouldn't use magic to lure him then kill him. Lucky for him Snape didn't want to kill him. They put themselves in incredibly stupid situations. Godric's Hollow for one. When that "woman" was somehow able to see them under that cloak, didn't speak at all, etc. it should have been obvious. I was screaming it at the book. Same goes for the scene in Lovegood's house. That should have been SO freaking obvious! Hermione was even less clever in this book. It was a great amount of stress to be under that is sure, but there were situations in this book that would not have bettered pre-sixth book Hermione. She would have been right on top of the Lovegood situation. When it took him too long to come back from "calling" Luna to the house. Or when Luna didn't immediately come running when she found out they were there but continued to fish for plimpies. ALSO, the answer to the final horcrux was given to them in that scene. He point blank talked about the lost diadem and even Hermione didn't put two and two together? I was freaking yelling it at them (I'm aware it's a book but...shut up!). She would have been on top of the half-ass Ministry, Godric's Hollow and Gringotts plans as well. I also think that pre-sixth book Hermione would have realized that putting Nigellus' portrait in her purse would have allowed him to hear them talking and possibly hear what they were saying; where they were hiding and what they were planning. I was yelling that at the book too. Lucky for them it turned out to help them and Snape in the end. It was all was quite frustrating.
I was so right about R.A.B!!! I can't believe there were people in real life that who didn't believe me! I also can't believe how effing long it took them to realize it was Regulus or how effing long it took the light bulb to turn on that they held that horcrux and tried to open it two years prior.
It's a good thing this was the final book. I'm not sure how many times Ron and Hermione could ignore Harry's instincts, tell him what he thinks is wrong, and then be so wrong in the end. I mean nearly every one of the last four books they slapped down his ideas only to be completely wrong.
I really felt bad for Kreacher when they couldn't go back to 12 Grimwauld Place. He made such a turn around and seemed content and then they never went back.
I was disappointed that Harry didn't rise up and fulfill his destiny as a great wizard. I was hoping that he was going to rise and take out Voldemort through his talent, instead of luck and assistance as usual. While I thoroughly enjoyed him up against Voldemort - especially when he finally started calling him Tom Riddle, oh how great! The whole book I was saying that he should start calling Voldy "Tommy" to his face, it made me laugh - I feel like there should have been more. While I truly wanted him to be the one to kill Voldemort, with the curse, in a final duel, I do like how the story came full circle with the killing curse once again rebounding upon him and this time killing him.
WHY DID HEDWIG HAVE TO DIE?! That poor bird didn't deserve that! Harry didn't deserve it! That bird was his closest friend. Awww, so sad.
It was kind of weird how much Dumbledore was in this book, and how much Harry began to doubt him. But overall it did fit. Even the weird death scene at the end.
I WAS SO RIGHT about Harry having to die! It's just that he didn't. But I knew that he was going to have to die in order for Voldemort to die. While I knew he had to die, while I knew it was impossible for him not to die; I never wanted him to die. I am really glad he isn't dead. It would have been too much to read the horrible atrocities he has had to suffer since the age of one up to finally having to throw himself on the pyre at the age of 17. It would be too much. I'm just not too sure on how she brought him back. The shared blood. I'm not sure how that kept Harry's soul safe, but okay. Really, considering the book is titled Harry Potter and the DEATHLY HALLOWS, and since he had all three hallows, they should have been the reason he survived the killing curse. It would have made more sense to me. Otherwise, and maybe this will become clear in subsequent readings, I do not get the point of the Deathly Hallows. It just took time away from finding the horocruxs.
JK suffered a lot of butinskiitis in the last two books. The quality wasn't the same as the first five. I believe, between reading the books and interviews she has given, that a lot of people were telling her the direction the story should take, whether or not she should kill Harry, and that she went off in too many tangents and need to cut down on the size of the books. And in the end, she listened to them. The sixth book left out A LOT of detail as well as the seventh. The books didn't need to be shorter, they needed to be longer. She didn't have a problem of unanswered questions before (except the burning one of about WTF happened to James' family? We know why Harry had to go to the Dursleys, but we are left to assume that there was no one left on the Potter side to help him out) but the last two left A LOT that were never answered. She needed to stick to her writing instincts. If Harry was to die, then he needed to die. If he was to live then he should have lived. When Voldemort hit him with the killing curse and that chapter ended you can really tell that it became a card game of her trying to decide whether he lives or dies. She choose for him to live and set up the rest, but I can't really tell that there was any definitive choice on her part for that to be the case. (Also, she should have told Stephen King to shove it. The man can't even fucking finish his own books who the hell is he to tell her how she should finish hers?) I also think that she was distracted. I'm pretty sure she had another kid while writing book six and it all became a little too much.
I never really liked Dobby at all, but I hate that he died. It was so sad. And Harry's heartbreak was so sweet.
I always knew the final showdown would be at Hogwarts. Of course, I think anyone paying attention definitely knew as well. But I could not imagine how awesome it would be. I loved it all. Even reading it the chaos and confusion came through the spirit of the kids who stayed to fight, more courageous than many adults, the magic that was used, the sacrifice of life in the name of Harry and freedom. It was just amazing!
BUT OH MY GOD, FREEEEEEEEEEEEED!!!!1 *SOBS* Ugh, his death, of all in the book, hit me the hardest. I cried for a good five-ten minutes. I fucking loved those twins. I can't believe he's dead. I really wish JK had wrote in the Weasleys finding out about his death, especially George. God, I was seriously worried about George. Like there is truly life for these characters beyond the book and that he'd really have to be dealing with the loss of half of him, his true soul mate. THAT should have been in the epilogue. How did that family move on? How did George move on?
