Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
54 things and a bit of meta
The following is mostly positive. Keep in mind I'm a romantic at heart.
Also, I read the book in thirds. After each of the first two thirds, I made notes. For the last third, I scrawled notes as I read. So if this list of things to ponder and squee over seems lopsided, that's why. And as ZZ pointed out, the trio spend most of the first two thirds of the book sitting around in a tent whining, so the action is in the last bit anyway. :)
This list does not represent everything I liked, just the stuff that I feel the need to talk about. In roughly chronological order.
1. The first chapter: I wasn't crazy about it. Felt clunky. But it did put us right into Voldemort's reign of terror, so that's okay. I was intrigued by Draco, there, too. (Which, of course, never came to anything.)
2. The real history of Dumbledore: the mystery of it made me nervous from the start, but I can't help but really appreciate the way she gave real depth to this man who had been lovely and complex but impenetrable for so long. Still, nerve-wracking, especially at the start, and seeing Harry slowly lose faith. I kind of love that in the end, we see that it's not so much about Harry having faith in Dumbledore, it's Dumbledore having faith and trust in Harry. That was really rather lovely.
3. Goodbye Dursleys. I didn't miss them. I don't care to know what happened to them. I'm glad Dudley had that moment of equivocation, although that's probably all the redemption we can stand out of those foul Muggles.
4. The seven Harrys plan was cool but really fucking dangerous. (I like how the seven Harrys mirrors the seven horcruxes, too.) I was surprised that we got some serious carnage and action so soon in the book.
5. First CHEST-CLUTCHY MOMENT: George Weasley, OMG. Dude. And George's first word: "Saintlike." Such love. And for Fred here: "Pathetic! With the whole wide world of ear-related humor before you, you go for holey?" I do adore those two.
6. Preparing at the Burrow: it was interesting to see Harry, Ron, and Hermione planning their journey. They were still very much themselves, but they were…all grown up, you know? They've come so far, and even if the end of the book shows you that, I find it easier to see in the quiet moments, like when Ron and Hermione are telling him about their preparations.
7. Speaking of that, it's annoying to see Harry still trying to go it alone-that's his Achilles heel, I think, this martyrdom complex, wanting to protect people all the time (especially about Ginny Weasley, a frighteningly competent witch who apparently needs to be preserved for the marriage bed or something equally 18th century…but I will not rant…at least not here…). But I love that he finally has to accept that Ron and Hermione are just as much a part of this as he is. I can't imagine him not doing this with them.
8. Harry giving himself over to the visions of Voldemort: scary territory, but it made Harry rather impressive to me. (All in all, I sometimes find him a too-good-to-be-true, colorless hero, but he had some actual angst here, some adult decisions to be made about understanding his own mind and dealing with evil, so that was cool to see.)
9. I really liked Harry telling off the minister of magic. He has some great tell-offs in this one. Let us hope another couple years for Daniel Radcliffe to mature will let him deliver these scenes with gravitas and spunk, not adolescent door-slamming crankiness.
10. Kreacher! I find it so fucking interesting how they get him on their side, how the boys finally realize Hermione's quest about the house elves isn't crap. The idea that these creatures are kind of forced, in a way, to take on the ideology of who they serve, to the point that even though Hermione's Kreacher's greatest ally there, he can't accept support and sympathy from a mud-blood…not entirely. Even if he's still a slave, essentially, I like that he's cooking for them. It keeps my Ron happy. And when Kraecher's gonna whack Mundungus with a skillet, oh I whopped and hollered at that. :)
11. Lupin: I was none too pleased with my Remus's attitude. He was even more prickly and morose than normal. Now, I love his angst, I do, and I appreciate the fact that he's conflicted about the things he's conflicted about, but he was being an ass. Running out on his pregnant wife! Jesus Chris, Remus! I'm glad Harry called him on it. Not so happy he's dead, but, hell-he gets to spend the afterlife with his fuckbuddy good friend Sirius Black. And anybody who turns up in a Return of the Jedi-style convocation of fallen heroes is in a good place, story-wise.
12. Hogwarts under Snape: Rowling does a nice job building up how scary the wizarding world has become, but it's not until we hear about what's happened to Hogwarts that it hits me. They are truly and totally fucked. Voldemort didn't need to go in and blast people; he just had to slowly and carefully bamboozle the people in charge. Creepy.
