Harry Potter Book Seven - Discuss

[dependonyou]

You knew it was coming. I finished the book, and I want to discuss it with all of you. I want to see what you think. I want us to rant and rave about the things we hated, and I want us to sing the praises of those things we enjoyed

Comments

[misspadfoot]

We know more about how LILY AND JAMES died than we know about Tonks and Remus

If it helps, she did an interview where she gave a teensy bit more detail. They died protecting the grounds. Dolohov killed Remus and Bellatrix killed Tonks.

Teddy + Ummmm, Bill and Fleur's kid whose name I can't pronounce let alone spell

Victoire. I gotta admit, I kind of like that the orphan from the second war hooked up with a woman whose name reflects the good guys' victory in that war. The werewolfy-ness never even occurred to me.

James and Lily Potter, Mark 2 - Am I the only one that thought it was terribly creepy to name his son and daughter after his parents?What bothers me slightly more is that Ginny lost a brother in the war, and yet none of her spawn are named after him as far as we can tell. I mean, maybe James Jr.'s middle name is Fred, but I doubt it. Maybe Lily's middle name is Fredwina, but I double doubt it. Ginny lost what little of a personality she had in this book. In a series that's full of overwhelmingly male characters, it

[ami_lee]

I totally agree about Ginny losing it at the end. She could have been such a great developing character, but in the end, they all felt a little less overall.

"Trust Snape"...I saw it on a sticker at AFO. If it had been on a shirt, i'd have gotten it. It's funny how he only became AWSOME after he died.

[dependonyou]

Yes. I forgot to say that, too, in my last comment. ::points below:: Ginny really did lose a good deal of character in this one. It's like she was more of a plot point than anything else.

Dude, totally want a Trust Snape shirt, now.

[dependonyou]

Doesn't really help to me, because I wanted to see it in the book, not just get a teensy bit of detail. Hell, she knows what happens to everyone, after all, and we'll get all that information. I'm sure as a further means of deterring fanfic authors, she's strongly considering (if not just outright writing) an "encyclopedia" of what happens to every single character in the books. I'm sure that's where the Tonks and Remus snippet will go.

That's a good point, and I admit I hadn't thought about the 'orphan of the second war + woman whose name reflects the victory of that war' aspect of it. My mind simply focused on the werewolf taint... Probably part of it was "I can't pronounce that name for shat, so I'll just say 'Bill's girl'" which made it impossible for me to make the connection. Still...

Actually, that's been touched on, too. George's kid is named Fred. I can't quite say exactly that "HEY, George has more right!" or "George's kid was born first", but there was probably some family understanding, and they couldn't all go

[brianamj]

She had to kill off the pair specifically to have another orphaned kid, in my opinion.

Yep. She pretty much admitted that.

Now, I can't comment on any fanfic biases, since I so rarely read HP fanfic. But I'm still torn about Fred, Tonks, and Lupin because there was so little said about it. I don't have any closure! It still hurts. *sniffle*

James, Lily - This didn't bother me much since kids are named after their grandparents all the time. Now, Albus Severus, on the other hand. Poor kid! And Jo I believe said that George named one of his kids Fred, so there's the name. And I feel bad for Scorpius, because every time I think of it, I get an image of Scorpius from Farscape. Not a pretty picture.

The whole epilogue left me unsatisfied, even though my pairing predictions came true with the exception of Neville/Luna. Thank goodness, Jo's webchat answers filled a lot of the holes.

[dependonyou]

Figured she'd admit to something like that. That's such a cheese way to go about things, and I really don't approve. "WE NEED ANOTHER ORPHAN!" No. Really. You don't. It just shows that you don't know how to write heartwrenching without having an orphan, which is sad. You're too orphan-centric. What, WERE you an orphan or something, Rowling?

Even guessing about the fanfic stuff, the deaths don't sit well with me. That's part of why I'm so upset. She needs IN BOOK reasons, and she needs closure, and she gives neither. Tonks and Remus are worse than Fred, in my opinion, because there's so much less given.