I knew the second Tonks ran from the Room of Requirement that she and Lupin would die and leave Teddy an orphan. I could hope, but I knew that is what would happen. And, of course, I was right. I was never a big fan of Tonks, but I loved Lupin. I hate so much that he died. But what I hate more is Teddy being orphaned. She introduced this baby, took his parents, and then didn't explain what happened to him beyond him making out with a Weasley cousin on the Hogwarts express (at 19 by the way...wtf?). With whom did he live? The assumption is his grandmother, but I doubt she lived another 19 years. Why did he never go live with his Godfather? What was the point of all that if it didn't wrap up neatly in the end? ESPECIALLY because it would have brought the story full circle again. Harry was an orphan raised in horrid, remarkable abusive conditions and here he would have been a full Godfather to this child and would have raised him in love as a true son. Of course he wouldn't have been able to do so at 17, but I figured it would have eventually ended up that way.
I'm utterly disappointed in the lack of relationship development in the book. I'm really disappointed in the overall lack of Ginny in the book. She was too awesome and too talented not to utilize. And as much as we had to wade through Harry's crush on Cho, his courting of Cho, his dating of Cho and the break up with Cho, I think we deserved more than two paltry scenes with he and Ginny over two books. We deserved seeing some of a real relationship.
The same goes for Ron and Hermione. Their romantic relationship was coming since Book 1 and we don't get anything until near the end of Book 7? And even then it was some schmaltzy movie scene where they're in the middle of a huge battle and yet are taking the time to make out. Thankfully Harry was there to remind them. But I really think we deserved more of their relationship after watching it develop from a loathing to a friendship to a romance.
Finally, if nothing else, above ALL else, I am so, unbelieveably happy at Snape's redemption!!!! I absolutely KNEW it! The first time I read the 6th book I thought so, the second time I was even more sure, and the third time I was absolutely - beyond a shadow of a doubt - sure that he was on the side of good. I'll admit that because it took so long to get to it in DH that I started to wonder and at first was a little glad when Nagini struck, but I'm so glad the payoff came. YAY, SEVERUS!! He was still a jackass and all, but I'm just so happy I'm not even making sense. That and I'm sleepy. I loved his indignation at Dumbledore using Harry to find the horcruxes and leading him to slaughter. That they were never meant to protect Harry's life, but to keep him alive until it was the right time for him to die. I also love that it was, once again, love that had a major role in bringing Voldemort down.
Overall I think my biggest problem is that I'm truly, truly sad that it's over. I'm really going to miss having new books come out, miss the anticipation and miss pouring through a Harry Potter novel for the first time. I'm not just grieving for the characters that died (and I always will grieve for Sirius - he was and will always be my favorite), I really think that this is the true sense of loss I am feeling. Everytime I really think about it now, I get misty-eyed.
ETA Thoughts:
***Neville was freaking badass in this book! I loved how great he was.
***I also meant to add that JK was thinking of the movies too much when writing the last two/three books. Odes to the movie, making it easier on the movies and just referencing past actions that occurred in the movie and not the book is maddening!
***I can't believe I forgot one of the biggest things; how the situation became even more like the Third Reich in this book. Hell, she even brought up Nuremberg with "Nurmengard" though that was a prison that was in use during Grendewald's reign of terror. Still. Plus the Muggle-born registration, the constant bombardment of really good propaganda espousing the nonexistent evils of the group they want you to hate (or how they have caused ill upon the more deserving). Forcing others in dissension into servitude under the threat of death.
***I'm really...I don't know, irritated/confused, about the Taboo on the name Voldemort. Ron says that is how the Death Eaters found them with they disapparated from the wedding. However, if you look at how much time occurs between that event and when Ron finally yells at Harry and Hermione for using the name I cannot believe that in all that time they never said his name. I'll have to read the book again to figure that one out, but it's bugging me.
***I just really want to reiterate a how absolutely AMAZING the Hogwarts showdown is. I loved every bit of it (except with that truly horrific bit of Fred dying - DAMMIT I can't stop thinking about that!).
***Also want to reiterate how happy I am that I was right about Snape and just KNEW that Dumbledore asked Snape to kill him.
***Also in things that needed to be in the epilogue; did Harry, Ron, and Hermione finish their last year at Hogwarts? Were they given amnesty (of sorts) for that year considering they brought down Voldemort, and a pass on their N.E.W.Ts? What did they eventually become? (I honestly would have expected that Hermione would have been a professor at Hogwarts.) Though, (praise Jebus!), some answers may be on the way.
***This is something that only dawned on me last night but is really kind of awesome in a way; Harry and Voldemort are related. I'm so surprised that she never had Harry mention it, especially in that last duel with Voldemort (who I maintain he should have called "Tommy" at one point - that would have made my life.) Of course, with the exception of the Muggle-borns, pretty much all extended members of pure-blood Wizarding families are related. Plus they never gave the family line of the third Pervell brother. So you just know Harry and Ginny are related. HAH.
***starfishncoffee reminded me of a BIG gripe I had with the kids (along the lines of them getting dumber): WHY THE FUCK did they continually call each other by their real names whenever they were in disguise?? There's no point in drinking Polyjuice Potion if you're just going to scream "HARRY" or "HERMIONE" anyway!!
Updated 1352, 26 July