13. I love that the trio tries to get the muggle-borns out of the ministry. Don't know why.
14. Second CHEST-CLUTCHY MOMENT: Ron. Oh Ron. I'd never in a million years believe my Ron could leave them. But it's rather perfect that he did. He wouldn't be my favorite character if he wasn't so human. It made me sick seeing how the locket affected him, but knowing he wouldn't be able to find them again if he left, and then seeing him leave… GAH. And Hermione cries and cries (because Rowling's apparently writing Emma now), and Harry… sitting up at night watching Ginny's dot on the Marauders' Map. *wibble*
15. I'm glad Harry got to go to Godric's Hollow. He needed to see that plaque that everyone had written encouragements on. He needed to know he was supported.
16. But they had to know it was a trap. Had to know! Have they never seen any Muggle horror movies? You don't go alone up the stairs with a crazy person unless you're prepared for her to turn into a snake and try to kill you.
17. Harry's broken wand: scared the shit out of me for him. Really.
18. Third CHEST-CLUTCHY MOMENT: "Are-you-mental?" I squeed and threw down the book, I think. That was so Ron it hurt. I love the whole scene, and I can't wait to see it play out in the film. From the eerie night and silvery doe patronus to the cold pond and then Ron saving the day. And then the poor boy has to face his worst nightmare: being taunted with how no one could ever think he was worth anything, that he will essentially never get out of Harry's shadow. I'm so proud of him for admitting that he's afraid to destroy that horcrux, but I'm even prouder that he faced those horrible manipulations and did it anyway. Beyond proud.
19. But Hermione… She's still angry with him, and that's perfect. It's at that moment that Rowling and Ron finally stop pretending Ron isn't trying win the poor girl's heart in a desperate, desperate way.
20. The deluminator: I love that Ron says he knows Dumbledore gave it to him because he'd run away, and Harry says it was because he knew he'd come back.
21. I love when Ron says Harry's making what he did sound cooler than it was, and Harry says he's been trying to tell him that for years. That was so them.
22. Potterwatch was nice. Rowling does a great (if not unrealistic) job placing such things throughout the book to bolster Harry's self-esteem. I was just as excited as he was to hear from all his friends.
23. OMG, the scene at the Malfoy house: I'm sorry, but a lot of interesting plot was lost on me worrying over Ron having to hear them torturing Hermione. I was dreadfully afraid he'd do something stupid-like he always does to defend her-but he turned up all heroic and badass, decidedly the opposite of puking slugs for half an hour. When did he get to be a real wizard? God, do I love him.
24. Okay, so what do we do with the Dues Ex House Elf? Seriously, I squealed to see Dobby to the rescue, and his valiant protection of Harry is canon, but you can't just do that, as a writer, can you? Can you? Oh, well.
25. Chapter 24 (The Wandmaker): I make fun of Rowling's prose a lot, but I thought this chapter was really well-written, and it contained some really evocative things, from the well-used seaside locale (providing metaphors that actually worked well for Harry's state of mind without being goofy or clunky) to Dobby's funeral to the quibbling with the goblin to the chilling tomb raiding scene.
26. Goblins: In general, I like how this book delves into the politics of the wizarding world, with the relationship of both the goblins and the house elves to the wizards. Fascinating.
27. Aberforth is the barman? I don't know why I never expected to see Aberforth in the book, but it was cool to see him, and to see that he was persuaded into helping.
28. Neville Longbottom. Motherfucking hero. I can't believe our Neville has been the bad-ass authority-bucking uberGryffindor since Harry's been gone. He is so gonna get laid like crazy in the aftermath of the Battle of Hogwarts.
29. I rather love that everyone assumes Harry's come back to start a war. I love it even more that he kind of gets swept into it; not only that, he stops stonewalling and lets people help him with his quest.
30. Luna stuns Alecto Carrow and watches the Ravenclaws find her body: "Oh, look. They're pleased." She's so fun.
31. Harry and McGonnagall, cooperating without any bullshit, just getting the job done. God, I love her.
32. Percy Weasley!
33. Was I the only one who thought Ron and Hermione had disappeared to either lose their virginities before they died or profess their undying love to each other, or both at once? I was properly ashamed to know they'd gone off on their own and destroyed a horcrux. And Ron managed to impress Hermione with his smarts!
34. Fourth CHEST-CLUTCHY MOMENT: Hermione's cold little heart defrosts when Ron wants to save the house elves! It was halfway anti-climactic, though, because we knew they were on a collision course to true love. And we also knew we'd never get deep introspective analysis of their relationship, since they're not in Harry's POV. But, still, canon OTP, FTW!
35. Grr, the way they treat Ginny, with the constant protecting of The Future Mother of Harry Potter's Children. They try to pass it off as an age thing, but, hell, the girl was in the Ministry two books ago, kicking ass. It's like Harry likes a strong woman, as long as he can keep her in a glass case. Irks me. Sorry. (I'll gladly take counter-arguments; I'd love not to be irritated at this love story.)