I'm only used to male kids being named for grandparents, great grandparents, or whatever. I'm not used to female names being passed down. Hell, I only know my Grandmother as having a female name passed down, and that was basically her aunt who died at a very young age. To me, that isn't as wierd

[brianamj]

Nah, Jo said that she figured Luna ended up with the son of the guy who wrote Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them. The name escapes me at the moment. With the epilogue, I was wanting to know who ended up with who (so I can continue crowing over my H/Hr friends), but I also wanted jobs and stuff like that. Bah.

[totallyjem]

I actually hated the characterization of Draco in this book. She turned him into Peter Pettigrew in my opinion, cowering behind the stronger party(in the end, he's begging one of the DE's not to hurt him, he's on their side). Earlier in the book he refuses to positively identify Harry or the others, yet later in the Room of Requirement he tries to take Harry down. She ruined Draco in this book in my opinion.

[ami_lee]

yeah, that was a little disheartening, not only to have them both die so soon after they found each other, and after they had just brought a new life into the world, but to then not even give them an action packed, dramatic exit from this life...it was kind of like an after thought: "Hmm, there's not enough dead people. I know, i'll just add these two at the end!"

Neville is WAY AWSOME! But Colin was, also, an afterthought in my opinion.

I thought that the idea behind the naming thing was sweet, but a little over done. Lily, James, Albus and Severus? Why didn't Ron and hermione's kids get named after anyone? Oh, and I thought the "I'm betting Sirius is some one's middle name" thought too.

Okay, we've all heard about that play that Daniel Radcliffe was in, right? the one where he's naked? So who else thinks that the bit towards the end where Harry shows up at "King's Cross" naked is just a ploy to get Daniel naked in the final movie?...anyone ;)

[dependonyou]

Yes, Colin seemed like way too much of an afterthought, and as I adored Colin, I just don't think that's right. Not at all. ;-;

No, Remus and Tonks weren't afterthoughts. They were planned out for a purpose, but since the purpose had nothing to do with them, she felt them below worth of getting an actual death scene. She knew she wanted them dead, though, to leave an orphan behind, and probably so that the three "good" Marauders would be there for Harry when he marched to his death.

Agreed. The naming thing was complete cheese. Goes to show that Ginny has no character at the end, too, because you can tell she had no say in the naming whatsoever

[totallyjem]

Well, going on the naked bit, how about the beginning where you get six other naked Potters, as they strip down and change right smack in the middle of the kitchen? Harry thought it himself, wishing they were a little more modest with his body. ^.^

[dependonyou]

::laughs:: I forgot all about that. There will be lots of nekkid Potter in the last movie.

[sunseenli]

James and Lily Potter, Mark 2 - Am I the only one that thought it was terribly creepy to name his son and daughter after his parents? Okay, his son makes sense. TOTAL sense. It's the two of them together that creeps me out. Maybe I'm a wierdo.

Me me me! "Lily and James Potter were very much in love. Which is weird, because they're brother and sister." It's too much, in my opinion.

Does anyone have a link to this webchat of which they speak?

[dependonyou]

Okay, I'm glad I'm not the only one that went "ummmm, Lily & James forevah, no, wait, stop, they're brother and SISTER now? That totally doesn't work for me." I mean yea, it's a different Lily and James, but still odd, especially since it's not naming your kids after some famous couple or a couple you admired, but your own bloody parents.

Sadly I don't... but hopefully someone else will respond to you and let us both know where it is. XD

[totallyjem]

Colin's death had me bawling. :(

[dependonyou]

::hugs supertight:: OMG YOU'RE BACK ON LJ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ::CLINGS::

And yes, Colin's death was very sad. I wish she'd at least written more about it in the book...

[totallyjem]

Only to comment. <3

Yes, especially as he's a muggle-born and THEY WEREN'T ALLOWING MUGGLE-BORNS TO ATTEND HOGWARTS. Hello, Rowling? Did you forget you'd forced bloodline checks and banned them from attending? What the hell was Colin doing there at all? :/

[dependonyou]

... you're right. Holy hell, you're right. What the hell, Rowling. "I want to kill off Colin. I think people like him too much." O.o He should be dead, yes, but more in a "hi, you're muggle born, you stole your magic, off to the dementors with you, ahahaahah!" kind of way. O.O WTF Rowling? Bad form. Bad form.

And get your bum on gmail so I can talk to you more. I miss you. ::snuffles::