Hallows, deathly or otherwise
So, I'm done.
And that was good. That was very good, well done, quite satisfying.
However, there are some things that just do not satisfy us, precious. OK, one big thing in particular. Draco Malfoy and the complete lack of redemption for Slytherin house. (Title of the 8th book?)
After blithering on about house unity for much of the series, not to do anything about rehabilitating the reputation of Slytherin is downright ridiculous. Apparently "house unity" means "the glorious banner of the red, yellow and blue, and we were right not to trust those vicious snakes all along". Not a single Slytherin rebells against the Carrows. Not a single Slytherin remains behind to fight for Hogwarts. And when Snape is revealed to be Quite Alright Really, we have Dumbledore practically saying, "Gee, Sev, you should've been in Gryffindor!" One can only assume that the house still exists nineteen years in the future as some sort of early-warning system for nasty sorts, because clearly there is nothing worthwhile in the house itself.
BAH!
Are we supposed to believe that in a house full of the most ambitious and cunning minds of the school there was not one person who wasn't willing to subsume their own ambitions to those of Lord Voldemort? Not one who went, "Goddamn, I'm prettier than this man is, like hell I'm bowing to his flunkies!" Not one who provided subtle and unseen assistance to the blundering DA? Slytherin is not absence of courage. It is merely presence of personal direction towards which to bend that courage. At least, that's what I'd always believed. And yet, I see that I was wrong, and actually, Slytherin is full of lying, cheating, cowardly snakes. THANKS, JKR, for disabusing me of this silly notion.
I always said that if Draco Malfoy did not redeem Slytherin house, then JKR had dropped the ball. I hold to that. Doubly. She didn't show that Slytherin had something worthwhile about it, and moreover, I don't think she followed through on Draco's arc from Half-Blood Prince. Now, sure, it makes sense for Draco to be petrified in terror for the entire book and just blither about on the spot, but fiction is not about making sense! It's about narrative necessities and what shapes a story. Draco needed to grow a spine, show some worth, and redeem both his name and his house. Not get his life saved twice by our intrepid heroes, once quite comically, and have his mother deliver some half-arsed Malfoy-redemption.
Ms Rowling, you dropped the ball. Poor show.
I pretty much enjoyed everything else. It was good fun, and well done, with that exception. Oh, there were some minor annoyances - the Remus and Tonks soap opera, for instance, or the proliferation of explaining-it-all info-dumps. But overall it was very satisfying.
Even the deaths were satisfying! For a while, I was slightly worried that she wasn't going to kill Snape, and I couldn't see how that could possibly work. No sweat! My money was safe. But then I lost it all on the Weasley death. I was so sure she couldn't possibly kill one of the twins. All my money was riding on Charlie to cop it, because nothing untoward had happened to Charlie yet. (And still nothing untoward has happened to him. Lucky Charlie! He's buying the drinks after the war.) I didn't actually think she had the black-heartedness to kill one of the twins, though. (I do note that she didn't have the black-heartedness to do it in front of the other twin. *G*)
And how delighted was I at the delightful jaunt into Dumbledore's dark past? All the Grindelwald stuff? VERY DELIGHTED omg. I can almost forgive the shameful shafting of Slytherin for it. That's how delighted. Splendidly done, right down to giving Hitler an Illuminati link. So amusing.
What have I forgotten to talk about? Oh yes, that much-reviled epilogue. Heh. Personally, I don't know what everyone's so upset about. I thought it was quite delightful. Of course, I've been dabbling in next-gen Hogwarts for over a year now, so maybe I'm more used to the concept. I'm not sure about "Scorpius" (I called my Malfoy scion "Abraxas") but hey, it works.
So anyway. I'm glad it's over. I'm happy to have finished it, and fairly well satisfied with how it all hangs together. Now we can all get on with our lives.
And that was good. That was very good, well done, quite satisfying.
However, there are some things that just do not satisfy us, precious. OK, one big thing in particular. Draco Malfoy and the complete lack of redemption for Slytherin house. (Title of the 8th book?)
After blithering on about house unity for much of the series, not to do anything about rehabilitating the reputation of Slytherin is downright ridiculous. Apparently "house unity" means "the glorious banner of the red, yellow and blue, and we were right not to trust those vicious snakes all along". Not a single Slytherin rebells against the Carrows. Not a single Slytherin remains behind to fight for Hogwarts. And when Snape is revealed to be Quite Alright Really, we have Dumbledore practically saying, "Gee, Sev, you should've been in Gryffindor!" One can only assume that the house still exists nineteen years in the future as some sort of early-warning system for nasty sorts, because clearly there is nothing worthwhile in the house itself.
BAH!
Are we supposed to believe that in a house full of the most ambitious and cunning minds of the school there was not one person who wasn't willing to subsume their own ambitions to those of Lord Voldemort? Not one who went, "Goddamn, I'm prettier than this man is, like hell I'm bowing to his flunkies!" Not one who provided subtle and unseen assistance to the blundering DA? Slytherin is not absence of courage. It is merely presence of personal direction towards which to bend that courage. At least, that's what I'd always believed. And yet, I see that I was wrong, and actually, Slytherin is full of lying, cheating, cowardly snakes. THANKS, JKR, for disabusing me of this silly notion.
I always said that if Draco Malfoy did not redeem Slytherin house, then JKR had dropped the ball. I hold to that. Doubly. She didn't show that Slytherin had something worthwhile about it, and moreover, I don't think she followed through on Draco's arc from Half-Blood Prince. Now, sure, it makes sense for Draco to be petrified in terror for the entire book and just blither about on the spot, but fiction is not about making sense! It's about narrative necessities and what shapes a story. Draco needed to grow a spine, show some worth, and redeem both his name and his house. Not get his life saved twice by our intrepid heroes, once quite comically, and have his mother deliver some half-arsed Malfoy-redemption.
Ms Rowling, you dropped the ball. Poor show.
I pretty much enjoyed everything else. It was good fun, and well done, with that exception. Oh, there were some minor annoyances - the Remus and Tonks soap opera, for instance, or the proliferation of explaining-it-all info-dumps. But overall it was very satisfying.
Even the deaths were satisfying! For a while, I was slightly worried that she wasn't going to kill Snape, and I couldn't see how that could possibly work. No sweat! My money was safe. But then I lost it all on the Weasley death. I was so sure she couldn't possibly kill one of the twins. All my money was riding on Charlie to cop it, because nothing untoward had happened to Charlie yet. (And still nothing untoward has happened to him. Lucky Charlie! He's buying the drinks after the war.) I didn't actually think she had the black-heartedness to kill one of the twins, though. (I do note that she didn't have the black-heartedness to do it in front of the other twin. *G*)
And how delighted was I at the delightful jaunt into Dumbledore's dark past? All the Grindelwald stuff? VERY DELIGHTED omg. I can almost forgive the shameful shafting of Slytherin for it. That's how delighted. Splendidly done, right down to giving Hitler an Illuminati link. So amusing.
What have I forgotten to talk about? Oh yes, that much-reviled epilogue. Heh. Personally, I don't know what everyone's so upset about. I thought it was quite delightful. Of course, I've been dabbling in next-gen Hogwarts for over a year now, so maybe I'm more used to the concept. I'm not sure about "Scorpius" (I called my Malfoy scion "Abraxas") but hey, it works.
So anyway. I'm glad it's over. I'm happy to have finished it, and fairly well satisfied with how it all hangs together. Now we can all get on with our lives.