36. Why oh why oh why do they save the evil pack of Slytherins? I was hoping it was so Malfoy could do something bad ass. No such luck.
37. RIP Fred Weasley. God, what will George do?
38. Saving Malfoy twice? But I love that Ron got to punch him in the face.
39. I thought Hagrid was dead, and I was super pissed about his blah ending. I actually felt kind of short changed about Hagrid in this book.
40. Then I was super super pissed about Snape just…being killed. Until we got to see what was in the pensieve. I apparently was inspired to write some knee-jerk meta about this, which I'm including at the end of the post. Right here, I'll just say I was glad to see that I was right (my friend and I have been having a Trust Snape vs. Snape is a Bad Guy thing going on for a couple of weeks now), even if that seemed anti-climactic. I was mostly glad to see how it shone more light on Dumbledore's character. Aberforth was right: he liked secrets, and it was kind of destructive.
41. Fifth CHEST-CLUTCHY MOMENT: Okay, I'm a sap. Argue all you want about the lameness or coolness of it if you want. But I think Snape's patronus being the doe is just…gah, too much. I don't think it destroys Snape at all to see that he's been carrying this around on his heart for so long. And it tidily explains why I was sure it was somehow Harry's mother pointing him to the sword.
42. Sixth CHEST-CLUTCHY MOMENT: Harry must die. I'm glad Rowling didn't kill Harry, but I'm also glad we got the surrender to death and the fallout from that. That's the point that I started crying, and the crying didn't stop until after King's Cross. I'm probably not the only one who cried as he walked calmly to his death without getting to say goodbye to anyone.
43. How did I miss Lupin being dead until the parade of the noble dead scene? That hit me hard. But it did feel extraordinarily right for him to be there with James and Sirius. That warmed my heart.
44. I realize we do get our showdown later, but I like the anti-climax of Harry just walking into the clearing and letting Voldemort strike him down. It was perfect, somehow.
45. I'm so intruiged by how a mother's love saves Harry again, in a way: Harry's saving Malfoy in turn earns him the amnesty of Narcissa Malfoy.
46. Dumbledore: Rowling just can't end a book without Dumbledore explaining all the mumbo-jumbo, can she? It always feels like a cheat, but with a book of this sort, it really is nice to have that long but comforting explanatory stuff there. And it felt like it was earned, like it all fit together without being crammed (like, say, the crappy end to Chamber of Secrets).
47. I think it's cool that Harry was the seventh Horcrux. Just for the record. Creepy but cool.
48. I find Dumbledore so compelling in that King's Cross scene. That he was afraid of power interests me a lot. That the roles are reversed and Harry's reassuring him.
49. I could not believe the good guys were fighting, even after Hagrid marches up there with Harry's "dead" body. God.
50. Seventh CHEST-CLUTCHY MOMENT: Neville Longbottom kills that fucking snake. Oh my God, baby, you are made entirely of awesome.
51. Kreacher leads the house elves into the battle. I squeed.
52. Mrs. Weasley pwns Bellatrix Lestrange. BWAH!
53. At the top of page 743, I scared the cat, and I'm still not sure why it elicited such a scream from me: "The true master of the Elder Wand was Draco Malfoy." Perhaps because I thought it meant we'd see him join in the fray. I mean, Dumbledore saved his soul for a reason. I wasn't even thinking of the wand-logic and how this made Harry's wand stronger the Voldy's. I think if there had been a definitive battle between Harry and Draco where the wand was taken, that would have made this even better, but as it is, I'll take it.
54. Epilogue: I don't know how I feel about it. I wish she'd left that for fanfic writers to do, if they want to see everyone all happily married and baby-fied. But I was too happy at that point to argue with any of it. Especially not naming one of the boys Albus Severus. GOD. In my post-reading meandering of the house, crying and recounting the plot to myself, my brain kept coming back to that. And to the idea of a Potter in Slytherin house. Because a good-hearted Slytherin could change the world. Really.
Conclusion:
As you can tell, I liked this one. A lot. It wasn't without its problems, but I can always ignore problems when I like something so much overall. It dragged in places, but the plotting itself was so much tighter than some of the earlier novels. I felt like it built tension well and constructed the important parts of the plot well, too. The big gaping hole I see in the story is the complete dropping of Draco Malfoy. Major problem. But I'm really pretty happy with this last installment.
I really really thought Ron was gonna bite it. Maybe that's why I'm so happy: he lived to snark another day. :) And, really, I can buy the settling down ending for him. He needs his own Weasley brood to grouch over, doesn't he?
SNAPE META
(Fair warning: I have only vague recollections of OotP and HBP. I'm basing this mainly on my reading of DH. Correct me if I've missing something, please?)
