Maeg's More Coherent DH Comments, chapter 16 - 21

[maeglinyedi]

Only six more chapters now, since I spent most of the day reading my flist, commenting and chatting about DH. Will probably post the rest tomorrow. This post has spoilers for the whole book! My comments for chapters 1-15 are here.



Chapter 16: Godric's Hollow

• More Phineas! He's becoming quite the informant for Harry and Hermione. I also adore Phineas' defence of Snape.
  
  
• Love Harry actually longing so much for Hogwarts he briefly considers going back there even with Snape's regime in place.
  
  
• Hermione's theory about Bathilda having the sword made so much sense to me when I first read it...and that only increased my absolute shock of what really happened.
  
  
• Love Harry thinking what his life in Godric's Hollow might have been like if he'd grown up there: friends visiting, having brothers and sisters. Oh, Harry. *hugs*
  
  
• Okay, so there is a statue of Harry and his parents in Godric's Hollow. I can see that. What I can't see is why Voldie or one of the DEs hasn't blown it to smithereens yet. Obviously it's a symbol for resistance to their power over the wizarding world.
  
  
• Lily is actually two months older than James...heee, I love little details like that.
  
  
• Very nice foreshadowing to Harry's fate with the quote on their graves: the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death
  
  
• Awww, Harry...crying at his parents' graves. *hugs again*

Chapter 17: Bathilda's Secret

• First, this is the most surprising chapter in the whole book for me, because I did so not see what is coming. Awesome.
  
  
• Again, why is the house still there? Why hasn't Voldie blown it to bits and pieces by now?
  
  
• I love the graffiti on the sign, wishing Harry well.
  
  
• Even her ability to sense them suggested Dumbledore-ish powers. OMG, no, idiot, she's a fucking snake! Wait, does this mean Dumbledore's secretly a snake, too?
  
  
• She and the house smell bad...dude, she's a dead body with a snake inside! What do you expect?
  
  
• The locket awakens...is it aware the thing to destroy it is near? No, asshole, it recognizes its pet snake! OMG, upon rereading this chapter there are SO many hints that something is seriously up. So wicked.
  
  
• I've seen people mention that Hermione shouldn't have been able to heal Harry's wounds from Nagini's bite so easily, seeing that Arthur almost died from them in St Mungo's, and Snape does die from them later on. But Nagini isn't trying to kill Harry. We hear Voldie order her: hold him. Not kill him. Big difference. And venomous snakes can bite without releasing venom, and they can regulate the amount of venom they inject, so it's clear that Nagini did not give Harry a lethal dose.
  
  
• Yay, flashback! And a random Muggle kid saying to Voldie: Nice costume, Mister! Hahahahahaha!
  
  
• Wait...what? Neither James or Lily had their wands on them? James just tossed his on the couch, and Lily...what, left it in the loo or something? How stupid are these people? They're under threat from a Big Evil Wizard. You'd expect them to be a bit more careful about these things.
  
  
• Ooooh, the Horcrux burned Harry. So now he's got a nice Slytherin S burned into his chest.
  
  
• And just when you think things can't possibly get any worse, someone loses a wand.

Chapter 18: The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore

• This was an interesting chapter when I read it the first time, but on a second read I mostly yawned.
  
  
• Though, it's nice to see Harry getting seriously pissed off at Dumbledore.
  
  
• I do really love the twist of the handsome young trickster being Gellert Grindelwald.
  
  
• And I love that Aberforth broke Albus' nose. It's those little details, that Albus has a crooked nose, that you never expect to play any major part, and then they do! So awesome.
  
  
• So Grindelwald is locked up in Nurmengard, and he's not actually dead. Wicked twist right there.

Chapter 19: The Silver Doe

• When we first saw the doe, I just knew it had to be Snape's Patronus. No one else made sense (anyone else of the Order would have just shown themselves)
  
  
• But awwww...Snarry...their patronuses are so compatible!
  
  
• Harry undresses in the woods, and we know Snape is watching! *does happy little slasher dance*
  
  
• Harry places Hermione's wand on the ground before diving into the pool, and then Tom Riddle's memory picked it up. OMG, Harry, will you never learn? You just watched your wandless parents get murdered not two chapters ago. Honestly.
  
  
• OMG, locket trying to kill him! How awesome is that?
  
  
• I love that Ron's first words to Harry are: are you mental. Seeing that Harry deliberately dropped his wand just moments before, I'd say: yes, he is.
  
  
• Ron needs to ask Harry that book back and look up the differences between males and females. Mistaking a doe for a stag? Pfffft.
  
  
• Dude, Tom's eyes inside that locket! And I so love how that locket knows so much about Ron's fears and insecurities.
  
  
• Voldie the Harmonian still cracks me the hell up.
  
  
• Ron's eyes have a trace of scarlet...wicked.
  
  
• Awww, Ron and Harry hug.
  
  
• And Ron and Harry both need to reread that book, specifically the chapter on how to calm down your hysterical girlfriend.
  
  
• The idea of the Snatchers is so cool.
  
  
• Oooh, nice that saying Ron's name somehow activated the Deluminator.
  
  
• Heeee, Harry not telling Hermione about the H/Hr locket moment.

Chapter 20: Xenophilius Lovegood

• The Taboo! There aren't words to describe how much I LOVE this.
  
  
• And oooh, Kingsley nearly got captured because of it, but he fought them off and escaped. My inner-Kingsley-fangirl is so bloody happy with this.
  
  
• Here Harry has a moment of sheer brilliance: He must have known you'd always want to come back. Awww.
  
  
• Harry is trying out the wand Ron gave him, and it's not working properly. The first hint at what later will play a huge part.
  
  
• Ron is agreeing with Hermione, and tells Harry all's fair in love and war! Heee! Ron's really just a teenager who wants to get laid. Who can blame him.
  
  
• Rereading the whole bit at the Lovegood's house, knowing that Luna has been captured, really makes me feel for old Xeno. You can tell he wants to do the right thing, and yet he just wants his daughter back alive and well.

Chapter 21: The Tale of the Three Brothers

• I so love that it's Xeno who tells them about the fairy tale and the Deathly Hallows. Makes it hard for the trio, and the reader, to figure out what's real and what's a load of crap.
  
  
• Oh, love the foreshadowing here: a wand worthy of a wizard who has conquered death. And that's exactly what Harry does later on.
  
  
• Three Hallows, which when united, will make the possessor master of death. And fandom sat up and took notice, for Harry, having all three, can thus bring anyone back from the dead. Snarry lives!
  
  
• I so love the exchange between Hermione and Xeno: prove that it's not real. Watch Hermione go slowly insane with the irrationality of it all.
  
  
• The Peverell brothers: this means of course that Harry and Tom Riddle are related to each other, being both descended from them. All right, very distantly related, but still...it tickles me to know that.
  
  
• How cool a name is Deathstick for a wand.
  
  
• The ceiling in Luna's bedroom is so adorable. Luna is so adorable. <3
  
  
• You've gotta give credit to Hermione for coming up with a good plan quickly, to get them out of there and hopefully keep Xeno alive.