What follows below is a hastily-written, probably rhetorically overwrought bit of meta mainly about that chapter in the pensieve. I don't know how I ended up writing a hardcore examination of Snape-I've never been much obsessed with puzzling out his character (even if the character is fascinating)-but, yet, here it is. Probably, you can blame zelda_zee and how her opinions are sometimes so opposite mine, but they provoke so well, because she's smart and passionate. That's probably why she's the first person's LJ I went to when I was done reading.
So:
Snape:
Is it pathetic that he was in love with a woman for well nigh 25 years?
Is this very severe man just sadly stuck in an adolescent crush? That's a valid interpretation, and if it's true, I agree that it's not so cool. But I look at it this way. Lily wasn't just some girl he wanted to shag. In fact, I'd bet if he had any lust for her, it came, like the romantic attachment, after just genuinely being enthralled with her as a person.
She was the one who didn't seem to mind that he was weird, the one without whom he would've been an even meaner bastard than he was, but also the one who in the end rejected his friendship because he was an asshole. To him, she was like his morality barometer, telling him how a certain portion of society he probably didn't have any life experience to understand very well believed and behaved (and that's, of course, debatable, especially since I don't have any good head for remembering the previous books). I think he wanted to be a good Slytherin-in the evil, Death Eater, Muggle-hating sense (he was always a good Slytherin in the normal sense, in the way Harry would've been a good Slytherin)-but he equivocated about that path because of her.
One might say it was because he loved her that he struggled to be a better man until he saw that James had won her over. One might also say that's pathetic. But I think it's rather the other way around: that he loved her because a part of him struggled to be a better man (like a young Dumbledore, maybe), and once he knew he'd lost her-to James, to Voldemort-lost her support and friendship-he gave up.
Almost. Not quite. And that makes all the difference.
I brought up Dumbledore for a reason, not just glibly. I think there's something interesting about naming a child Albus Severus. In DH, we got to see the uneasy connection between Dumbledore and Snape. It's no coincidence that this is also the book where we see that Dumbledore wasn't perfect; as a younger man (and one might argue this was the case for his whole life), he was selfish and careless about the lives of his family, focused instead on his quest for immortality. He himself pointed out that Snape was similar: he was willing to expend James and Harry's lives if it meant keeping Lily safe.
People who think Snape was painted into a lame corner, that he got a little too snuggly there at the end and was robbed of his pride, should remember things like that. He hated Harry, probably even to that moment he gave him his memories. He might've chosen to ally himself with Dumbledore's Army and the Order, but he was still Severus Snape, still couldn't let the ghosts of his past dissipate.
I won't even try to recount all the morally ambiguous and just plain awful things he did over the course of the series. But of interest here is that he couldn't see past the James in Harry, not even to see the Lily. Rowling didn't make him into some cookie-cutter Quasimodo. He was a Byronic hero, to be sure, but he was an asshole, and he probably loved Lily more for what she represented-and what she meant to the broken, broken person inside him, the tortured, weird kid that nobody understood-than for who she really was. She might have been kindred to him, or he might have simply wanted her to be. She spoke to some deep part of him, I'm convinced-why else would his patronus manifest like hers?-and that's why he promised to help Dumbledore, to help her: he needed to, for himself.
But in the end, mean as he was, conflicted as his reasons were, he was faithful to the promise he made; so fucking faithful he was able to take up Godric Gryffindor's sword and get it to Harry; fucking faithful enough to that part of himself that was the good part of Slytherin-perhaps even the bravery of a Gryffindor, if you believe Dumbledore's musings-that he wanted and needed to hold onto the memory of a woman who represented goodness to him, even if that meant protecting a child who was too much like James Potter.
I think Snape was another Grindewald, in a way, which explains why Dumbledore needed him and why he trusted him, yet also why they weren't close. We know that Snape was never allowed to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts because it was too much of a temptation. I find it intriguing and oddly comforting to realize that Dumbledore probably couldn't have taught it either.
Which is okay, because he's not the hero of the story, just like Snape isn't, ultimately. The hero is the only successful Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Hogwarts ever had: Harry Potter.*
(Okay, so I end with a rhetorical flourish, but I don't forget for a moment that Remus Lupin made a kick-ass DADA teacher. Which is why he's my hero, too.)
[ETA: *I'm a moron. I entirely forgot that Snape did teach DADA in HBP. But I still feel like it wasn't the best idea for him to do so. And when I say Dumbledore couldn't have taught it either, I don't mean literally. In fact, at the point of growth he'd reached, trying to leave behind his quest for the Deathly Hallows, he probably could have, maybe should have. Of course, he never did accept the position of Minister of Magic, which underlines what I meant to imply: that both of them were tempted by power in a way Harry never was.]
The following is mostly positive. Keep in mind I'm a romantic at heart.
Also, I read the book in thirds. After each of the first two thirds, I made notes. For the last third, I scrawled notes as I read. So if this list of things to ponder and squee over seems lopsided, that's why. And as ZZ pointed out, the trio spend most of the first two thirds of the book sitting around in a tent whining, so the action is in the last bit anyway. :)
This list does not represent everything I liked, just the stuff that I feel the need to talk about. In roughly chronological order.
1. The first chapter: I wasn't crazy about it. Felt clunky. But it did put us right into Voldemort's reign of terror, so that's okay. I was intrigued by Draco, there, too. (Which, of course, never came to anything.)
2. The real history of Dumbledore: the mystery of it made me nervous from the start, but I can't help but really appreciate the way she gave real depth to this man who had been lovely and complex but impenetrable for so long. Still, nerve-wracking, especially at the start, and seeing Harry slowly lose faith. I kind of love that in the end, we see that it's not so much about Harry having faith in Dumbledore, it's Dumbledore having faith and trust in Harry. That was really rather lovely.
3. Goodbye Dursleys. I didn't miss them. I don't care to know what happened to them. I'm glad Dudley had that moment of equivocation, although that's probably all the redemption we can stand out of those foul Muggles.
4. The seven Harrys plan was cool but really fucking dangerous. (I like how the seven Harrys mirrors the seven horcruxes, too.) I was surprised that we got some serious carnage and action so soon in the book.
5. First CHEST-CLUTCHY MOMENT: George Weasley, OMG. Dude. And George's first word: "Saintlike." Such love. And for Fred here: "Pathetic! With the whole wide world of ear-related humor before you, you go for holey?" I do adore those two.
6. Preparing at the Burrow: it was interesting to see Harry, Ron, and Hermione planning their journey. They were still very much themselves, but they were…all grown up, you know? They've come so far, and even if the end of the book shows you that, I find it easier to see in the quiet moments, like when Ron and Hermione are telling him about their preparations.
7. Speaking of that, it's annoying to see Harry still trying to go it alone-that's his Achilles heel, I think, this martyrdom complex, wanting to protect people all the time (especially about Ginny Weasley, a frighteningly competent witch who apparently needs to be preserved for the marriage bed or something equally 18th century…but I will not rant…at least not here…). But I love that he finally has to accept that Ron and Hermione are just as much a part of this as he is. I can't imagine him not doing this with them.
8. Harry giving himself over to the visions of Voldemort: scary territory, but it made Harry rather impressive to me. (All in all, I sometimes find him a too-good-to-be-true, colorless hero, but he had some actual angst here, some adult decisions to be made about understanding his own mind and dealing with evil, so that was cool to see.)
9. I really liked Harry telling off the minister of magic. He has some great tell-offs in this one. Let us hope another couple years for Daniel Radcliffe to mature will let him deliver these scenes with gravitas and spunk, not adolescent door-slamming crankiness.
10. Kreacher! I find it so fucking interesting how they get him on their side, how the boys finally realize Hermione's quest about the house elves isn't crap. The idea that these creatures are kind of forced, in a way, to take on the ideology of who they serve, to the point that even though Hermione's Kreacher's greatest ally there, he can't accept support and sympathy from a mud-blood…not entirely. Even if he's still a slave, essentially, I like that he's cooking for them. It keeps my Ron happy. And when Kraecher's gonna whack Mundungus with a skillet, oh I whopped and hollered at that. :)
11. Lupin: I was none too pleased with my Remus's attitude. He was even more prickly and morose than normal. Now, I love his angst, I do, and I appreciate the fact that he's conflicted about the things he's conflicted about, but he was being an ass. Running out on his pregnant wife! Jesus Chris, Remus! I'm glad Harry called him on it. Not so happy he's dead, but, hell-he gets to spend the afterlife with his fuckbuddy good friend Sirius Black. And anybody who turns up in a Return of the Jedi-style convocation of fallen heroes is in a good place, story-wise.
12. Hogwarts under Snape: Rowling does a nice job building up how scary the wizarding world has become, but it's not until we hear about what's happened to Hogwarts that it hits me. They are truly and totally fucked. Voldemort didn't need to go in and blast people; he just had to slowly and carefully bamboozle the people in charge. Creepy.
13. I love that the trio tries to get the muggle-borns out of the ministry. Don't know why.
14. Second CHEST-CLUTCHY MOMENT: Ron. Oh Ron. I'd never in a million years believe my Ron could leave them. But it's rather perfect that he did. He wouldn't be my favorite character if he wasn't so human. It made me sick seeing how the locket affected him, but knowing he wouldn't be able to find them again if he left, and then seeing him leave… GAH. And Hermione cries and cries (because Rowling's apparently writing Emma now), and Harry… sitting up at night watching Ginny's dot on the Marauders' Map. *wibble*
15. I'm glad Harry got to go to Godric's Hollow. He needed to see that plaque that everyone had written encouragements on. He needed to know he was supported.
16. But they had to know it was a trap. Had to know! Have they never seen any Muggle horror movies? You don't go alone up the stairs with a crazy person unless you're prepared for her to turn into a snake and try to kill you.
17. Harry's broken wand: scared the shit out of me for him. Really.
18. Third CHEST-CLUTCHY MOMENT: "Are-you-mental?" I squeed and threw down the book, I think. That was so Ron it hurt. I love the whole scene, and I can't wait to see it play out in the film. From the eerie night and silvery doe patronus to the cold pond and then Ron saving the day. And then the poor boy has to face his worst nightmare: being taunted with how no one could ever think he was worth anything, that he will essentially never get out of Harry's shadow. I'm so proud of him for admitting that he's afraid to destroy that horcrux, but I'm even prouder that he faced those horrible manipulations and did it anyway. Beyond proud.
19. But Hermione… She's still angry with him, and that's perfect. It's at that moment that Rowling and Ron finally stop pretending Ron isn't trying win the poor girl's heart in a desperate, desperate way.
20. The deluminator: I love that Ron says he knows Dumbledore gave it to him because he'd run away, and Harry says it was because he knew he'd come back.
21. I love when Ron says Harry's making what he did sound cooler than it was, and Harry says he's been trying to tell him that for years. That was so them.
22. Potterwatch was nice. Rowling does a great (if not unrealistic) job placing such things throughout the book to bolster Harry's self-esteem. I was just as excited as he was to hear from all his friends.
23. OMG, the scene at the Malfoy house: I'm sorry, but a lot of interesting plot was lost on me worrying over Ron having to hear them torturing Hermione. I was dreadfully afraid he'd do something stupid-like he always does to defend her-but he turned up all heroic and badass, decidedly the opposite of puking slugs for half an hour. When did he get to be a real wizard? God, do I love him.
24. Okay, so what do we do with the Dues Ex House Elf? Seriously, I squealed to see Dobby to the rescue, and his valiant protection of Harry is canon, but you can't just do that, as a writer, can you? Can you? Oh, well.
25. Chapter 24 (The Wandmaker): I make fun of Rowling's prose a lot, but I thought this chapter was really well-written, and it contained some really evocative things, from the well-used seaside locale (providing metaphors that actually worked well for Harry's state of mind without being goofy or clunky) to Dobby's funeral to the quibbling with the goblin to the chilling tomb raiding scene.
26. Goblins: In general, I like how this book delves into the politics of the wizarding world, with the relationship of both the goblins and the house elves to the wizards. Fascinating.
27. Aberforth is the barman? I don't know why I never expected to see Aberforth in the book, but it was cool to see him, and to see that he was persuaded into helping.
28. Neville Longbottom. Motherfucking hero. I can't believe our Neville has been the bad-ass authority-bucking uberGryffindor since Harry's been gone. He is so gonna get laid like crazy in the aftermath of the Battle of Hogwarts.
29. I rather love that everyone assumes Harry's come back to start a war. I love it even more that he kind of gets swept into it; not only that, he stops stonewalling and lets people help him with his quest.
30. Luna stuns Alecto Carrow and watches the Ravenclaws find her body: "Oh, look. They're pleased." She's so fun.
31. Harry and McGonnagall, cooperating without any bullshit, just getting the job done. God, I love her.
32. Percy Weasley!
33. Was I the only one who thought Ron and Hermione had disappeared to either lose their virginities before they died or profess their undying love to each other, or both at once? I was properly ashamed to know they'd gone off on their own and destroyed a horcrux. And Ron managed to impress Hermione with his smarts!
34. Fourth CHEST-CLUTCHY MOMENT: Hermione's cold little heart defrosts when Ron wants to save the house elves! It was halfway anti-climactic, though, because we knew they were on a collision course to true love. And we also knew we'd never get deep introspective analysis of their relationship, since they're not in Harry's POV. But, still, canon OTP, FTW!
35. Grr, the way they treat Ginny, with the constant protecting of The Future Mother of Harry Potter's Children. They try to pass it off as an age thing, but, hell, the girl was in the Ministry two books ago, kicking ass. It's like Harry likes a strong woman, as long as he can keep her in a glass case. Irks me. Sorry. (I'll gladly take counter-arguments; I'd love not to be irritated at this love story.)
36. Why oh why oh why do they save the evil pack of Slytherins? I was hoping it was so Malfoy could do something bad ass. No such luck.
37. RIP Fred Weasley. God, what will George do?
38. Saving Malfoy twice? But I love that Ron got to punch him in the face.
39. I thought Hagrid was dead, and I was super pissed about his blah ending. I actually felt kind of short changed about Hagrid in this book.
40. Then I was super super pissed about Snape just…being killed. Until we got to see what was in the pensieve. I apparently was inspired to write some knee-jerk meta about this, which I'm including at the end of the post. Right here, I'll just say I was glad to see that I was right (my friend and I have been having a Trust Snape vs. Snape is a Bad Guy thing going on for a couple of weeks now), even if that seemed anti-climactic. I was mostly glad to see how it shone more light on Dumbledore's character. Aberforth was right: he liked secrets, and it was kind of destructive.
41. Fifth CHEST-CLUTCHY MOMENT: Okay, I'm a sap. Argue all you want about the lameness or coolness of it if you want. But I think Snape's patronus being the doe is just…gah, too much. I don't think it destroys Snape at all to see that he's been carrying this around on his heart for so long. And it tidily explains why I was sure it was somehow Harry's mother pointing him to the sword.
42. Sixth CHEST-CLUTCHY MOMENT: Harry must die. I'm glad Rowling didn't kill Harry, but I'm also glad we got the surrender to death and the fallout from that. That's the point that I started crying, and the crying didn't stop until after King's Cross. I'm probably not the only one who cried as he walked calmly to his death without getting to say goodbye to anyone.
43. How did I miss Lupin being dead until the parade of the noble dead scene? That hit me hard. But it did feel extraordinarily right for him to be there with James and Sirius. That warmed my heart.
44. I realize we do get our showdown later, but I like the anti-climax of Harry just walking into the clearing and letting Voldemort strike him down. It was perfect, somehow.
45. I'm so intruiged by how a mother's love saves Harry again, in a way: Harry's saving Malfoy in turn earns him the amnesty of Narcissa Malfoy.
46. Dumbledore: Rowling just can't end a book without Dumbledore explaining all the mumbo-jumbo, can she? It always feels like a cheat, but with a book of this sort, it really is nice to have that long but comforting explanatory stuff there. And it felt like it was earned, like it all fit together without being crammed (like, say, the crappy end to Chamber of Secrets).
47. I think it's cool that Harry was the seventh Horcrux. Just for the record. Creepy but cool.
48. I find Dumbledore so compelling in that King's Cross scene. That he was afraid of power interests me a lot. That the roles are reversed and Harry's reassuring him.
49. I could not believe the good guys were fighting, even after Hagrid marches up there with Harry's "dead" body. God.
50. Seventh CHEST-CLUTCHY MOMENT: Neville Longbottom kills that fucking snake. Oh my God, baby, you are made entirely of awesome.
51. Kreacher leads the house elves into the battle. I squeed.
52. Mrs. Weasley pwns Bellatrix Lestrange. BWAH!
53. At the top of page 743, I scared the cat, and I'm still not sure why it elicited such a scream from me: "The true master of the Elder Wand was Draco Malfoy." Perhaps because I thought it meant we'd see him join in the fray. I mean, Dumbledore saved his soul for a reason. I wasn't even thinking of the wand-logic and how this made Harry's wand stronger the Voldy's. I think if there had been a definitive battle between Harry and Draco where the wand was taken, that would have made this even better, but as it is, I'll take it.
54. Epilogue: I don't know how I feel about it. I wish she'd left that for fanfic writers to do, if they want to see everyone all happily married and baby-fied. But I was too happy at that point to argue with any of it. Especially not naming one of the boys Albus Severus. GOD. In my post-reading meandering of the house, crying and recounting the plot to myself, my brain kept coming back to that. And to the idea of a Potter in Slytherin house. Because a good-hearted Slytherin could change the world. Really.
Conclusion:
As you can tell, I liked this one. A lot. It wasn't without its problems, but I can always ignore problems when I like something so much overall. It dragged in places, but the plotting itself was so much tighter than some of the earlier novels. I felt like it built tension well and constructed the important parts of the plot well, too. The big gaping hole I see in the story is the complete dropping of Draco Malfoy. Major problem. But I'm really pretty happy with this last installment.
I really really thought Ron was gonna bite it. Maybe that's why I'm so happy: he lived to snark another day. :) And, really, I can buy the settling down ending for him. He needs his own Weasley brood to grouch over, doesn't he?
SNAPE META
(Fair warning: I have only vague recollections of OotP and HBP. I'm basing this mainly on my reading of DH. Correct me if I've missing something, please?)
What follows below is a hastily-written, probably rhetorically overwrought bit of meta mainly about that chapter in the pensieve. I don't know how I ended up writing a hardcore examination of Snape-I've never been much obsessed with puzzling out his character (even if the character is fascinating)-but, yet, here it is. Probably, you can blame zelda_zee and how her opinions are sometimes so opposite mine, but they provoke so well, because she's smart and passionate. That's probably why she's the first person's LJ I went to when I was done reading.
So:
Snape:
Is it pathetic that he was in love with a woman for well nigh 25 years?
Is this very severe man just sadly stuck in an adolescent crush? That's a valid interpretation, and if it's true, I agree that it's not so cool. But I look at it this way. Lily wasn't just some girl he wanted to shag. In fact, I'd bet if he had any lust for her, it came, like the romantic attachment, after just genuinely being enthralled with her as a person.
She was the one who didn't seem to mind that he was weird, the one without whom he would've been an even meaner bastard than he was, but also the one who in the end rejected his friendship because he was an asshole. To him, she was like his morality barometer, telling him how a certain portion of society he probably didn't have any life experience to understand very well believed and behaved (and that's, of course, debatable, especially since I don't have any good head for remembering the previous books). I think he wanted to be a good Slytherin-in the evil, Death Eater, Muggle-hating sense (he was always a good Slytherin in the normal sense, in the way Harry would've been a good Slytherin)-but he equivocated about that path because of her.
One might say it was because he loved her that he struggled to be a better man until he saw that James had won her over. One might also say that's pathetic. But I think it's rather the other way around: that he loved her because a part of him struggled to be a better man (like a young Dumbledore, maybe), and once he knew he'd lost her-to James, to Voldemort-lost her support and friendship-he gave up.
Almost. Not quite. And that makes all the difference.
I brought up Dumbledore for a reason, not just glibly. I think there's something interesting about naming a child Albus Severus. In DH, we got to see the uneasy connection between Dumbledore and Snape. It's no coincidence that this is also the book where we see that Dumbledore wasn't perfect; as a younger man (and one might argue this was the case for his whole life), he was selfish and careless about the lives of his family, focused instead on his quest for immortality. He himself pointed out that Snape was similar: he was willing to expend James and Harry's lives if it meant keeping Lily safe.
People who think Snape was painted into a lame corner, that he got a little too snuggly there at the end and was robbed of his pride, should remember things like that. He hated Harry, probably even to that moment he gave him his memories. He might've chosen to ally himself with Dumbledore's Army and the Order, but he was still Severus Snape, still couldn't let the ghosts of his past dissipate.
I won't even try to recount all the morally ambiguous and just plain awful things he did over the course of the series. But of interest here is that he couldn't see past the James in Harry, not even to see the Lily. Rowling didn't make him into some cookie-cutter Quasimodo. He was a Byronic hero, to be sure, but he was an asshole, and he probably loved Lily more for what she represented-and what she meant to the broken, broken person inside him, the tortured, weird kid that nobody understood-than for who she really was. She might have been kindred to him, or he might have simply wanted her to be. She spoke to some deep part of him, I'm convinced-why else would his patronus manifest like hers?-and that's why he promised to help Dumbledore, to help her: he needed to, for himself.
But in the end, mean as he was, conflicted as his reasons were, he was faithful to the promise he made; so fucking faithful he was able to take up Godric Gryffindor's sword and get it to Harry; fucking faithful enough to that part of himself that was the good part of Slytherin-perhaps even the bravery of a Gryffindor, if you believe Dumbledore's musings-that he wanted and needed to hold onto the memory of a woman who represented goodness to him, even if that meant protecting a child who was too much like James Potter.
I think Snape was another Grindewald, in a way, which explains why Dumbledore needed him and why he trusted him, yet also why they weren't close. We know that Snape was never allowed to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts because it was too much of a temptation. I find it intriguing and oddly comforting to realize that Dumbledore probably couldn't have taught it either.
Which is okay, because he's not the hero of the story, just like Snape isn't, ultimately. The hero is the only successful Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Hogwarts ever had: Harry Potter.*
(Okay, so I end with a rhetorical flourish, but I don't forget for a moment that Remus Lupin made a kick-ass DADA teacher. Which is why he's my hero, too.)
[ETA: *I'm a moron. I entirely forgot that Snape did teach DADA in HBP. But I still feel like it wasn't the best idea for him to do so. And when I say Dumbledore couldn't have taught it either, I don't mean literally. In fact, at the point of growth he'd reached, trying to leave behind his quest for the Deathly Hallows, he probably could have, maybe should have. Of course, he never did accept the position of Minister of Magic, which underlines what I meant to imply: that both of them were tempted by power in a way Harry never was.]